Legal Secretary

Alternative Job Titles for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

• Confidential Secretary
• Legal Administrative Assistant (Legal Admin Assistant)
• Legal Administrator (Legal Admin)
• Legal Coordinator
• Legal Management Assistant
• Legal Office Support Assistant
• Legal Practice Assistant
• Legal Secretary
• Litigation Secretary
• Magistrate Assistant

Job Tasks and Activities for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

• Answer telephones to direct calls or provide information.
• Assist attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records.
• Attend legal meetings, such as client interviews, hearings, or depositions, and take notes.
• Complete various forms, such as accident reports, trial and courtroom requests, and applications for clients.
• Draft and type office memos.
• Issue documentation or identification to customers or employees.
• Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials.
• Make photocopies of correspondence, documents, and other printed matter.
• Make travel arrangements for attorneys.
• Make travel, accommodations, or entertainment arrangements for others.
• Obtain personal or financial information about customers or applicants.
• Operate office equipment.
• Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files.
• Prepare and distribute invoices to bill clients or pay account expenses.
• Prepare business correspondence.
• Prepare documentation for contracts, transactions, or regulatory compliance.
• Prepare legal documents.
• Prepare, proofread, or process legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, motions, or pretrial agreements.
• Proofread documents, records, or other files to ensure accuracy.
• Provide information to coworkers.
• Receive and place telephone calls.
• Record information about legal matters.
• Record information from meetings or other formal proceedings.
• Review legal publications and perform database searches to identify laws and court decisions relevant to pending cases.
• Schedule and make appointments.
• Schedule appointments.
• Search files, databases or reference materials to obtain needed information.
• Send information, materials or documentation.
• Submit articles and information from searches to attorneys for review and approval for use.

Interests for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

• Conventional
  Following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting.
• Enterprising
  Managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations.

Skills for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

In order of importance

• Reading Comprehension
  Reading work-related information.
  Importance: 75/100
• Active Listening
  Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
  Importance: 75/100
• Writing
  Writing things for co-workers or customers.
  Importance: 72/100
• Speaking
  Talking to others.
  Importance: 69/100
• Time Management
  Managing your time and the time of other people.
  Importance: 56/100
• Service Orientation
  Looking for ways to help people.
  Importance: 50/100
• Social Perceptiveness
  Understanding people's reactions.
  Importance: 50/100
• Coordination
  Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
  Importance: 50/100
• Critical Thinking
  Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
  Importance: 50/100
• Monitoring
  Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
  Importance: 50/100
• Complex Problem Solving
  Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
  Importance: 47/100
• Judgment and Decision Making
  Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
  Importance: 44/100
• Active Learning
  Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
  Importance: 44/100
• Persuasion
  Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
  Importance: 35/100
• Learning Strategies
  Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
  Importance: 31/100
• Mathematics
  Using math to solve problems.
  Importance: 28/100
• Management of Personnel Resources
  Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
  Importance: 28/100
• Negotiation
  Bringing people together to solve differences.
  Importance: 28/100
• Instructing
  Teaching people how to do something.
  Importance: 28/100
• Operations Monitoring
  Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
  Importance: 25/100
• Quality Control Analysis
  Testing how well a product or service works.
  Importance: 25/100
• Systems Evaluation
  Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
  Importance: 25/100
• Systems Analysis
  Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
  Importance: 25/100
• Programming
  Writing computer programs.
  Importance: 10/100
• Technology Design
  Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
  Importance: 10/100
• Troubleshooting
  Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
  Importance: 6/100
• Management of Financial Resources
  Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
  Importance: 6/100
• Operations Analysis
  Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
  Importance: 6/100

Knowledge for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

In order of importance

• Administrative
  Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
  Importance: 86/100
• English Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  Importance: 84/100
• Law and Government
  Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
  Importance: 80/100
• Computers and Electronics
  Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  Importance: 73/100
• Customer and Personal Service
  Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  Importance: 73/100
• Administration and Management
  Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  Importance: 54/100
• Public Safety and Security
  Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  Importance: 53/100
• Communications and Media
  Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
  Importance: 45/100
• Economics and Accounting
  Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
  Importance: 42/100
• Education and Training
  Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  Importance: 41/100
• Personnel and Human Resources
  Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  Importance: 40/100
• Telecommunications
  Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
  Importance: 39/100
• Sales and Marketing
  Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  Importance: 38/100
• Mathematics
  Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  Importance: 33/100
• Production and Processing
  Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
  Importance: 31/100
• Therapy and Counseling
  Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
  Importance: 30/100
• Psychology
  Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  Importance: 23/100
• Sociology and Anthropology
  Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
  Importance: 21/100
• Foreign Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
  Importance: 18/100
• Medicine and Dentistry
  Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  Importance: 16/100
• Geography
  Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
  Importance: 15/100
• Transportation
  Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  Importance: 10/100
• Design
  Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
  Importance: 9/100
• History and Archeology
  Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
  Importance: 8/100
• Philosophy and Theology
  Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
  Importance: 7/100
• Mechanical
  Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
  Importance: 4/100
• Physics
  Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
  Importance: 3/100
• Biology
  Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
  Importance: 3/100
• Chemistry
  Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
  Importance: 3/100

Physical Abilities for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

In order of importance

• Written Comprehension
  Reading and understanding what is written.
  Importance: 75/100
• Oral Comprehension
  Listening and understanding what people say.
  Importance: 75/100
• Near Vision
  Seeing details up close.
  Importance: 75/100
• Written Expression
  Communicating by writing.
  Importance: 72/100
• Oral Expression
  Communicating by speaking.
  Importance: 72/100
• Speech Recognition
  Recognizing spoken words.
  Importance: 69/100
• Speech Clarity
  Speaking clearly.
  Importance: 69/100
• Selective Attention
  Paying attention to something without being distracted.
  Importance: 53/100
• Information Ordering
  Ordering or arranging things.
  Importance: 53/100
• Category Flexibility
  Grouping things in different ways.
  Importance: 50/100
• Problem Sensitivity
  Noticing when problems happen.
  Importance: 50/100
• Deductive Reasoning
  Using rules to solve problems.
  Importance: 50/100
• Inductive Reasoning
  Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
  Importance: 47/100
• Fluency of Ideas
  Coming up with lots of ideas.
  Importance: 44/100
• Far Vision
  Seeing details that are far away.
  Importance: 44/100
• Originality
  Creating new and original ideas.
  Importance: 41/100
• Time Sharing
  Doing two or more things at the same time.
  Importance: 38/100
• Perceptual Speed
  Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
  Importance: 35/100
• Auditory Attention
  Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
  Importance: 31/100
• Visualization
  Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
  Importance: 31/100
• Memorization
  Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
  Importance: 28/100
• Flexibility of Closure
  Seeing hidden patterns.
  Importance: 28/100
• Mathematical Reasoning
  Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
  Importance: 28/100
• Number Facility
  Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
  Importance: 28/100
• Speed of Closure
  Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
  Importance: 28/100
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
  Importance: 28/100
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  Keeping your arm or hand steady.
  Importance: 25/100
• Finger Dexterity
  Putting together small parts with your fingers.
  Importance: 25/100
• Manual Dexterity
  Holding or moving items with your hands.
  Importance: 25/100
• Visual Color Discrimination
  Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
  Importance: 25/100
• Hearing Sensitivity
  Telling the difference between sounds.
  Importance: 25/100
• Control Precision
  Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
  Importance: 25/100
• Trunk Strength
  Using your lower back and stomach.
  Importance: 25/100
• Dynamic Strength
  Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
  Importance: 10/100
• Depth Perception
  Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
  Importance: 10/100

Tools and Technology used by Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

• Photocopiers
• Scanners
• Typewriters
• Microfiche or microfilm viewer components or accessories
• Notebook computers
• Paper shredding machines or accessories
• Premise branch exchange PBX systems
• Digital duplicators
• Digital voice recorders
• Special purpose telephones
• Pocket calculator
• Laser fax machine
• Pagers
• Digital cameras
• Word processors
• Personal computers
• Accounting software
  • Accounting software
  • Amortization calculation software
  • Billing software
  • Chrome River Expense
  • Intuit QuickBooks
  • Quicken
  • Sage 50 Accounting
  • Thomson Reuters Elite Billing Manager
  • Vertican Technologies Collection Master
• Cloud-based data access and sharing software
  • Dropbox
• Data base user interface and query software
  • A1-Law
  • Database software
  • Electronic adjudication management systems EAM
  • LexisNexis Time Matters
  • Microsoft Access
• Document management software
  • AbacusNext HotDocs
  • Adobe Acrobat
  • Filing system software
  • Microsoft Office SharePoint Server MOSS
• Word processing software
  • Electronic diary software
  • Microsoft Word
  • Transcription software
  • Word processing software
  • WordPerfect
• Information retrieval or search software
  • Legal research software
  • LexisNexis
  • Public access to electronic court records PACER
  • Thomson Reuters Westlaw
• Electronic mail software
  • Email software
  • IBM Lotus Notes
  • Microsoft Outlook
• Calendar and scheduling software
  • Aderant CompuLaw
  • Appointment scheduling software
• Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Spreadsheet software
• Expert system software
  • Legal software
• Video conferencing software
  • Web conferencing software
• Office suite software
  • Microsoft Office software
• Human resources software
  • ADP Workforce Now
• Analytical or scientific software
  • Litigation management software
• Internet browser software
  • Web browser software
• Presentation software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Presentation software
• Web page creation and editing software
  • Web page design and editing software
• Project management software
  • Case management software
• Process mapping and design software
  • Microsoft Visio
• Desktop publishing software
  • Desktop publishing software

Employment Industries for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

• Legal services
  123,700 employed
• Local government, excluding education and hospitals
  11,400 employed
• State government, excluding education and hospitals
  8,100 employed