What skills should a Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Writing, Speaking, and Time Management among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes A1-Law, AbacusNext HotDocs, Accounting software, Aderant CompuLaw, and Adobe Acrobat. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant work?

O*NET records 23 titles for this occupation, including Legal Administrative Assistant, Legal Admin Assistant, Legal Office Support Assistant, and Legal Practice Assistant. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 48% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant resume example

A resume for a Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant needs to show the work itself: perform secretarial duties using legal terminology, procedures, and documents. Day to day that means work like this: organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files; mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Legal Administrative Assistant
Legal Admin Assistant
Legal Office Support Assistant
Legal Practice Assistant
Legal Secretary
Confidential Secretary
Legal Administrator
Legal Admin
Legal Coordinator
Legal Management Assistant
Litigation Secretary
Magistrate Assistant
Legal Exec Assistant
Accredited Legal Secretary
Certified Legal Secretary Specialist
Law Firm Administrator
Law Office Assistant
Law Secretary

O*NET records 23 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files.
Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials.
Prepare and distribute invoices to bill clients or pay account expenses.
Prepare, proofread, or process legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, motions, or pretrial agreements.
Make photocopies of correspondence, documents, and other printed matter.
Assist attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records.
Complete various forms, such as accident reports, trial and courtroom requests, and applications for clients.
Receive and place telephone calls.
Schedule and make appointments.
Draft and type office memos.
Submit articles and information from searches to attorneys for review and approval for use.
Make travel arrangements for attorneys.

14 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prepare and distribute invoices to bill clients or pay account expenses, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prepare, proofread, or process legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, motions, or pretrial agreements, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

A1-Law
AbacusNext HotDocs
Accounting software
Aderant CompuLaw
Adobe Acrobat
ADP Workforce Now
Amortization calculation software
Appointment scheduling software
Billing software
Case management software
Chrome River Expense
Database software
Desktop publishing software
Dropbox

47 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Digital audio recorders
Digital cameras
Digital duplicating machines
Document scanners
Document shredders
Electric typewriters
Handheld calculators
Laptop computers
Laser facsimile machines
Microfiche machines
Multi-line telephone systems
Pagers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

schedule appointments

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Reading Comprehension
03Writing
04Speaking
05Time Management
06Coordination
07Critical Thinking
08Monitoring
09Service Orientation
10Social Perceptiveness

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Administrative
English Language
Law and Government
Customer and Personal Service
Computers and Electronics
Administration and Management
Public Safety and Security

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

48%Associate's Degree
17%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
14%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant do?: Perform secretarial duties using legal terminology, procedures, and documents. Day to day that includes work like organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files and Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials.
What skills should a Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Writing, Speaking, and Time Management among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes A1-Law, AbacusNext HotDocs, Accounting software, Aderant CompuLaw, and Adobe Acrobat. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant work?: O*NET records 23 titles for this occupation, including Legal Administrative Assistant, Legal Admin Assistant, Legal Office Support Assistant, and Legal Practice Assistant. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 48% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistant role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.