Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
Perform secretarial duties using legal terminology, procedures, and documents. Prepare legal papers and correspondence, such as summonses, complaints, motions, and subpoenas. May also assist with legal research.
- Median pay
- $55,570
- Doing it now
- 157,600
- By 2035
- Down 5.2%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
18,100 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials.
- Receive and place telephone calls.
- Schedule and make appointments.
- Make photocopies of correspondence, documents, and other printed matter.
- Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files.
- Assist attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records.
- Draft and type office memos.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Legal Support ServicesSee 108 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Organised and precise
Leading and persuading
Helping and teaching
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $55,570 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.