What is a Litigation Paralegal?

Litigation paralegals are the backbone of the trial team. They manage all of the details throughout every phase of the trial, from investigations to pleadings and discovery. The litigation paralegal works closely with attorneys in depositions, witness preparation and research. The paralegal is typically the one who prepares and handles all exhibits.

Litigation paralegals research and analyze law sources such as statutes, recorded judicial decisions, legal articles, treaties, constitutions and legal codes to prepare legal documents such as briefs, pleadings or appeals for use by the attorney. They draft routine legal documents for review and use by attorneys, compile and prepare draft discovery responses, and review and analyze reports, responses and records produced by opening counsel.

Some skills that are necessary to have include excellent verbal and written communication skills, high attention to detail, resourceful research and analytical skills, ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects and tasks, and proficiency in Microsoft Office. The reported average annual salary for an litigation paralegal is approximately $55,340, with job growth in the U.S expected to increase 12% by 2028.

What Does a Litigation Paralegal Do

There are certain skills that many litigation paralegals have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, computer skills and interpersonal skills.

Learn more about what a Litigation Paralegal does

How To Become a Litigation Paralegal

If you're interested in becoming a litigation paralegal, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 57.5% of litigation paralegals have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.2% of litigation paralegals have master's degrees. Even though most litigation paralegals have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Litigation Paralegal

Top Litigation Paralegal Jobs Near You

Litigation Paralegal Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a litigation paralegal can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as paralegal/office manager, progress to a title such as office manager and then eventually end up with the title business development manager.

Average Salary for a Litigation Paralegal

Litigation Paralegals in America make an average salary of $58,484 per year or $28 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $83,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $40,000 per year.

Average Litigation Paralegal Salary

$58,484 Yearly

$28.12 hourly

$40,00010%

$58,000Median

$83,00090%

See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

Roles and Types of Litigation Paralegal

The role of a litigation paralegal includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general litigation paralegal responsibilities:

Drafting pleadings, discovery, responding to discovery, expert designations handling a file from beginning until settlement while handling a heavy case load managing complex personal injury cases involving large discovery projects utilizing ediscovery software reviewing
Issuing legal holds. Document management. Acquiring email, ordering computer imaging. Working with multiple groups within the company to gather support for litigation projects. Various e-discovery tasks review
Prepare and submit filings in the u s. district courts, federal court of appeals,

There are several types of litigation paralegal, including:

Paralegal

Role:

A paralegal is in charge of substantive legal work. Typically, they serve lawyers who are so busy building a case that they need help sorting out all of the legal work. That's where you come in.

Paralegals take pride in their responsibilities by administering their knowledge of the law and legal procedures. It can be a great thing to have a paralegal on the case because the law will determine what direction a lawyer may swing a case.

While you definitely need a working knowledge of what the law is, you really only need to obtain an associate's degree for this line of work. Sure, you could probably spend your entire life going through and memorizing every single law out there, but laws change all the time so chances are you're going to have to look it up anyway.

Average Salary: $49,943
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

Law Clerk

Role:

Imagine this. You grab a cup of coffee and head to the court. With enough coffee flowing through your veins, you're now ready to chat with the judge about legal questions, granting orders and even the construction of documents. Who are you? You're a law clerk and this is just the beginning of your day.

The rest of your day may be spent going through complaints, looking at petitions or motions, and even reading through pleadings so you can help develop a case. Then, you need to type up some judicial opinions, decisions, or citations. There's lots of work to do as a law clerk, so you need to be organized so you don't waste a single minute.

As a law clerk, you'll probably spend a lot of time with judges. You're there to provide assistance on legal determinations while also writing up research-based opinions that are relevant to the court. The best part of becoming a law clerk is that you don't have to wait very long to become one. You could be a student by day and a law clerk by night. Unless you have night classes, in which case it might be switched.

Average Salary: $55,916
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

Legal Clerk

Role:

A legal clerk is a member of a law firm who works on different administrative activities on a daily basis. Legal clerks primarily conduct research on legal cases related to the ones that the firm is currently handling. They also prepare memoranda, drafts of legal documents, case materials, and office orders.

They may also do proofreading and editing of legal documents before publishing. In addition, they may be assigned to communicate with clients, provide updates on cases, and communicate the schedule of hearings. When assigned to assist in specific cases, legal clerks are expected to be familiar with the procedure of handling that particular type of case. They should also provide administrative support throughout the proceedings.

To become a legal clerk, an individual must have a bachelor's degree, pass the LSAT, go to law school, and obtain a law degree. They may choose to further specialize in a specific topic or to get a graduate degree in law. Given the administrative nature of the work, legal clerks are usually fresh law school graduates who are new at a law firm.

Average Salary: $35,152
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

States With The Most Litigation Paralegal Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active litigation paralegal jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where litigation paralegals earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Litigation Paralegal Jobs By State

Rank	State	Number of Jobs	Average Salary
1	California	495	$71,342
2	Florida	382	$49,522
3	New York	213	$66,784
4	Texas	203	$52,066
5	Georgia	150	$48,556
6	Illinois	147	$60,087
7	Massachusetts	124	$57,540
8	Washington	116	$70,804
9	Pennsylvania	112	$62,848
10	Colorado	101	$58,056
11	Virginia	101	$49,717
12	New Jersey	100	$63,316
13	Minnesota	78	$53,538
14	Michigan	74	$55,729
15	North Carolina	71	$56,258
16	Arizona	67	$53,247
17	Maryland	64	$52,896
18	Tennessee	62	$48,085
19	Missouri	59	$47,357
20	Ohio	56	$50,218
21	Oregon	37	$68,558
22	Indiana	37	$42,023
23	Wisconsin	32	$52,891
24	South Carolina	32	$40,959
25	Iowa	29	$49,816
26	West Virginia	28	$57,811
27	Arkansas	27	$44,060
28	Utah	24	$60,741
29	Connecticut	21	$65,217
30	Kentucky	21	$51,629
31	Louisiana	21	$45,945
32	Nebraska	20	$53,550
33	Mississippi	20	$51,711
34	North Dakota	20	$48,870
35	Alabama	20	$48,029
36	Nevada	15	$65,147
37	Alaska	15	$60,848
38	Wyoming	13	$45,990
39	Montana	12	$48,754
40	Kansas	12	$48,434
41	Delaware	11	$61,447
42	New Mexico	11	$50,411
43	Rhode Island	10	$57,072
44	Idaho	9	$57,820
45	Hawaii	9	$60,622
46	Maine	9	$46,744
47	New Hampshire	7	$62,898
48	Vermont	7	$50,004
49	South Dakota	6	$52,831
50	Oklahoma	6	$46,351

Litigation Paralegal Education

Litigation Paralegal Majors

Legal Support Services

30.1 %

Political Science

11.4 %

Business

9.4 %

Litigation Paralegal Degrees

Bachelors

57.5 %

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 21.9% of litigation paralegals listed litigation on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and computer skills are important as well.

Litigation, 21.9%

Law Firm, 8.4%

Trial Preparation, 7.3%

Legal Research, 7.3%

Subpoenas, 6.7%

Other Skills, 48.4%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Litigation Paralegal Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Litigation Paralegal templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Litigation Paralegal resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Litigation Paralegal diversity

Litigation Paralegal Gender Distribution

Female

76%

Male

24%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

Among litigation paralegals, 75.6% of them are women, while 24.4% are men.

The most common race/ethnicity among litigation paralegals is White, which makes up 59.4% of all litigation paralegals.

The most common foreign language among litigation paralegals is Spanish at 55.7%.

Online Courses For Litigation Paralegal That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure

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Best States For a Litigation Paralegal

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a litigation paralegal. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, Oregon, and New York. Litigation paralegals make the most in California with an average salary of $71,342. Whereas in Washington and Oregon, they would average $70,804 and $68,558, respectively. While litigation paralegals would only make an average of $66,784 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Litigation Paralegal Jobs: 116

Highest 10% Earn:

$106,000

Location Quotient:

1.31

$70,804

Avg. Salary

View 116 Litigation Paralegal Jobs In WA

2. California

Total Litigation Paralegal Jobs: 495

Highest 10% Earn:

$108,000

Location Quotient:

1.39

$71,342

Avg. Salary

View 495 Litigation Paralegal Jobs In CA

3. District of Columbia

Total Litigation Paralegal Jobs: 157

Highest 10% Earn:

$107,000

Location Quotient:

7.69

$71,075

Avg. Salary

View 157 Litigation Paralegal Jobs In DC

Full List Of Best States For Litigation Paralegals

How Do Litigation Paralegals Rate Their Jobs?

Top Litigation Paralegal Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ litigation paralegals and discovered their number of litigation paralegal opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Robert Half was the best, especially with an average salary of $54,657. Morgan & Morgan follows up with an average salary of $45,798, and then comes The Weitz Company with an average of $57,984. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a litigation paralegal. The employers include McGuireWoods, Equitable Holdings, and Farmers Insurance

Most Common Employers For Litigation Paralegal

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Earthjustice	$82,207	$39.52	28
2	Kent Daniels & Associates	$79,354	$38.15	21
3	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp	$76,562	$36.81	26
4	McCarter & English	$74,455	$35.80	20
5	Morgan Lewis	$72,584	$34.90	25
6	Greenberg Traurig	$67,152	$32.28	35
7	Liberty Mutual Insurance	$66,667	$32.05	21
8	Weil	$66,098	$31.78	21
9	Latham & Watkins	$65,604	$31.54	25
10	Dechert	$65,412	$31.45	25

Litigation Paralegal Videos

Civil Litigation Paralegal

Is a Paralegal Career Right For You?

A Day in the LIfe - Paralegal

Updated April 6, 2023

What is a Litigation Paralegal?

What Does a Litigation Paralegal Do

How To Become a Litigation Paralegal

Litigation Paralegal Career Paths

Average Salary for a Litigation Paralegal

Roles and Types of Litigation Paralegal

Paralegal

Role:

Law Clerk

Role:

Legal Clerk

Role:

States With The Most Litigation Paralegal Jobs

Number Of Litigation Paralegal Jobs By State

Litigation Paralegal Education

Litigation Paralegal Majors

Litigation Paralegal Degrees

Top Colleges for Litigation Paralegals

1. Harvard University

2. University of Pennsylvania

3. Georgetown University

4. Texas Wesleyan University

5. Northwestern University

6. University of California, Berkeley

7. University of California - Los Angeles

8. University of La Verne

9. University of Cincinnati

10. Hamline University

Top Skills For a Litigation Paralegal

Choose From 10+ Customizable Litigation Paralegal Resume templates

Litigation Paralegal diversity

Litigation Paralegal Gender Distribution

Online Courses For Litigation Paralegal That You May Like

Best States For a Litigation Paralegal

How Do Litigation Paralegals Rate Their Jobs?

Top Litigation Paralegal Employers

Most Common Employers For Litigation Paralegal

Litigation Paralegal Videos

Litigation Paralegal Related Careers

Litigation Paralegal Related Jobs

Litigation Paralegal Jobs By Location

Litigation Paralegal Jobs By Company