How To Become A Legal Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a legal editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A legal editor, in general, handles copywriting, content editing, and proofreading for an organization's writing department. Under this role, you are accountable for ensuring that written documents comply with the organization's criteria and do not offend others.

To become a legal editor, you need to have a doctoral degree or master's degree. You may find that expertise in a related field will help you become a successful Legal Editor. Nonetheless, many standard editor jobs require expertise in a role such as law clerk.

If you're one of the Legal Editors in America, you can make an average salary of $54,484 per year or $26 per hour. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your experience, skills, or even your organization's geographical location.

ScoreLegal EditorUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $58,985

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 6.35%

Black or African American 5.52%

Hispanic or Latino 7.74%

Unknown 4.37%

White 75.71%

Gender

female 62.72%

male 37.28%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a legal editor

Explore legal editor education requirements

Most common legal editor degrees

Bachelor's

52.1 %

Doctorate

34.8 %

Master's

9.3 %

Start to develop specific legal editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Law Firm	25.84%
Legal Issues	18.02%
Legal Analysis	11.80%
Litigation	11.64%
Legal Topics	4.42%

Complete relevant legal editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New legal editors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a legal editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real legal editor resumes.

Research legal editor duties and responsibilities

Cover complex litigation, Medicare fraud enforcement, and legislative developments.
Update, proofread, and edit firm style guides and manuals.
Conduct legal and Internet research for writing projects (proficient with LEXIS).
Determine if a case go to trial, arbitration or mediation and conciliation.

Prepare your legal editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your legal editor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a legal editor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable legal editor resume templates

Build a professional legal editor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your legal editor resume.