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Legal secretary skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen Ph.D.,

Allison White

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical legal secretary skills. We ranked the top skills for legal secretaries based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 12.4% of legal secretary resumes contained litigation as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a legal secretary needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 legal secretary skills for your resume and career

1. Litigation

Here's how legal secretaries use litigation:

Provided full administrative and secretarial support for labor and employment law partner involved with high-stakes litigation on behalf of corporate clients.
Provide support for attorney representing City of Tallahassee in environmental, growth management and planning administrative issues and litigation.

2. Legal Correspondence

Here's how legal secretaries use legal correspondence:

Research/drafted legal correspondence, setup /maintained extensive legal files for trial, prepared pleadings/letters/motions subpoenas, and monitored office supplies.
Performed various duties as a legal secretary including scheduling depositions, typing legal correspondence and documents and Dictaphone transcribing.

3. Dictation

Here's how legal secretaries use dictation:

Typed general correspondence and extensive legal documentation; took dictation; filed and performed general office duties.
Prioritized constant daily dictation work flow of correspondence and carrier reports detailing various medical conditions.

4. Law Firm

Here's how legal secretaries use law firm:

Managed practice for busy partner in Intellectual Property and Technology department of an international law firm.
Work under the supervision of attorneys and foreclosure manager in Creditor Bankruptcy Rights/Foreclosure law firm.

5. Travel Arrangements

Here's how legal secretaries use travel arrangements:

Coordinate travel arrangements, meetings and maintain business/personal calendar client contact, manage business/personal calendar for partner and associate.
Supported the Director of International Marketing by coordinating world-wide travel arrangements and organizing monthly trustees' meetings abroad.

6. 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 secretaries use scheduling appointments:

Provided direct support to 3 associates and performed administrative functions including heavy filing, maintaining calendars, scheduling appointments and meetings.
General clerical responsibilities included preparing legal documents and correspondence, screening and referring calls, scheduling appointments, and filing.

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7. Transcription

Here's how legal secretaries use transcription:

Perform as-needed temporary legal secretarial assignments for various placement agencies, in addition to transcription services for court reporting companies.
Perform advanced, diversified and confidential secretarial and legal administrative duties, including word processing and transcription dictation.

8. 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 secretaries use subpoenas:

Created continuance motions, deposition notices and subpoenas, compiled exhibits and updated correspondence in preparation for hearings and depositions.
Prepared subpoenas and coordinated the availability of witnesses to ensure their appearance for testimony at court trials and depositions.

9. Word Processing

Here's how legal secretaries use word processing:

Furnished Word processing and editing expertise in the creation of products produced for telecommunication tariff filings and supporting legal documents.
Provided high level legal administrative/secretarial support in the governmental and litigation practice groups; assisted word processing department as needed.

10. Real Estate Closings

Here's how legal secretaries use real estate closings:

Typed title reports and loan documentation followed by scheduling real estate closings with various financial institutions.
Prepared documentation and followed procedures necessary for foreclosures and residential and commercial real estate closings.

11. Telephone Calls

Telephone calls are a communication means through which a caller is connected to the called party. The call is done through a telecommunications device called a telephone. The caller can use a landline, mobile phone, or satellite phone to make the call.

Here's how legal secretaries use telephone calls:

Performed additional administrative responsibilities including arranging travel plans, handling telephone calls, and processing incoming/outgoing mail.
Photocopied documents and answered questions from incoming telephone calls providing program and agency information.

12. PowerPoint

Here's how legal secretaries use powerpoint:

Created presentations in PowerPoint for national meetings, kept calendars, domestic and international travel arrangements and handled all administrative duties.
Worked closely with the Business Development and Marketing Departments supporting Senior Vice Presidents to prepare PowerPoint presentations and brochures for clients.

13. Administrative Tasks

Here's how legal secretaries use administrative tasks:

Managed administrative tasks for department head and one associate including composing and revising correspondence and legal documents for electronic filing.
Perform administrative tasks which included calendar management, travel coordination, expense reports, meeting preparation and preparing correspondence.

14. Expense Reports

Here's how legal secretaries use expense reports:

General administrative duties: prepared expense reports, coordinated travel arrangements, maintained files, scheduled appointments and calendared work.
Prepared expense reports, tracked invoices for payment, prepared travel arrangements and other administrative duties

15. Court Dates

Here's how legal secretaries use court dates:

Handled official company correspondence efficiently and participated in client scheduling and court dates.
Maintained organization of calendar including depositions, court dates and discovery dates.

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What skills help Legal Secretaries find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on legal secretary resumes?

Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen Ph.D.

Professor, Director, Design Your Long Beach, California State University Long Beach

In the case of political science students, substantive knowledge and skill-based knowledge are inextricably linked. Having both and highlighting this combination can be a way for students to stand out to potential employers. For instance, highlighting their grasp of the governmental system, policymaking processes and content might make them an important contributor to a collaborative team. They might build on their knowledge of the complexity of identity and difference to showcase a nuanced understanding of communities and inequities. They could showcasing their work on projects that demonstrate their ability to analyze data that governments, nonprofits, and businesses need to make informed decisions, apply for funding, or develop outreach and marketing efforts. In my experience, political science students stand out most for their ability to analyze complex circumstances and in their ability to convey this to others in written and verbal communication forms.

What soft skills should all legal secretarys possess?

Allison White

Associate Professor, Ohio University

Employers have told me repeatedly that soft skills are often the most important. They will ask for my reference after I've gotten to know a student and been able to identify their communication, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills. They want someone to take the initiative yet know when to ask questions. Customer service skills and confidentiality were also voiced by our internship supervisors. Verbal and non-verbal communication is a must. The applicant must be able to write well!!

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

Allison White

Associate Professor, Ohio University

In addition to production software skills, including MS Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, we often taught database skills using MS Access. Every employer has an employee database and a customer/client database that requires input and sometimes maintenance by office personnel. Keyboarding (65+ wpm), basic bookkeeping/accounting, and filing skills are a must.

What legal secretary 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 secretarys 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.

Do you want to know more?

List of legal secretary skills to add to your resume

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

Litigation
Legal Correspondence
Dictation
Law Firm
Travel Arrangements
Scheduling Appointments
Transcription
Subpoenas
Word Processing
Real Estate Closings
Telephone Calls
PowerPoint
Administrative Tasks
Expense Reports
Court Dates
Secretarial Support
Legal Research

Civil Litigation
Management System
Bank Deposits
Probate
Office Equipment
Insurance Defense
Federal Courts
Interrogatories
Client Billing
Court Filings
Conference Calls
Trial Preparation
Estate Planning
Summonses
Routine Correspondence
Court Appearances
Dictaphone

Notary
Family Law
Legal Pleadings
Attorney Calendar
Client Appointments
Court Hearings
Court Officials
Commercial Litigation
Employment Law
Medical Malpractice
Arbitration
Court Reporters
Multi-Line Phone System
Client Interviews
Legal Forms

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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