Legal administrator skills for your resume and career

The most essential hard or technical skills needed for Legal Specialists are computer skills. Learning or improving on these capabilities through formal training, certifications, or even free online courses is wise if you are unfamiliar with trending programs or suites. COVID-19 has shown how essential it is to have technological skills since traditional workspaces have shifted into working from your home space.

Skills that stand out on a Legal Specialist's resume include legal research and writing, analytical and logical skills, and time management. Prior experience with legal research and writing tells your future employer that you know or are familiar with the research and writing process. Moreover, it would be helpful to be familiar with at least one legal database, like Westlaw or LexisNexis. Analytical and logical skills warrant that you may reasonably use critical thinking and reasoning to solve problems that may arise in your day-to-day operations. Lastly, demonstrated skills in time management imply you can multi-task, prioritize, and meet deadlines while producing quality work.

The emphasis on high-level interpersonal skills is expected to continue. More than ever, graduates need to expect the unexpected in a turbulent and changing world. Those employees who best have exemplified leadership, active listening, patience, flexibility, and responsibility during recent months are assuredly ones management will look to for future promotions and advancement opportunities. Absolutely, technology is more important than ever, but what is it about personalities that we often see as "tech-savvy"? Sure, it helps to have grown up in the Internet age, but more broadly these personalities are often those who crave learning and new experiences, who are willing and eager to adapt to new modalities. And these traits are not limited to students of any age, with rewards far beyond the keyboard.

In a typical law office or other legal setting, technical skills aren't the biggest priority as much of the work in the legal world was still highly analog prior to 2020. Overall, the expectations are set fairly low in this category for legal practitioners as a result, but there is a certain amount of basic skill that is assumed in using software for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. The past year has created some opportunity for those that are skilled in a virtual setting, i.e. using video conferencing or knowing how to file documents electronically, to stand out.

I would encourage any law student to take advantage of the various opportunities in law school to learn as much as they can about using legal research platforms, including certifications offered by Lexis and Westlaw. Though it can be difficult to predict what methods a legal employer will use for this part of the job, the skills are easily transferrable. In a similar way, familiarity with practice management, billing, or administrative software can be an advantage. It may not be a "need to have" for a candidate to get a great job, but certainly a "nice to have" that can help boost a candidates profile.