How to hire a litigation support specialist

How to hire a litigation support specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step litigation support specialist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a litigation support specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new litigation support specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a litigation support specialist do?

Post a litigation support specialist job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The litigation support specialist hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A litigation support specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, litigation support specialists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of litigation support specialist salaries for various roles:

   Type of Litigation Support Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Litigation Support Specialist	Computer support specialists provide help and advice to people and organizations using computer software or equipment. Some, called computer network support specialists, support information technology (IT) employees within their organization... Show more	$20-47
   Support	A support employee is responsible for assisting the business operations and responding to customers' inquiries and concerns regarding its goods and services. Support logs all customers' interaction and escalates potential complaints to the appropriate department... Show more	$11-25
   Support Lead	A support lead is typically in charge of overseeing the performance of a technical support team, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around assessing the performance of the workforce, resolving complex issues, identifying customer needs and sales opportunities, and training new team members... Show more	$30-56

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Litigation
   • Defense Counsel
   • Electronic Discovery
   • Mediation
   • Troubleshoot
   • Trial Preparation
   • Litigation Support Software
   • Settlement Conferences
   • Concordance
   • Legal Issues
   • General Liability
   • Subpoenas
   • Legal Support
   • Legal Research

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage all aspects of litigation support services, including trial technology and presentation services, case management and document management services.
   • Port all EML data into SQL database for litigation services support.
   • Provide strategic advice to both in-house corporate counsel and law firm partners regarding ESI collection, retention and document review solutions.
   • Create databases for litigation applications using concordance and summation.
   • Scan batches using scanners attach to IPRO workstations.
   • Create SQL queries for review and the processing platform.

   More litigation support specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your litigation support specialist job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A litigation support specialist salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a litigation support specialist in North Carolina may be lower than in California, and an entry-level litigation support specialist usually earns less than a senior-level litigation support specialist. Additionally, a litigation support specialist with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average litigation support specialist salary

   $64,690yearly

   $31.10 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level litigation support specialist salary

   $42,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average litigation support specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$91,587	$44
   2	New York	$81,443	$39
   3	Delaware	$80,593	$39
   4	District of Columbia	$73,815	$35
   5	Virginia	$71,247	$34
   6	Arkansas	$66,794	$32
   7	Washington	$66,154	$32
   8	Massachusetts	$64,850	$31
   9	Colorado	$64,349	$31
   10	Arizona	$62,833	$30
   11	Florida	$62,100	$30
   12	Pennsylvania	$59,821	$29
   13	Texas	$59,350	$29
   14	Utah	$58,720	$28
   15	Minnesota	$58,335	$28
   16	Illinois	$56,136	$27
   17	Indiana	$55,868	$27
   18	Ohio	$55,842	$27
   19	Kansas	$55,442	$27
   20	Georgia	$54,916	$26

   Average litigation support specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Cornerstone Research	$131,078	$63.02	1
   2	AIG	$98,014	$47.12	16
   3	Earthjustice	$96,738	$46.51	2
   4	W. R. Berkley	$93,374	$44.89	2
   5	Shearman & Sterling	$85,335	$41.03
   6	Ulmer & Berne	$83,384	$40.09
   7	Argo Group	$82,623	$39.72	1
   8	The Travelers Companies	$82,518	$39.67	23
   9	Gap Inc.	$78,887	$37.93
   10	Bank of America	$74,659	$35.89	11
   11	Amyx	$74,624	$35.88	2
   12	Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell	$74,569	$35.85
   13	BERKLEY TECHNOLOGY SERVICES	$74,005	$35.58	3
   14	Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton	$70,556	$33.92
   15	Sanford Heisler Sharp	$69,980	$33.64
   16	Kemper	$68,371	$32.87
   17	Pan-American Life Insurance Group	$68,219	$32.80
   18	Mercury Insurance	$67,112	$32.27	4
   19	Ricoh	$66,895	$32.16	42
   20	Farm Credit Services of America	$66,839	$32.13	6

4. Writing a litigation support specialist job description

   A job description for a litigation support specialist role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a litigation support specialist job description:

   Litigation support specialist job description example

   Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, a global Am Law 100 firm, is seeking two full-time experienced Litigation Docket & Calendar Specialists.
   
   We are looking to hire two well-qualified candidates for the positions of Litigation Docket & Calendar Specialist. These positions can be based in any of the following offices: Downtown Los Angeles, Century City, Orange County, Del Mar, San Diego, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Houston, or Washington DC. There are only two openings.
   
   *This position has a remote/hybrid work arrangement, with the expectation to be in the office on an as needed basis.
   
   The ideal Litigation Docket & Calendar Specialist should have a minimum of 2 years' experience in a law firm legal docketing department or clerk's office. Qualified candidates must have strong knowledge of state and federal rules of procedure and familiarity with using an automated, rules-based docket and calendar system, preferably CompuLaw.
   
   Primary responsibilities for this position include analyzing all documents to discern and process required information into the docket and calendar system. Must also have the ability to review docket and calendar entries for accuracy, update matter management forms, work on special projects, and generate weekly and daily reports.
   Essential Functions:
   
   Must be very detailed oriented, a fast learner, able to multi-task, work independently in a very busy department. Must have the ability to research resource guides, rule codes, and authorities, and numerous courts' websites. Candidate should be able to communicate quickly and clearly via emails and phone to inquiries from attorneys, secretaries, and paralegals regarding matter calendars and court procedures. Must be very flexible and adaptable to changing department procedures when necessary. Accuracy and attention to detail is essential.
   
   Required Qualifications: 2 years of litigation docket and calendaring experience in a law firm legal docketing department or clerk's office. Strong knowledge of state and federal rules of civil procedures. Familiarity with using an automated, rules-based docket and calendar system.
   
   Preferred Qualifications: Knowledge of court rules in California, Texas, Illinois, Washington DC, Virginia, and/or Maryland are highly preferred, with a strong preference for knowledge of California court rules.
   
   Education
   
   Required: Bachelor's Degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
   
   Computer/Software Knowledge
   
   Required: Familiarity with CompuLaw or similar docket software
   
   Preferred: Typing speed of 45+ wpm
   
   #LI-Hybrid #LI-Associate #LI-CW1 #LI-Fulltime
   
   We will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance.
   
   
   Street: 333 S. Hope Street
   
   Telecommute: Yes

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find litigation support specialists for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   To find litigation support specialist candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with litigation support specialist candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a litigation support specialist applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new litigation support specialist

   Once you've found the litigation support specialist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new litigation support specialist first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a litigation support specialist?