Legal Assistant

The term legal assistant and the the term paralegal are often used interchangeably. Legal assistants are quite valuable to an attorney. They provide a great service to lawyers. The job description of a legal assistant or a paralegal can vary based on what type of office they are working in. A smaller, private law office may have a legal assistant doing tasks with more responsibility than their larger firm counterparts. A legal assistant may also preform secretarial type of tasks as well as paralegal tasks. A smaller law office may employ a legal assistant to act as a secretary and a legal assistant. In a larger law firm, there is usually several legal assistants, paralegals, and secretaries, each with different job roles and responsibilities.

Commonly, a paralegal or legal assistant drafts legal documents for an attorney to look over and approve. Another common task of a legal assistant is transcription. This is listening to a taped dictation that a lawyer has recorded and typing a transcript of it. They may also file legal documents with a courthouse office. In order to become a legal assistant, one would need an associate’s degree or an equivalent certificate. A future paralegal can opt to go to school for a higher degree as well. Also, an attorney will usually requires legal assistants to have a year or two work of experience working in a legal office setting. This can be achieved through internships. Sometimes, though quite rare, the degree requirement can be waived for people with a few years’ experience working as a legal assistant already.

Legal assistants earn a steady income. It is one of the few careers that start out earning a significant income without many years invested in an education. Legal assistants can earn over $67,000 a year. Most legal assistants or paralegals earn around $52,000 on average. There are several places where a legal assistant can be employed. These places are not limited to law offices or firms. Places of employment for legal assistants can also include government jobs, courthouse work, or assisting in a law department of a business. The best way to determine if one should seek a career as a legal assistant is to take an Aptitude Test to determine if one’s skills match up to what a legal assistant’s skills should be. Often overlooked, but well paid, legal assistants truly make a law office run.

Data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The salary range for Legal Assistant begins around $42,000 and usually tops out around $70,000, with a mean in the neighborhood of $56,000. This is about 29% higher than the national average for annual salaries.

In order to qualify for most Legal Assistant positions, you typically need to have a Associate's Degree or higher.

Data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The growth outlook for Legal Assistant careers is estimated at about 22% while the estimated growth for all career fields over that same span is at about 10.12%. Over the next six years, Legal Assistant jobs are expected to grow at a 117% higher rate than the national average for annual salaries.