Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Legal investigator skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Katherine Butler Brem,

Katherine Butler Brem

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical legal investigator skills. We ranked the top skills for legal investigators based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 24.0% of legal investigator resumes contained investigative reports as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a legal investigator needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 legal investigator skills for your resume and career

1. Investigative Reports

Investigative report are used in court to find facts, document certain subjects, to recover important records, or to recover certain file forms.

Here's how legal investigators use investigative reports:

Prepare investigative reports based upon information obtained during special investigations and submit narrative reports to superiors upon completion of assignments.
Composed hundreds of highly detailed investigative reports and articulated the findings clearly in court testimonies.

2. Litigation

Here's how legal investigators use litigation:

Determined cost effectiveness of possible litigation prior to an initial suit.
Performed investigative interviewing of witnesses for litigation.

3. Legal Investigations

Here's how legal investigators use legal investigations:

Developed skills regarding the location of assets, witnesses, and other evidence pertinent to legal investigations.
Skip Trace and Legal Investigations for person(s) avoiding service of court documents.

4. Conduct Interviews

Conduct interview is the ability of an individual - the interviewer, to communicate formally or face to face with someone from whom the interviewer is gathering information. The interviewer controls the order of the questions and can ensure that all questions are answered. The purpose of conducting interview is to be able to assess the suitability of the candidate being interviewed for a specific position.

Here's how legal investigators use conduct interviews:

Locate witnesses, review crime scenes, conduct interviews and obtaining written statements.
Conduct interviews of victims and witnesses.

5. Legal Research

Here's how legal investigators use legal research:

Performed legal and medical-legal research.
Work on a per project basis conducting legal research on assigned issue or case regarding criminal and civil matters.

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 investigators use subpoenas:

Provided legal documentation in compliance with subpoenas and Freedom of Information requests.
Processed Subpoenas, Garnishment, and Levies in a timely and accurate manner.

7. Law Firm

Here's how legal investigators use law firm:

Trained investigative teams in Australia and the UK to support the law firm s expansion footprint internationally.
Collaborated directly with law firms on needs and expectations delivering 100% of the required needs.

8. Law Enforcement Agencies

Here's how legal investigators use law enforcement agencies:

Reached out to various Law Enforcement agencies seeking their engagement, providing compiling data in hopes of restitution.
Work closely with other law enforcement agencies to build a case for criminal prosecution.

9. Property Damage

Property damage is the destruction or damage of tangible personal property. Property damage can be caused by negligence, irresponsible handling of the property, willful destruction, or any other destructure act of nature.

Here's how legal investigators use property damage:

Negotiated property damage settlements with insurance adjusters.
Investigate claims against the City of Memphis for alleged property damage and bodily injury to determine liability.

10. Criminal Cases

A criminal case is a court proceeding in which a person is charged with committing a crime against the state or the community. Such individuals are brought for trials, to decide they are guilty or not. There are two kinds of criminal cases misdemeanors and felonies. A misdemeanor is a crime on a lower level like traffic offenses or minor assaults. While felonies are offenses on a higher level.

Here's how legal investigators use criminal cases:

Assemble reports to fill gaps in evidence as necessary for the successful prosecution of criminal cases.
Compiled information and materials to further assist with criminal cases.

11. Background Checks

Here's how legal investigators use background checks:

Perform in depth background checks, Asset reports, work history, etc.
Conducted background checks on individuals or legal entities based in Europe particularly in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Lichtenstein.

12. Legal Issues

Here's how legal investigators use legal issues:

Researched legal issues for NAACP President.
Researched cases and drafted objective attorney memos and recommendations regarding specific legal issues involving First Amendment liberties to supervising attorneys.

13. Court Hearings

Here's how legal investigators use court hearings:

Comply with all legal matter include investigating accordingly upon court hearings.
Maintain calendar of court hearing, meeting, and appointments for all attorneys.

14. Court Proceedings

Here's how legal investigators use court proceedings:

Conducted interviews with company employees for preparation on court proceedings.
Collected evidence for possible use in court proceedings.

15. Interview Witnesses

Here's how legal investigators use interview witnesses:

Identify, locate and interview witnesses and/or persons with relevant knowledge.

What skills help Legal Investigators find jobs?

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

What soft skills should all legal investigators possess?

Katherine Butler Brem

Clinical Associate Professor, University of Houston

Whether trial or transactional, a lawyer's ability to spot issues and think critically about those issues is crucial to success. The world moves fast, and I think that has encouraged all of us to look for the "quick" answer. We're conditioned to think if we need to know something, we can just look it up. But the law doesn't work that way. First, lawyers have to have a sufficient knowledge base to spot not just the obvious issues but those that are not so obvious. And then the lawyer has to be willing to spend the time and intellectual capital to think hard about the issues, do some research, and then think even harder about them. In a world where "action" represents the typical coin of the realm, it can be difficult for lawyers to exercise the discipline required to slow down and think before they act. But those who do develop a reputation as excellent strategists, and this is a very marketable skill.

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

Katherine Butler Brem

Clinical Associate Professor, University of Houston

Two things: Research skills, especially research skills specific to a particular specialty area like tax or immigration. If you're looking for work in these fields, you need to be knowledgeable about where and how to research law relevant to these specialties. Secondly, just minimum competence in the technology you need to practice law in the absence of significant administrative assistance - things like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and billing software.

Do you want to know more?

List of legal investigator skills to add to your resume

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

Investigative Reports
Litigation
Legal Investigations
Conduct Interviews
Legal Research
Subpoenas
Law Firm
Law Enforcement Agencies
Property Damage
Criminal Cases

Background Checks
Legal Issues
Court Hearings
Court Proceedings
Interview Witnesses
Product Liability
Crime Scenes
Court Filings
Background Investigations
Police Reports

Interrogatories
Legal Action
Client Interviews
Trial Preparation
Plaintiff
Grand Jury
Legal Cases
Narrative Reports
Real Estate
Hippa

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

Browse legal jobs