Legal Assistant Resume Examples, Template, & Tips

Legal Assistant Resume Template (Text Format)

Entry-level legal assistant resume

If this is your first time applying for a legal assistant role, model your resume after this entry-level legal assistant resume example:

Download This Resume (Word)

Example highlights

• Relevant experience: This applicant showcases their experience working in a law firm environment as an intern, and their administrative experience gained from working at a hospital. Don’t worry if your previous experience isn’t in the legal field; as long as you show that you’ve developed relevant skills, it will be enough to impress most employers.
• Relevant coursework: The applicant lists some of the legal courses they took in their education section to give employers a better understanding of their legal knowledge level.

Senior legal assistant resume

When you have a few years of experience in the legal field, this is what your resume should look like:

Download This Resume (Word)

Example highlights

• Quantified bullet points: The applicant describes their achievements using numbers and percentages to measure the impact of their contributions in previous roles, making their resume more convincing.
• Brief education section: Because they already have over a decade of experience in the field, they keep their education section short. This leaves more space for their work-related accomplishments.

Law clerk resume

To land your next job with a law clerk resume, take a look at this example to ensure no key elements are missing:

Download This Resume (Word)

Example highlight

• Language certification: Including a language certification on your resume, like this applicant does, can help set you apart from other candidates by showing you can communicate with clients in their mother tongue.

Average legal assistant salaries in the US

The following table includes information from O*NET Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. The data is presented based on the top states in the United States.

How to become a legal assistant

Interested in a career as a legal assistant but not sure where to start? In this video, Allysa from lifewithicie shares the steps she took to break into the field:

How to write a legal assistant resume

With a mean salary above the U.S. average and a variety of routes into the profession, becoming a legal assistant is an attractive career path.

Follow our tips below to optimize your resume and improve your chances of landing your dream role as a legal assistant or legal secretary.

1. Use action verbs

A mistake many job seekers make is to start every bullet point with dull phrases like “tasked with” or “responsible for”. Starting your resume bullet points with powerful action verbs will help you keep hiring managers’ attention as they read your resume.

Here are some examples of action verbs to use on your legal assistant resume:

• Draft
• Prepare
• Organize
• Manage
• File
• Schedule
• Research
• Compile
• Process
• Review
• Communicate
• Support
• Arrange
• Analyze

2. Use hard numbers to create a persuasive experience section

As a legal professional, you undoubtedly know that the more compelling evidence an attorney provides, the greater the chance of winning over a jury.

It’s the same deal with hiring managers—the more evidence of your abilities you cram into your resume, the more likely you are to impress them. Specifically, you should use hard numbers to quantify your resume and back up your claims.

Here are some examples of the types of data you can include in your resume:

• Number of cases you juggle each week (or month, or year)
• Size of the law firm budget you manage
• Number of legal documents you draft each week
• Amount of time you’ve saved for attorneys (through better time management, more accurately researched reports, etc.)
• Percentage of cases with a successful outcome you’ve contributed to compared with your colleagues
• Amount of money you’ve saved your law firm (through efficiency savings, better time management, etc.)

And here are a couple of examples of how you can include such statistics on your resume:

Implemented a new document management system that saved attorneys 10 hours per week, enhancing overall productivity

Managed the preparation and filing of over 100 legal documents per month, ensuring accuracy and compliance with court deadlines

3. Write an engaging introduction

Because it’s the first thing readers will see, your resume introduction needs to capture potential employers’ attention.

The best way to do this is by writing a concise paragraph of 3–5 sentences that includes highlights from your career as a legal assistant and shows you have the skills necessary to succeed at a law firm.

Here are three good examples:

Resume examples for different industries

Not sure what your resume should look like? The best way to learn is by taking inspiration from resume examples written by other candidates in your industry.

34 categories

+453 free templates

Browse Resume Examples