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Legal assistant skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Shelly Grunsted,

Traci Dingle Ph.D.

One of the most important hard skills a legal assistant can possess is experience preparing legal documents because this will be a primary function of your assistance in both the office and the courtroom. It's also important for legal assistants to have the hard skill of drafting standard discovery responses and managing subpoenas.

When it comes to soft skills, legal assistants should have strong writing skills above all else. Legal assistants need to keep track of many important documents and appointments, so organizational skills are also crucial.

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

15 legal assistant skills for your resume and career

1. Litigation

Here's how legal assistants use litigation:

Assisted sole practitioner with varied practice involving business and real estate transactions, immigration visas, and occasional employment discrimination litigation.
Provided administrative and accounting support to experienced sole-practitioner in Trust and Estate Litigation in large metro area.

2. Legal Correspondence

Here's how legal assistants use legal correspondence:

Prepared affidavits and exhibits and other documents, legal correspondence, organized and maintained documents in paper or electronic filing system.
Prepared and types legal and administrative correspondence and documents, some non-legal correspondence and documents at direction of supervisor and independently.

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 legal assistants use discovery responses:

Prepared and forwarded subpoenas and notices of production of non-party pursuant to discovery responses and investigative work.
Composed pleadings and discovery responses, summarized medical chronologies, and handled attorney and client correspondence.

4. Legal Research

Here's how legal assistants use legal research:

Enhance attorney effectiveness by developing case information, performing legal research, monitoring calendars, and keeping cases organized.
Provided comprehensive assistance for paralegals and staff of successful legal firm Participated in legal research and document-preparation efforts.

5. Law Firm

Here's how legal assistants use law firm:

Supported senior partner of international law firm in management of approximately 40 litigation matters per month.
Redacted confidential information from legal documentation and inputted data into law firm's advanced 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 legal assistants use subpoenas:

Managed document production with various internal departments for response to DCAA investigations and third party subpoenas.
Prepared document subpoenas, analyzed and organized significant document productions and developed document database.

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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 legal assistants use trial preparation:

Provide litigation support including legal research, factual investigation, financial document review, document management, and trial preparation.
Assisted attorneys in all phases of the discovery process and disputes/ document productions/ motion drafting/ settlement negotiations/ trial preparation work.

8. Scheduling Appointments

Scheduling appointments is the practice of finding a free slot with the person(s) you want to meet. The process of scheduling appointments involves finding mutually free time, negotiating follow-ups, sending reminders, and creating new appointments. Scheduling appointments is important to ensure that the timings of consecutive meetings do not clash with each other.

Here's how legal assistants use scheduling appointments:

Provided satisfactory customer service by interacting with clients by phone/personally, scheduling appointments, and communicating client concerns to respective lawyers.
Perform routine clerical and administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files.

9. Affidavits

An Affidavit is a type of written agreement or statement voluntarily created under an oath which can be led and confirmed by only those people that have been specified by the relevant laws. An affidavit is often used in such places and events as court trials, where a signed and written statement witnessed by other members or witnesses of the court is necessary in order to ensure that a witness or another person are telling the truth.

Here's how legal assistants use affidavits:

Prepared applications for Asylum and Withholding of Removal cases, including drafting affidavits and gathering supporting documentation.
Conduct document review for general investigations and interview company witnesses and prepare related summaries and affidavits.

10. Travel Arrangements

Here's how legal assistants use travel arrangements:

Managed travel arrangements including domestic and international flights, ground transportation, hotel accommodations car/taxi services for business and personal needs.
Provided a full range of legal administrative support to partners and associates including travel arrangements and coordinating meetings and appointments.

11. Real Estate Closings

Here's how legal assistants use real estate closings:

Prepared necessary documentation for multiple residential real estate closings and corresponded with different lenders, ensuring smooth transaction.
Report directly to attorney with broad ranged responsibilities that encompass timely scheduling of real estate closings.

12. PowerPoint

Here's how legal assistants use powerpoint:

Organized successful educational seminars and conferences, including preparation of agendas and PowerPoint presentations, and arranged set-up of audio/visual equipment.
Distributed and created Word and PowerPoint reports of violations and recommendations to senior management for response and corrective action.

13. Word Processing

Here's how legal assistants use word processing:

Provided legal secretarial/administrative and word processing support to Corporate and Document Production Departments and Senior Associate in Litigation Department.
Completed extensive word processing/transcription for contracts and pleadings requiring keen accuracy and attention to detail including legal descriptions.

14. Administrative Tasks

Here's how legal assistants use administrative tasks:

Perform administrative tasks such as filing, developing spreadsheets, faxing reports, photocopying collateral and scanning documents for inter-departmental use.
Manage and organize attorney calendars and other administrative tasks, including entering attorney time and assisting attorneys with managing their schedule.

15. Probate

Here's how legal assistants use probate:

Probate administration including drafting of probate related pleadings and preparation of probate petitions as well as assisting with trust administration.
Reviewed property record and probate documents for chain of title and initiated condemnation and demolition proceedings on substandard property.

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What skills help Legal Assistants find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on legal assistant 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 soft skills should all legal assistants possess?

Traci Dingle Ph.D.

Professor, Berkeley College

Important soft skills include emotional intelligence and attention to detail. Working in the legal field, you may interact with attorneys, clients, or the public during stressful times. Accordingly, it is crucial to have self-awareness to be able to understand and control your emotions. It is also essential to gauge the feelings of others to provide the needed resources to support them and to show empathy, as working through the legal process may be emotional for some. Lastly, it is vital to exercise attention to detail when drafting documents or when talking with clients, as errors or not remembering important information about the client may imply that you or the office does not care about the client. Remember, you are a representative of the office, and your actions also reflect back on your colleagues.

What hard/technical skills are most important for legal assistants?

Traci Dingle Ph.D.

Professor, Berkeley College

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.

What legal assistant 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 legal assistants 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.

What technical skills for a legal assistant stand out to employers?

Peter Towne

Assistant Director of Career Services and Pro Bono Coordinator, New England Law | Boston

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.

Do you want to know more?

List of legal assistant skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a legal assistant resume and required skills for a legal assistant to have include:

Litigation
Legal Correspondence
Discovery Responses
Legal Research
Law Firm
Subpoenas
Trial Preparation
Scheduling Appointments
Affidavits
Travel Arrangements
Real Estate Closings
PowerPoint
Word Processing
Administrative Tasks
Probate
Court Dates
Telephone Calls

Expense Reports
Interrogatories
Client Intake
Office Equipment
Management System
Family Law
Social Security
Civil Litigation
Provides Administrative Support
Federal Courts
Court Appearances
Court Filings
Court Hearings
Legal Articles
Pacer
Conference Calls
Status Reports

Demand Letters
Client Billing
Insurance Defense
Notary
Legal Issues
Summonses
Attorney Review
Legal Pleadings
Arbitration
Client Interviews
Attorney Calendar
Client Appointments
Insurance Adjusters
Court Proceedings
Client Correspondence
Medical Malpractice

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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