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Legal Executive Assistant Duties and Responsibilities

The tasks that legal executive assistants perform on a daily basis can differ depending on the specific type of law firm for which they work, however, most legal executive assistants perform the same core tasks:

Perform Legal Research Legal executive assistants perform legal research specific to the case currently being worked. They gather information in an organized manner and present it to the managing attorney.

Provide Administrative Support Legal executive assistants provide general administrative support to the legal team. This includes organizing schedules, arranging meetings, and setting up travel arrangements.

Write Legal Reports Legal executive assistants write legal reports based on the data gathered from research and initial interviews. They write clear and concise reports so that all involved parties can understand them.

Organize and Track Case Documentation Case documentation must be organized efficiently. Legal executive assistants organize and track case documentation, making it easily accessible to team members who need it.

Maintain Legal Databases Legal executive assistants maintain the firm’s legal databases. They also use external legal databases as needed to gather more data for the case.

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Legal Executive Assistant Skills and Qualifications

Employers typically hire legal executive assistants who have at least an associate’s degree in a paralegal program and three years of previous experience working at a law firm. Successful legal executive assistants also possess the following skills and qualifications:

  • Legal knowledge – legal executive assistants are knowledgeable in the type of law that their firm practices, applying it to specific cases
  • Research skills – legal executive assistants are research experts, knowing where to look for new data and how to interpret it
  • Project and case management experience – legal executive assistants are adept at managing the administrative aspects of a case
  • Organizational skills – successful legal executive assistants are well organized, keeping track of everything happening
  • Perceptive – legal executive assistants are perceptive, often finding details pertinent to a case that others may have missed
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Legal Executive Assistant Education and Training

Legal executive assistants usually have an associate’s degree in a paralegal program. However, if they want to advance in pay and position, they should possess a bachelor’s degree in a related field. Additional training for legal executive assistants may also be required upon getting hired, such as getting up to speed in the current cases and using the law firm’s specific tools and software.

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Legal Executive Assistant Salary and Outlook

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports the median annual salary for legal executive assistants as $49,500. With more experience and education, legal executive assistants in the top 10 percent earn $80,260 per year, while those in the lowest 10 percent earn $31,070 per year. Legal executive assistants are also eligible for additional benefits, depending on the law firm where they work. These benefits may include comprehensive health, vision, and dental insurance, vacation time, and sick time. Legal executive assistants may also receive incentive-based bonuses based on the win rate for the law firm’s legal cases. The job outlook for legal executive assistants is largely positive, according to the BLS, which predicts a 15 percent growth over the next 10 years. Legal executive assistants will continue to become more of a hybrid role, performing both legal and administrative duties.

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Helpful Resources

We’ve listed several resources below that you can use to learn more about being a legal executive assistant:

e-LEGAL Support: Legal Secretary, Paralegals, Virtual Assistants, Law Clerks & Admin Staff – This LinkedIn group has over 37,000 members, all who belong to the legal support industry. You can join this group to learn more about the industry overall and get valuable help and insight into becoming a desirable legal executive assistant candidate.

Paralegal Career for Dummies – Legal executive assistants perform many of the same tasks as paralegals, and often do more. This book from the For Dummies series offers simple and valuable information about the industry as a whole. It shows how to prepare litigation documents, perform legal research, and manage the administrative side of the law firm. It also provides tips on how to break into the industry and find a job as a legal executive assistant.

Legal Terminology (Quick Study: Law) – This is an inexpensive pamphlet that contains a comprehensive list of legal terminology a legal executive assistant should know. This is a handy resource to have whether you’re already a legal executive assistant or you’re trying to find a job as one.