Legal Assistant

Legal Assistant job description

Legal assistants, or those in legal secretary/paralegal hybrid roles, often work closely with lawyers on legal matters, perform basic legal research and draft legal documents for lawyers’ review. In addition, they are usually expected to perform clerical duties traditionally performed by legal secretaries. Legal assistants must have excellent written and oral communication skills, technical savvy and strong attention to detail.

Typical legal assistant duties:

Note taking at meetings

Communicating with clients, witnesses, court officials, opposing counsel and other parties

Scheduling depositions, site inspections, hearings, closings and meetings

Preparing legal documents and notices

Updating transactional documents

Maintaining case and correspondence files

Assisting lawyers in preparing for transactional closings, depositions, hearings, trials and conferences

Investigating the factual evidence of a transaction or case and preparing exhibits, charts and diagrams to display information

Conducting routine discovery

Obtaining due-diligence materials, such as corporate certificates of good standing, real estate and title information, and securities filings

Organizing and tracking files for important transactions or case documents, including pleadings and voluminous discovery documents, in addition to creating and maintaining a case-management database

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Calendar management

Case management software

Commercial litigation

Data entry

Drafting legal documents

e-Filing

Estate planning

Timekeeping support

National salary range for Legal Assistant

53000 - 72750

Low

53000

The candidate is new to the role or has limited experience and is still developing core skills.

Mid

62500

The candidate has moderate experience in the role or one similar, meets most requirements and may hold transferable skills or relevant certifications.

High

72750

The candidate has extensive experience in the role, demonstrates advanced skills and often brings specialized certifications or industry experience.

Projected salaries for related positions

Job title

Low

Mid

High

Paralegal Manager

88750

99750

113500

Senior Paralegal

82500

94250

107750

Paralegal

57000

70500

90500

Entry-Level Paralegal

47000

52250

59000

Legal Operations Director

152000

175000

200500

Legal Operations Manager

86000

106000

122250

Legal Operations Specialist

76000

86750

100750

Senior Legal Assistant

74250

81750

89500

Litigation and eDiscovery Specialist

67750

78500

96500

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