What does a legal technician do?
A Legal Technician is a person who maintains and inspects all equipment by having a proper document, including the marking. They are responsible for ensuring that all duties and schedules will be on time. This career is for someone who has a clear vision since their task is to check the accuracy and equipment quality. They must have practical communication skills and suitable deductive and analytic types of reasoning, and know how to evaluate the product or machinery's information.
Legal technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real legal technician resumes:
- Gather and prepare documents for binders/notebooks for depositions, arbitration, hearings/trial; manage incoming document production mostly for litigation purposes.
- Collect medical records for attorneys, law enforcement, and court order subpoenas.
- Prepare medical records for patients, physicians, subpoenas, copy services, etc.
- Maintain and track litigation data, analyze data problems and recommend corrective action to senior legal systems staff.
- Collect and prepare required documentation for answering interrogatories and drafting interrogatories for attorney review to be forward to opposing counsel.
- Administer government policies and procedures in the resolution of litigation and other matters resulting from the closing of fail financial institutions.
- Answer and propound discovery/mandatory disclosure/financial affidavits.
- Answer and propound discovery/mandatory disclosure/financial affidavits.
Legal technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Legal Technicians are proficient in Litigation, SharePoint, and Legal Research. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Computer skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Legal Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Litigation, 13%
Administered government policies and procedures in the resolution of litigation and other matters resulting from the closing of failed financial institutions.
- SharePoint, 9%
Developed and managed 40 Sharepoint teamsites for the Global Legal and Compliance Organization (GLACO).
- Legal Research, 7%
Provided legal research/Powers of Attorney/Notary.
- SQL, 6%
Created tables, views, database procedures, functions, packages and developed complex SQL queries for reporting.
- Windows, 6%
Provided remote assistance to customers experiencing technical issues using Microsoft Windows operating systems in locations outside of the United States.
- Legal Support, 5%
Provided administrative and legal support to investigating officers and attorneys regarding criminal court cases.
"litigation," "sharepoint," and "legal research" are among the most common skills that legal technicians use at work. You can find even more legal technician responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a legal technician to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what legal technicians do because "paralegals must be able to document and present their research and related information to their supervising attorney." Additionally, a legal technician resume shows how legal technicians use communication skills: "worked directly with senior partners and associates, managing documents and communications related to litigation and arbitrations. "
Computer skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling legal technician duties is computer skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "paralegals need to be familiar with using computers for legal research and litigation support." According to a legal technician resume, here's how legal technicians can utilize computer skills in their job responsibilities: "managed computer tools and databases that streamlined the litigation process. "
Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for legal technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how legal technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "paralegals spend most of their time working with clients and other professionals and must be able to develop good relationships." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a legal technician: "demonstrate positive interpersonal skills while working with patients, families, physician, co-workers, and other departments. ".
Research skills. legal technician responsibilities often require "research skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "paralegals gather facts of the case and research information on relevant laws and regulations to prepare drafts of legal documents for attorneys and help them prepare for a case." This resume example shows what legal technicians do with research skills on a typical day: "performed legal research and wrote briefs concerning a variety of terrorism-related subjects"
Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in legal technician job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what legal technicians do. Legal technician responsibilities rely on this skill because "paralegals may be responsible for many cases at one time." You can also see how legal technician duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "assisted attorneys in: case/file management, hearing/trial preparation, document production and various organizational projects. "
The three companies that hire the most legal technicians are:
- Wells Fargo4 legal technicians jobs
- New America3 legal technicians jobs
- BNY Mellon2 legal technicians jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable legal technician resume templates
Build a professional legal technician resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your legal technician resume.
Compare different legal technicians
Legal technician 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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between legal technicians and real estate paralegal. For instance, legal technician responsibilities require skills such as "sharepoint," "sql," "windows," and "legal support." Whereas a real estate paralegal is skilled in "due diligence," "probate," "estoppel," and "affidavits." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Real estate paralegals earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $72,649. On the other hand, legal technicians are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $67,170.real estate paralegals tend to reach similar levels of education than legal technicians. In fact, real estate paralegals are 4.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 4.4% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Legal technician 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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real legal technician resumes. While legal technician responsibilities can utilize skills like "sql," "windows," "legal support," and "technical support," contractor-paralegals use skills like "discovery responses," "in-house counsel," "contract database," and "trial preparation."
Contractor-paralegals may earn a lower salary than legal technicians, but contractor-paralegals earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $79,049. On the other hand, legal technicians receive higher pay in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $67,170.In general, contractor-paralegals achieve similar levels of education than legal technicians. They're 2.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 4.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Legal technician vs. Bankruptcy paralegal
A Bankruptcy Paralegal assists lawyers and their clients through the bankruptcy process. Their primary duties include collecting and reviewing paperwork for petitions, drafting pleadings, and preparing all documents required by the bankruptcy court.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from legal technician resumes include skills like "sharepoint," "sql," "windows," and "legal support," whereas a bankruptcy paralegal is more likely to list skills in "debtor," "credit reports," "bankruptcy court," and "real estate. "
Bankruptcy paralegals typically earn similar educational levels compared to legal technicians. Specifically, they're 4.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 4.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Legal technician vs. Corporate paralegal
A Corporate Paralegal helps attorneys gather information and materials in preparation for different kinds of cases, hearings, or meetings. They also work in the legal departments of large corporations and for government agencies.
Updated January 8, 2025
