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Contractor-paralegal skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Shelly Grunsted,

Emily Allen-Hornblower

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical contractor-paralegal skills. We ranked the top skills for contractor-paralegals based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 11.6% of contractor-paralegal resumes contained litigation as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a contractor-paralegal needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 contractor-paralegal skills for your resume and career

1. Litigation

Here's how contractor-paralegals use litigation:

Support Senior Counsel on all litigation matters, electronic discovery, including scoping initial litigation holds and coordinating collection of data.
Supported litigation management and interfaced with appropriate internal associates and outside counsel for records collection matters; maintained electronic data rooms.

2. Legal Research

Here's how contractor-paralegals use legal research:

Involved in all aspects of litigation support including legal research, factual investigation, information analysis, and document management.
Review, Collect and Prepare responsive documents identified by senior attorney's* Conduct legal research* Summarize depositions and reports

3. Discovery Responses

Discovery response is the response made by a person on trial once discoveries are made against them. Certain motions are filed against a person on trial, which may include a request for interrogations, request for production, etc, and they have to file a response within some time. The official response is filed in court and its copies can be distributed to the other parties.

Here's how contractor-paralegals use discovery responses:

Communicated with outside legal counsel and various in-house departments to coordinate all discovery responses.
Prepared drafts of financial disclosures/documents, discovery responses and other pertinent pleadings.

4. PowerPoint

Here's how contractor-paralegals use powerpoint:

Updated quarterly reserve, spreadsheets and occasional PowerPoint revisions for presentations.
Prepared, compiled and distributed various PowerPoint presentations.

5. In-House Counsel

Here's how contractor-paralegals use in-house counsel:

Assist in-house counsel with other tasks that need to be performed to establish the validity of leases.
Contract in-house paralegal assisting in-house counselwith the management of business development, transportation and security issues.

6. Contract Database

Here's how contractor-paralegals use contract database:

Managed contract process from initial request through execution and contract database upload.
Maintained existing contract database and Monitored scheduled payments pursuant to each contract.

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7. Trial Preparation

Trial preparation is the practice of gathering sufficient raw material for a court case. This preparation is done to make the bases of a case stronger by bringing the facts to light in a way that will give the concerned law bodies a better comprehension of the entire scenario. The method for preparing for a case may differ depending upon its nature.

Here's how contractor-paralegals use trial preparation:

Subcontracted necessary legal, non-legal, statistical and technical resources for complete trial preparation.
Analyzed, organized, and indexed voluminous discovery documents for trial preparation using e-discovery.

8. 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 contractor-paralegals use real estate:

Drafted and reviewed residential and commercial leases, financing documentation and other real estate documents.
Managed and maintained Real Estate document production assignments.

9. Due Diligence

Due diligence refers to the process of auditing, investigating, or reviewing done to confirm the authenticity of relevant facts. In addition to this, it also refers to the evaluation of a party's financial records to determine whether one should enter into a transaction with the said party or not.

Here's how contractor-paralegals use due diligence:

Contribute to various due diligence and intellectual property review efforts relating to legal proceedings and the acquisition of investor capital.
Performed due diligence including reviewing standing certificates and business formation documents to ensure borrower in compliance with company guidelines.

10. Contract Review

Here's how contractor-paralegals use contract review:

Contract review and administration including client and vendor agreements, confidentiality agreements and non-disclosure agreements.
Performed contract review as a team player with Sikorsky's Legal team using Microsoft Office.

11. Non-Disclosure Agreements

A non-disclosure agreement is a legal binding contract established to protect confidential information. It refers to an agreement that prohibits the involved parties from disclosing any information to a third party.

Here's how contractor-paralegals use non-disclosure agreements:

Review and revise commercial contracts, Foreign Sales Rep Agreements and confidentiality agreements and non-disclosure agreements.
Drafted and negotiated Non-Disclosure Agreements.

12. 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 contractor-paralegals use subpoenas:

Researched and retrieved documentation requested on active subpoenas to comply with subpoena request.
Prepared large volume of documents responsive to federal subpoenas.

13. Contract Paralegal

Here's how contractor-paralegals use contract paralegal:

Contract Paralegal, E-Discovery Document Review - Reviews electronic documents and codes for relevance based on legal criteria.
Provided contract paralegal services and document preparation services to individuals, attorneys and various companies.

14. Contract Terms

Contract terms refer to the rules, conditions, and standards that both parties in a contract agreement have to honor.

Here's how contractor-paralegals use contract terms:

Negotiated contract terms related to procurement of molecular and anatomic pathology services, research initiatives, and related services.
Assisted counsel in drafting and reviewing customer contract terms and confidentiality agreements to ensure compliance with company policies.

15. Intellectual Property

Intellectual properties refer to individuals' intangible or non-physical wealth, which results from their imaginations and intellect.

Here's how contractor-paralegals use intellectual property:

Reviewed clinical trial contracts/agreements for indemnification, exclusivity, assignment and intellectual property rights clauses.
Trademark and Intellectual Property Law - Review documents for responsiveness and confidential designations.

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What skills help Contractor-Paralegals find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on contractor-paralegal resumes?

Shelly Grunsted

Executive Director - Center for Student Success, Director, First Fidelity Integrated Business Core Program (IBC), Associate Professor, The University of Oklahoma

Depending on the job, but some that stand out: experiential learning experience, leadership skills, communication skills, problem-solving/analytical, internship experience, and collaboration efforts/group-work

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

Emily Allen-Hornblower

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.

What type of skills will young contractor-paralegals need?

Deirdre Kelly

Assistant Dean for Career Development, Western State College of Law

Young graduates will need the same traditional legal skills that they have always needed. Additionally, they will need to be resilient and creative to weather a more challenging and ever-evolving work environment. They will need to be very disciplined and able to work independently if they are working more remotely and have enough technical skills to navigate the virtual world. New graduates will need to think about how they build relationships with their co-workers and develop mentors, as well as develop clients and networks if the future means working remotely more and not as many in-person meetings.

Do you want to know more?

List of contractor-paralegal skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a contractor-paralegal resume and required skills for a contractor-paralegal to have include:

Litigation
Legal Research
Discovery Responses
PowerPoint
In-House Counsel
Contract Database
Trial Preparation
Real Estate
Due Diligence
Contract Review
Non-Disclosure Agreements
Subpoenas
Contract Paralegal
Contract Terms
Intellectual Property
Law Firm
SharePoint

Attorney Review
Confidentiality Agreements
Vendor Contracts
License Agreements
Litigation Support
Paralegal Support
Demand Letters
Lexis
Legal Issues
Interrogatories
Pacer
Civil Litigation
Probate
Google Drive
Legal Correspondence
Family Law
Arbitration

Concordance
Insurance Defense
USPTO
UCC
Minute Books
Estate Planning
Deposition Summaries
Plaintiff
Travel Arrangements
HIPAA
Trial Notebooks
Client Interviews
Trial Exhibits
LLC
Privilege Logs
Commercial Litigation

Updated January 8, 2025

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.

Updated January 8, 2025

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