What does a legal analyst do?
A legal analyst is responsible for evaluating legal documents and reports to support and resolve legal matters by complying with state regulations and legislation procedures. Legal analysts compile researches to understand legal cases and coordinate with clients for in-depth counseling and executing necessary actions. They also attend court hearings and sessions to represent clients and investigate lawsuits. A legal analyst must have excellent knowledge of the law industry to examine legal contracts and assist clients with case resources.
Legal analyst responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real legal analyst resumes:
- Manage probate processes for estate, including rental arrangements and maintenance of apartments.
- Apply previous years of relevant experience to independently manage the defense of auto and fixture relate general liability litigation.
- Manage and provide responses to incoming subpoenas and discovery requests relating to underwriting files and policy and accounting information.
- Create and execute test plans for troubleshooting issues during SharePoint migration.
- Process payroll including quarterly and annual reporting.
- Respond to third party subpoenas and implement company policy of cost recovery for addressing such subpoenas.
- Draft and negotiate business-to-business SaaS contracts, non-disclosure agreements, and vendor agreements for domestic and international software platform transactions.
- Conduct large scale review and rapidly examine electronically store information for relevancy, responsiveness, and redaction in support of litigation.
- Conduct training on ACA professional collection techniques, FDCPA, HIPAA compliance, collections time management, collections software.
- Experience with wage garnishments, transcripts of judgment, summons and complaints and various legal/court documents.
- Ensure the legal department timely filings of complaints, summons, motions, judgments and schedule court hearings.
- Design internal docketing database for IP counsel capturing dates and other data enhancing intellectual property protection.
- Developed/Maintain legal and IP database of all existing contracts, invention disclosures and file patent applications.
- Develop novel anti-trafficking training program, involving prosecutors, criminal investigators and NGOs.
Legal analyst skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Legal Analysts are proficient in Legal Research, Litigation, and PowerPoint. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Problem-solving skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Legal Analysts that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Legal Research, 15%
Performed legal research and analysis regarding family law pertaining to divorce and custody issues.
- Litigation, 10%
Conducted large scale review and rapidly examined electronically stored information for relevancy, responsiveness, and redaction in support of litigation.
- PowerPoint, 6%
Produce a PowerPoint presentation to Executive Management to obtain approval for new applicant.
- Legal Issues, 5%
Prepared comprehensive memorandums outlining potential legal issues.
- Due Diligence, 4%
Executed due diligence research, providing executive management critical information necessary to make decisions on acquisitions of technologies and other companies.
- Subpoenas, 4%
Responded to third party subpoenas and implemented company policy of cost recovery for addressing such subpoenas.
Most legal analysts use their skills in "legal research," "litigation," and "powerpoint" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential legal analyst responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a legal analyst to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what legal analysts do because "lawyers interpret the law as it applies to their client’s case." Additionally, a legal analyst resume shows how legal analysts use analytical skills: "conducted legal analysis and cataloged data analysis for constitutional litigation on bailey v. city of philadelphia. "
Problem-solving skills. Another essential skill to perform legal analyst duties is problem-solving skills. Legal analysts responsibilities require that "lawyers must evaluate information to propose viable solutions, mediate disputes, and reach agreements or settlements for their clients." Legal analysts also use problem-solving skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "granted certain settlement authority settling numerous litigation cases through loss mitigation, settlement agreements and other various resolution options. "
Research skills. A commonly-found skill in legal analyst job descriptions, "research skills" is essential to what legal analysts do. Legal analyst responsibilities rely on this skill because "lawyers need to find laws and regulations that apply to a specific matter in order to provide appropriate legal advice for their clients." You can also see how legal analyst duties rely on research skills in this resume example: "researched issues to assist with preparing responses to written discovery and initial pleadings in voluminous and complex litigation. "
Communication skills. Another skill commonly found on legal analyst job descriptions is "communication skills." It can come up quite often in legal analyst duties, since "lawyers must be able to clearly present and explain information to clients, opposing parties, and other members of the legal community." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day legal analyst responsibilities: "managed projects legal compliance matters as they relate to public utilities and telecommunications. "
The three companies that hire the most legal analysts are:
- Grand Furniture23 legal analysts jobs
- ASRC Federal10 legal analysts jobs
- Yahoo7 legal analysts jobs
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Compare different legal analysts
Legal analyst vs. Law clerk
Law clerks are employees in a legal firm who handle clerical tasks for the office. They handle the office's official phone lines, answering incoming calls, and making outgoing calls. They also field office correspondence, often receiving incoming mail and distributing them to their addressees. They manage office documents and ensure that they are correctly filed and labeled in their respective storage bins. Law clerks help make office life more comfortable because they make sure that the office is running well. They also manage appointments and office calendars.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a legal analyst are more likely to require skills like "powerpoint," "due diligence," "legal support," and "real estate." On the other hand, a job as a law clerk requires skills like "legal memos," "pre-trial motions," "summary judgment," and "district court." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Law clerks really shine in the professional industry with an average salary of $98,674. Comparatively, legal analysts tend to make the most money in the automotive industry with an average salary of $84,174.On average, law clerks reach similar levels of education than legal analysts. Law clerks are 2.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 4.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Legal analyst vs. Attorney
Generally, an attorney's responsibility is to advise the client with an ongoing lawsuit on the legal procedures and provide strategies to resolve the case as early as possible. An attorney compiles necessary documents or any records for appeal and client's defense. Attorneys must acquire strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills to mediate disputes and settle pending litigation for the client's best interest. In some cases, an attorney's procedure depends on any evidence and research presented during the trial period. An attorney is expected to present clients on legal proceedings, seeking justice and justifying the law.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, legal analyst responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "powerpoint," "legal support," "real estate," and "legal analysis." Meanwhile, an attorney has duties that require skills in areas such as "juris," "legal services," "appeals," and "real estate transactions." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, attorneys achieve similar levels of education than legal analysts. They're 2.6% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 4.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Legal analyst vs. Real estate paralegal
A Real Estate Paralegal helps real estate lawyers with a variety of tasks, such as offering advice to clients, doing research, and preparing documents. They collaborate with landlords, housing managers, or other real estate personnel.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a legal analyst is likely to be skilled in "powerpoint," "legal issues," "legal support," and "real estate," while a typical real estate paralegal is skilled in "affidavits," "real estate transactions," "lenders," and "sale agreements."
Real estate paralegals make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $72,649. On the other hand, legal analysts are paid the highest salary in the automotive industry, with average annual pay of $84,174.When it comes to education, real estate paralegals tend to earn similar degree levels compared to legal analysts. In fact, they're 4.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 20.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Legal analyst vs. Contractor-paralegal
A Contractor-Paralegal works for a law firm or corporate legal department for a specified amount of time, or for a specified task. They can be specialized in the entertainment industry or in providing services to healthcare companies and insurance providers.
Types of legal analyst
Updated January 8, 2025
