How To Become A Senior Legal Secretary: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior legal secretary and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A senior legal secretary is someone who performs the clerical duties in a law firm. This individual works in legal firms, corporate legal offices, nonprofit organizations, and government offices. The senior legal secretary must know a lot about legal proceedings and documentation. However, they are different from paralegals and legal assistants. The attorney and practice area under which the senior legal secretary works determines their duties. They prepare legal briefs, court subpoenas, spreadsheets, and other related documents. The secretary schedules appointments with clients, takes notes during legal meetings, and maintains the legal research references of the firm.

A minimum of a high school diploma and professional certification are the requirements for the position. As a senior legal secretary, you must possess computer, organization, multitasking, computer, and communication skills. The annual median salary of the senior legal secretary is $47,300.

ScoreSenior Legal SecretaryUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $60,027

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.7

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.87%

Asian 2.73%

Black or African American 7.45%

Hispanic or Latino 13.17%

Unknown 3.98%

White 71.80%

Gender

female 92.20%

male 7.80%

Age - 56

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 56

Stress level

4.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.0

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.2

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior legal secretary

Explore senior legal secretary education requirements

Most common senior legal secretary degrees

Bachelor's

38.4 %

Associate

33.2 %

High School Diploma

11.2 %

Start to develop specific senior legal secretary skills

Skills	Percentages
Litigation	11.81%
Travel Arrangements	7.58%
Discovery Responses	5.73%
Subpoenas	5.33%
Legal Research	5.09%

Complete relevant senior legal secretary training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior legal secretaries learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior legal secretary based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior legal secretary resumes.

Research senior legal secretary duties and responsibilities

Manage high volume of requests and correspondence from executives and colleagues, pharmaceutical representatives, patients and outside physicians.
Prepare check requests for transcripts, court reporters, medical records, subpoenas and filings.
Prepare miscellaneous correspondence to clients, opposing counsel, arbitration boards, etc.
Assist drafting settlement & release agreements/ pleadings/notices, briefs, interrogatories, etc.

Get senior legal secretary experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior legal secretary. The most common roles before becoming a senior legal secretary include legal secretary, legal assistant team lead and administrative assistant.

Prepare your senior legal secretary resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior legal secretary resume.

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