Careers > Paralegals and Legal Assistants

Paralegals and Legal Assistants

$59.2K Median Salary 43K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 12% Job Growth

Find Colleges for this Career Find Certificates for this Career

About This Career

Assist lawyers by investigating facts, preparing legal documents, or researching legal precedent. Conduct research to support a legal proceeding, to formulate a defense, or to initiate legal action.

Reported Job Titles

Certified Paralegal, Corporate Law Assistant, Law Associate, Legal Analyst, Legal Assistant, Litigation Paralegal, Paralegal, Paralegal Assistant, Paralegal Specialist, Real Estate Paralegal

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Written Comprehension

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Written Expression

Near Vision

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Problem Sensitivity

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Information Ordering

Category Flexibility

Flexibility of Closure

Perceptual Speed

Knowledge

Administrative

English Language

Law and Government

Customer and Personal Service

Computers and Electronics

Skills

Reading Comprehension

Active Listening

Speaking

Writing

Critical Thinking

Active Learning

Complex Problem Solving

Coordination

Judgment and Decision Making

Monitoring

Service Orientation

Time Management

Technology Skills

Document management software

Word processing software

Information retrieval or search software

Data base user interface and query software

Analytical or scientific software

Desktop publishing software

Office suite software

Cloud-based data access and sharing software

Electronic mail software

Accounting software

Customer relationship management CRM software

Spreadsheet software

Pattern design software

Categorization or classification software

Optical character reader OCR or scanning software

Video conferencing software

Video creation and editing software

File versioning software

Transaction server software

Business intelligence and data analysis software

Internet browser software

Presentation software

Project management software

Library software

Tools

Scanners

Optical character recognition systems

Laser fax machine

Photocopiers

Notebook computers

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Abilities

Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.

Knowledge

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.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills

Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Technology Skills

Document management software: Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat; Filing system software; Records management software; Transcription system software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Information retrieval or search software: LexisNexis
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Analytical or scientific software: Statistical analysis software; TapRooT
Desktop publishing software: Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Microsoft Publisher
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Cloud-based data access and sharing software: Dropbox; Google Drive; Microsoft SharePoint
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Accounting software: Billing software; Bookkeeping software; Intuit QuickBooks; Sage 50 Accounting
Customer relationship management CRM software: Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge; Microsoft Dynamics; Salesforce.com Salesforce CRM
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Pattern design software: Tactile graphic production kits software
Categorization or classification software: Drug coding software
Optical character reader OCR or scanning software: Text scanning software
Video conferencing software: Teleconferencing software
Video creation and editing software: YouTube
File versioning software: Apache Subversion SVN; Continuous integration software; Git; Version control software
Transaction server software: Customer information control system CICS
Business intelligence and data analysis software: BrightEdge; Conductor Searchlight; IBM Digital Analytics; Searchmetrics Suite
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project
Library software: Houchen Bindery Library Automated Retrieval System LARS