The Legal Assistant Career: In-Depth Perspective and Growth Opportunities

Inside Look at a Legal Assistant’s Duties

The legal assistant profession has gained significant recognition and respect in recent years as both a viable career path for those seeking to join the legal field, and as a necessity within the legal industry. Legal assistants, also known as paralegals, serve as the backbone of law firms, corporate legal departments, and government agencies by providing crucial administrative and legal support to attorneys.
In essence, a legal assistant is a professional who is trained in legal terminology, documentation, and procedures. They are responsible for a wide range of tasks including conducting research, drafting and editing legal documents, organizing files, and communicating with clients, witnesses , and other stakeholders. The role of a legal assistant is vital as they help to ensure that everything runs smoothly in the legal office, allowing attorneys to focus on the more complex aspects of cases.
Without legal assistants, law firms and other organizations would struggle to keep up with the demands of their work. From case management to scheduling, from billing to document preparation, they make sure that nothing falls through the cracks. Their expertise also ensures that the legal process remains organized and efficient, minimizing delays and maximizing productivity. This is why legal assistants are an invaluable part of the legal profession, and why pursuing a career in this field can be both personally and professionally rewarding.

What Education do Legal Assistants Need?

The requirements for becoming a legal assistant vary greatly in order to align with the myriad of services performed by legal assistants and the various specializations that they pursue. Education requirements depend on the field of law in which a legal assistant works. Generally, they must have at least some post-secondary education to work in this field. Most legal assistants hold post-college certificates or associate’s degrees in paralegal studies. A few may hold bachelor’s degrees in paralegal studies, and a small number have master’s degrees. Some paralegal studies programs include an internship component, which allows students to gain valuable work experience while completing their training. As the demand for legal assistants has grown, so has the competition to fill these positions. As such, many in this field now seek certification through a national organization, in the hopes of being recognized as a leading legal assistant in their field. The National Federation of Paralegal Associates offers the most recognized certification in the U.S., the Certified Legal Assistant or CLA designation. To earn this certification, an applicant must complete a qualifying education program and pass an exam. Many legal assistants choose to obtain advanced certifications in their fields in order to distinguish themselves in the eyes of potential employers and to expand their earning potential. The National Association of Legal Assistants and Paralegals and the NALS-Association for Legal Professionals are two organizations that offer advanced certifications for legal assistants in specified areas of the law. Such credentials can help legal assistants show their qualifications to perform specialized work, thus making them more valuable in the workplace. Legal assistants often have opportunities for advancement, such as expanding their areas of practice or working on more complex cases. Legal assistants who wish to take on supervisory roles or hope to eventually become lawyers themselves will often seek additional education upgrades, such as a bachelor’s or even a master’s degree in paralegal studies. Legal assistants can often benefit from networking through organizations and conventions. Some legal assistants join the National Federation of Paralegal Associations in order to keep up with news in the field and to take advantage of educational opportunities. Others choose to attend their local or regional affiliate group.

The Necessary Skills of Legal Assistants

A legal assistant is expected to possess a set of core competences that will enable them to deliver high-quality support to employers. One of their core duties is to assist attorneys during the trial and other legal proceedings. The skills required are mandatory, but the level of proficiency needed can vary from one role to another. These are some of the things a legal assistant needs to be able to do.
Preparation of legal documents You are required to draft legal documents such as pleadings, contracts, and agreements. You should be able to take instructions from the lawyer on what to include in the documents, and then produce a draft that will require minimal input from the attorney, or none. Professional writers or specialists are called on when specific expertise is needed, but you should be able to do both basic and highly technical documents.
Prioritizing and organizing You will often be required to handle several projects at once. Splitting your time and focusing on several matters or issues at once is very important. You should be able to prioritize work in a way that that is in alignment with the firm’s priorities or the priorities of the attorney that you work for. You will also need to have the skill to manage people by tracking deadlines, costs and inputs. Managing time efficiently involves having a combination of organizational, analytical, communication, and scheduling skills.
Research skills Research is critical in any field, and that is particularly the case in law. You will be required to conduct research in order to support a case. You should be comfortable using online tools as well as hard copies of books and magazines in order to produce information that may be crucial to the success of a case. You will consistently keep up to date with current legal issues, developments and trends. Information obtained from research is used for pleadings in court or to prepare attorneys for interviews, depositions, hearings, or trials.
Teamwork and communication Legal administrative assistants work closely with lawyers, but they also interact with multiple stakeholders. You will be required to maintain contacts and respond promptly to any communications. You will also provide general administrative support to the staff in your office or department to keep things running smoothly.

How do Legal Assistants Advance in their Careers?

Typically, the growth and stability of a law firm will dictate the rate at which a legal assistant moves up in the organization. Larger law firms offer more advancement opportunities and often pay more. Promotion to senior positions such as office or firm administrator is common after direct supervision of junior legal assistants for several years. Staying current with law and computer technology by attending seminars and courses not only prepares legal assistants for advancement but also enhances their professional value for an employer. Specialty firms and departments within a large business or corporation may offer opportunities for advancement along other career paths. For example, litigation support specialists are lawyers or paralegals who specialize in pre-trial matters, including evidence, depositions, interrogatories, and pleadings. A corporation that produces and distributes video recordings may offer legal assistants in-house training that will make them expert witnesses in some types of litigation, such as component part patents or teacher licensing. Corporate legal departments may routinely specialize on proprietary technical information, labor relations, or international contracts. Legal assistants who have specialized or advanced degrees may qualify for a position as an attorney, depending on the requirements of the state in which they plan to work.

Workplace and Salary of a Legal Assistant

The traditional work environment for a legal assistant is corporate. Legal assistants are often employed by law firms, serving on teams that assist legal professionals such as attorneys, paralegals and legal secretaries. Legal assistants contribute to a range of important administrative tasks, and they may accompany legal professionals on-location at courthouses, law firms, government agencies and other frequently-travelled locations. However, legal assistants also work in businesses, corporations and other organizations that need assistance with a variety of legal functions.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that full-time legal assistants tend to work throughout the week, although they often spend extra time in the office on weekends and some holidays . Finding new employment may also happen over the weekends, particularly with smaller firms that need non-business hour assistance. The work environment for legal assistant professionals can be very stressful when dealing with confidential and sensitive information; they may need to deal with angry clients and customers from time to time.
The salary of a contractual, full-time legal assistant will depend on a number of different factors, such as the amount of hours spend on the job, type of employment (government vs. private business), years of experience and geographic region or location. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that contractual legal assistants earned $63,180 in 2018. In the same year, full-time legal assistants reported an annual median pay of $65,230.

What’s it like Being a Legal Assistant?

As is the case with any occupation, some challenges exist for legal assistants and the anticipated rewards of a law career must be weighed against those. Something to keep in mind is that a strong foundation in the field of law can open a legal assistant’s resume to opportunities for assistant attorneys and paralegals. At the same time, the following challenges must be considered:

The legal field is highly competitive, so you should be determined to succeed in your specific area of the law; you may need to obtain certifications to make yourself stand out among potential colleagues; one way to do this is via certifications through the National Association of Legal Assistants or other legal assistance organizations; whole practice groups and firms can also apply for certification through the NALA Legal Certification Board by passing the most important industry exam.
Constantly rising legal fees can result in fewer clients becoming interested in hiring a law firm or legal group; as a legal assistant, you may be called on to conduct research to assist your firm in developing innovative ways to lower legal fees; sometimes, this means doing a significant amount of work outside normal office hours.
Some legal assistants may feel like they perform much of the grunt work for a law group or attorney, such as filing paperwork, researching the law, and delivering documents to courts; this can understandably be frustrating to law assistants who have put in time and effort to seek advancement in their field.
Paperwork seems to multiply in legal practices, and you’ll find that you must constantly clean up after yourself by filing, shredding, or throwing out papers that are no longer needed.
If you work for a smaller practice, you may find yourself performing multiple jobs, even unrelated to law. You could, for example, move on from being a legal assistant to working as an accountant for a law firm. This can be frustrating to some legal assistants who seek to be strictly involved only with legal matters.

While there are these challenges, the profession of legal assistant is largely seen as a rewarding career because of two notable fields: technology and plentiful job security. With whom you interact and work with on a daily basis will depend on the specific area of the law in which you work, but the following professionals will likely be among them:

Compared to many other occupations, legal assistants enjoy greater room for advancement in higher positions such as attorney, paralegal, or other legal support staff.
Experienced legal assistants are highly sought after and command good salaries.
Job security is high, despite the fact that some firms are beginning to allow legal software tools to do work that used to be performed by legal assistants.
More legal assistants than ever are earning competitive salaries, partially because the profession is growing rapidly and partially because many firms are being forced to offer competitive salaries to fill open positions with qualified candidates.

Looking Ahead: What Will the Future Hold for Legal Assistants?

The landscape of the legal assisting industry is ripe with opportunities for those seeking to carve out a career in this field. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment of legal assistants is projected to grow 12 percent from 2014 to 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations. This growth is driven by a variety of factors, including the expansion of the legal field into emerging technologies, the increasing complexity of legal work, and the globalization of legal services.
One of the trendsetting areas in the legal field is legal technology. As the legal profession becomes more tech-savvy, there is a growing demand for legal assistants and paralegals who are knowledgeable about emerging technologies. This includes not only mastery of the latest case management software and electronic discovery tools, but also an understanding of how legal technology can be leveraged for optimal organizational efficiency and client services. Those who can adapt and embrace the trends and developments in technology while performing their traditional responsibilities have a leg up on their competition.
Processes in the legal profession are also rapidly evolving. More than ever, lawyers are expected to be responsive quickly to their clients’ needs. Ever-shifting deadlines, the need for regular communication with clients, and the constant tracking and performing of billable hours have created a need for staff who are not only organized and detail-oriented, but who also possess the soft skills that propel a lawyer’s practice forward. As relationships with clients become more personal and the line between lawyer and client blurs, legal assistants and paralegals must become even more attuned to the needs of the clients and the necessary follow-through required to fulfill them . Legal assistants will increasingly be required to build rapport with patients, discover their individual needs, and follow through with the appropriate solutions.
Just as the nature of legal work continues to change, so too does the composition of the working population within the profession. The American Bar Association cites a shift in the workforce demographics of the profession as further evidence of change. In 1975, women made up 6 percent of all lawyers and men 94 percent. By 2016, women made up 36 percent of active attorneys and men 64 percent, nearly doubling the number of women in the profession. This trend could continue, given the ABA’s reported forecast that women will constitute half of all lawyers by 2030. Thus, that same diversity may eventually carry over into legal assistants with greater frequency.
In a profession that traditionally has had few opportunities for upward mobility, legal assistants and paralegals now have the chance to broaden their job scope even further. With the expansion of the legal services model through hybrid roles that combine both traditional and innovative legal service delivery systems, assistants and paralegals can decide to focus exclusively on the administrative or billable aspect, or split between the two. Legal assistants who have specialized skills, such as foreign language abilities and knowledge of immigration laws, may also have the opportunity to become nomadic paralegals who travel overseas to provide immigrants with assistance in applying for visas.
The future promises to be an exciting one for legal assistants and paralegals, and those willing to learn and adapt can expect to enjoy rewarding career advancement opportunities. Employers, and the world, will benefit as well from their enhanced knowledge and skills.