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Assistant paralegal skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted experts
Chad Smith,
Emily Allen-Hornblower
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical assistant paralegal skills. We ranked the top skills for assistant paralegals based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 11.6% of assistant paralegal resumes contained law firm as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an assistant paralegal needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 assistant paralegal skills for your resume and career

1. Law Firm

Here's how assistant paralegals use law firm:
  • Assisted in the production of a virtual law firm whereby attorney and client interact via internet
  • Acted as a liaison between other law firms, businesses, and the U.S.

2. Litigation

Here's how assistant paralegals use litigation:
  • Assist attorneys with preparation of ongoing litigation files Organize and maintain multiple litigation files General office and filing work
  • Recruited, interviewed and hired secretarial staff for litigation and environmental sections.

3. Paralegals

Here's how assistant paralegals use paralegals:
  • Provided administrative assistance to the Paralegal Bureau Chief, assisted in the supervision of paralegals.
  • Assisted paralegals in processing and filing legal documents in a high-intensity environment.

4. Status Reports

Here's how assistant paralegals use status reports:
  • Review file on a regular basis, consult with attorney and prepare regular status reports to client.
  • Updated and managed status reports on discussion database.

6. Subpoenas

Subpoenas are formal and legal documents issued mostly by a court or some other government agency that demands the presence of the person the document is addressed to, to show up at court. Subpoenas are issued to individuals whom the court wants to appear either as a witness in a particular case in order to testify or to provide any evidence such as an object or a document.

Here's how assistant paralegals use subpoenas:
  • Supervised service of subpoenas and notification of witnesses.
  • Assisted in interviewing and serving subpoenas to civilian witnesses off site in preparation for trial as needed.

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7. Support Letters

Here's how assistant paralegals use support letters:
  • Drafted specialized support letters detailing eligibility for visa classification and immigration benefits
  • Created extensive support letters in preparation of border petition packages.

8. Management System

A management system is a set of policies, processes, and procedures taken by an organization or a business to ensure it can fulfill its tasks and achieve its objectives. A management system makes sure that the company excels financially and improves the user experience. The management system also takes care of the worker's and employees' needs and manages their workload and oversees their performance. Apart from interior matters of the company, a management system also deals with exterior matters like legislations, tax matters, and law issues.

Here's how assistant paralegals use management system:
  • Maintained client database and case management system
  • Utilized the Automated Military Justice Analysis and Management System (AMJAMS) in the management of military justice actions.

9. USCIS

Here's how assistant paralegals use uscis:
  • Contacted USCIS concerning problematic cases, drafted correspondence/papers, processed mail, and completed other assigned miscellaneous tasks.
  • Tracked progress of pending applications, following up with USCIS officers regarding any delays or discrepancies.

10. Foreign Nationals

Here's how assistant paralegals use foreign nationals:
  • Drafted Signatory Letters on behalf of foreign nationals seeking employment and legal residency status.
  • Communicate regularly with clients and foreign nationals regarding procedural and case processing issues.

11. Proofread

Proofreading simply carefully checking your text for possible errors like typographical errors or mistakes in grammar, style, and spelling before it can be published or shared. This is generally known as the very last stage of any writing process when you need to fix minor spelling and punctuation mistakes, typos, formatting issues,


and inconsistencies.

Here's how assistant paralegals use proofread:
  • Proofread client paperwork and organized documents for proper processing of case information.
  • Drafted, redacted & proofread correspondences, motions, briefs, & misc.

12. I-140

Here's how assistant paralegals use i-140:
  • Drafted I-140 petitions based on Labor Certification substitution.
  • Drafted and collected employment verification letters and secondary evidence from clients to prepare for I-140 petition.

13. Immigration Benefits

Here's how assistant paralegals use immigration benefits:
  • Drafted petitions and specialized support letters detailing eligibility for visa classification and other immigration benefits.
  • Determine eligibility of clients for immigration benefits and directly assist with benefit and program enrollment.

14. Citizenship

Citizenship is a legal status that an individual possesses by being a citizen of a country, state, or local government either by birth or naturalization after meeting the legal requirements. This status comes along with the rights, duties, and privileges of being a citizen of that community and a state to which the citizen owes allegiance.

Here's how assistant paralegals use citizenship:
  • Prepared letters/visa applications for clients for submission to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
  • Consulted with clients for all business immigration matters through citizenship process including filing employment visa petitions and applications.

15. Real Estate

Real estate is land that has buildings on it. This kind of property consists of permanent improvements either natural or man-made, which include, houses, fences, bridges, water trees, and minerals. There are 4 types of real estate namely; residential real estate, commercial real estate, industrial real estate, and vacant land.

Here's how assistant paralegals use real estate:
  • Edited all documents regarding corporate and real estate, leases, loans, buy-sell agreements and related matters.
  • Serve as backup for Contract Administrators, real estate QA functions, and for Legal Entity Administrator.
top-skills

What skills help Assistant Paralegals find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on assistant paralegal resumes?

Chad Smith

Director of Legal Programs, Catholic University of America

Paralegal's skills that stand out in the current market:
-Experience with technology, online platforms, and digital/online research (Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg Law)
-Telework/telecommuting, e-discovery and cloud computing/services, and document creation and formatting
-Communication/writing skills, specifically, the ability to understand the law and communicate legal matters effectively for court, layman clients, and attorneys
-The ability to write effective legal documents that are clear, concise, and complete
-Organization, efficiency, time management, and case management

I definitely emphasize the requirement of computer skills, as I personally would not hire any paralegal who is not very competent and comfortable working digitally. Additionally, case management and the ability to juggle many cases at a time is extremely important. It definitely stands out when a paralegal has experience managing a large caseload and can produce quality legal pleadings in a very efficient manner.

What assistant paralegal skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Emily Allen-HornblowerEmily Allen-Hornblower LinkedIn profile

Associate Professor of Classics, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

No question our economy has been hit hard, and the job market will be very competitive, for students in all courses of study but those who have solid training in the Humanities, along with the strong writing and communication skills that come with it, should do well. Good writers and critical thinkers are essential across the board, and those who have studied history, philosophy, oratory, and literature at its source (that is, the Classics) are well equipped to be competitive in any market.

List of assistant paralegal skills to add to your resume

Assistant paralegal skills

The most important skills for an assistant paralegal resume and required skills for an assistant paralegal to have include:

  • Law Firm
  • Litigation
  • Paralegals
  • Status Reports
  • Legal Research
  • Subpoenas
  • Support Letters
  • Management System
  • USCIS
  • Foreign Nationals
  • Proofread
  • I-140
  • Immigration Benefits
  • Citizenship
  • Real Estate
  • Immigration Applications
  • H-1B
  • Attorney Review
  • Visa Applications
  • Interrogatories
  • Government Agencies
  • Client Data
  • Schedule Appointments
  • Travel Arrangements
  • I-485
  • Legal Correspondence
  • Notary
  • Legal Articles
  • Pacer
  • Corporate Clients
  • Bankruptcy Cases
  • PowerPoint
  • Client Interviews
  • Probate
  • Legal Cases
  • HR
  • Trial Preparation
  • Client Relations
  • Discovery Responses
  • Court Appearances
  • Company Database
  • E-3
  • Trial Notebooks
  • EB-1
  • Client Billing
  • Government Forms
  • I-130

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.