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Paralegal skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted Experts

Shelly Grunsted,

Emily Allen-Hornblower

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical paralegal skills. We ranked the top skills for paralegals based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 15.1% of paralegal resumes contained litigation as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a paralegal needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 paralegal skills for your resume and career

1. Litigation

Here's how paralegals use litigation:

Position: Litigation Paralegal/Paralegal Coordinator.
Provided outstanding support with litigation file preparation for a specialized law firm focusing on residential foreclosures by delivering essential paralegal duties.

2. Legal Research

Here's how paralegals use legal research:

Performed legal research and prepared correspondence to congressional offices and consulates abroad related to the preparation of immigration interviews.
Performed various law-related tasks including legal research as well as file organization and indexing documentary evidence.

3. Law Firm

Here's how paralegals use law firm:

Provide paralegal support to law firm concentrating in plaintiff representation for personal injury, premises liability, and wrongful death litigation.
Trusted office administrator for law firm, holding liberal discretionary powers for day-to-day operations.

4. Discovery Responses

Discovery response is the response made by a person on trial once discoveries are made against them. Certain motions are filed against a person on trial, which may include a request for interrogations, request for production, etc, and they have to file a response within some time. The official response is filed in court and its copies can be distributed to the other parties.

Here's how paralegals use discovery responses:

Interpreted legal documents; summarized discovery responses; reviewed, indexed, and summarized pleadings and correspondence produced by opposing parties.
Manage and work on discovery including investigation organization and preparing interrogatories, requests for production and discovery responses.

5. 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 paralegals use subpoenas:

Drafted subpoenas, organized discovery material, coordinated all discovery sessions with defense attorneys, and inventoried all case documents.
Gather documentation and/or information and prepare responses to subpoenas and garnishments distinguishing what is privileged.

6. Trial Preparation

Trial preparation is the practice of gathering sufficient raw material for a court case. This preparation is done to make the bases of a case stronger by bringing the facts to light in a way that will give the concerned law bodies a better comprehension of the entire scenario. The method for preparing for a case may differ depending upon its nature.

Here's how paralegals use trial preparation:

Managed approximately 20 trial groups for local Westinghouse asbestos defense counsel - Assisted with trial preparation for national asbestos defense counsel
Generate correspondence, status reports and legal documents Client contact Process authorizations Review and summarize medical records Billing Trial preparation

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7. Affidavits

An Affidavit is a type of written agreement or statement voluntarily created under an oath which can be led and confirmed by only those people that have been specified by the relevant laws. An affidavit is often used in such places and events as court trials, where a signed and written statement witnessed by other members or witnesses of the court is necessary in order to ensure that a witness or another person are telling the truth.

Here's how paralegals use affidavits:

Provided administrative support and paralegal assistance by drafting and preparing legal documents such as motions and affidavits for self- represented parties.
Drafted trademark applications and renewal affidavits for US trademarks and drafted application and renewal instructions for international trademark counsel.

8. PowerPoint

Here's how paralegals use powerpoint:

Produced innovative bankruptcy PowerPoint marketing presentation
Coordinated preparation and timely dissemination of company reports and PowerPoint presentations for shareholder and board meetings.

9. Interrogatories

Here's how paralegals use interrogatories:

Worked closely with clients to complete discovery obligations such as financial disclosure statements, responses to document requests and interrogatories.
Assist clients in getting authorized medical treatment/temporary disability benefits, answering interrogatories, scheduling permanency evaluations, and court appearances.

10. Real Estate Closings

Here's how paralegals use real estate closings:

Reviewed real estate closing documents and performed all phases of Lender-represented residential real estate closings and attended and administered closings.
Coordinated commercial and residential real estate closings on behalf of individual clients and various lending institutions.

11. Legal Support

Here's how paralegals use legal support:

Provided legal support in most highly visible complex legal and regulatory environment and provided legal assistance to military personnel and families.
Assisted senior counsel in delivering real estate legal support to three Safeway divisions with portfolios comprising approximately 600 operating facilities.

12. Due Diligence

Due diligence refers to the process of auditing, investigating, or reviewing done to confirm the authenticity of relevant facts. In addition to this, it also refers to the evaluation of a party's financial records to determine whether one should enter into a transaction with the said party or not.

Here's how paralegals use due diligence:

Managed the central repository for corporate-wide Compliance, Due Diligence and Code of Conduct requirements for Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption compliance.
Supported client relationship managers by ensuring completeness of due diligence files for compliance with legal requirements for cash management documentation.

13. Litigation Support

Here's how paralegals use litigation support:

Provided litigation support in a variety of cases including medical malpractice, products liability, labor and employment and commercial litigation.
Provided litigation support by assisting in case investigations, including gathering of underwriting, claim and agency information and subpoena responses.

14. Legal Issues

Here's how paralegals use legal issues:

Advised management on legal issues identified and research conducted and prepares draft legal documents for Senior/Executive Management approval and signature.
Prepared legal documents and general correspondence Billing Researched factual and legal issues Maintained files Client Interviews Reception Work Dictation

15. Probate

Here's how paralegals use probate:

Drafted all documents for probate administration proceedings, and assisted personal representatives through the entire probate process.
Sole employee responsible for preparation of probate administration documents for attorney.

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What skills help Paralegals find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on Paralegal resumes?

Shelly Grunsted

Executive Director - Center for Student Success, Director, First Fidelity Integrated Business Core Program (IBC), Associate Professor, The University of Oklahoma

Depending on the job, but some that stand out: experiential learning experience, leadership skills, communication skills, problem-solving/analytical, internship experience, and collaboration efforts/group-work

What Paralegal 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 Paralegals 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.

What soft skills should all Paralegals possess?

Bram Elias

Clinical Professor of Law, University of Iowa

So much of legal work is research, analysis and writing - so any job that involves learning new things and synthesizing what you've learned into a written final product is helpful, especially if you have to get work done on tight deadlines. Journalism is great. Advocating on behalf of others is great. Policy advocacy, politics, non-profit work - all great. Doing something you care about. For folks who haven't had any exposure to lawyers in their life, it can be useful to have some time seeing what lawyers really do all day so you know what you're getting into - so working as a paralegal, an investigator for lawyers, a translator for lawyers, or for a court system - all great. Really, any job at all is great, as long as it's a job you care about and want to do well. And no job at all is fine too! The most important thing is knowing why you want to go to law school in the first place.

Do you want to know more?

List of paralegal skills to add to your resume

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

Litigation
Legal Research
Law Firm
Discovery Responses
Subpoenas
Trial Preparation
Affidavits
PowerPoint
Interrogatories
Real Estate Closings
Legal Support
Due Diligence
Litigation Support
Legal Issues
Probate
Lexis
Management System

Legal Articles
Family Law
Demand Letters
Civil Litigation
Foreclosure
Attorney Review
Client Intake
Legal Correspondence
Social Security
USPTO
Court Dates
Arbitration
Scheduling Appointments
Deposition Summaries
Estate Planning
Government Agencies
Federal Courts

Legal Memoranda
UCC
Notary
Insurance Defense
Settlement Agreements
Client Interviews
Plaintiff
Medical Malpractice
Travel Arrangements
Court Appearances
Telephone Calls
Court Filings
Insurance Carriers
Police Reports
Court Hearings
Trial Exhibits

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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