Legal Secretary job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

10

O*NET task statements

O*NET occupation

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

O*NET-SOC 43-6012.00

Preparation

Job Zone 3 of 5

medium preparation

Typical entry education

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS 2025–35

Median pay

$55,570

BLS May 2025

Data Government data groups this job as Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants (O*NET-SOC 43-6012.00). O*NET 31.0 lists “Legal Secretary” as a job title for this occupation only (evidence: O*NET's Sample of Reported Titles (titles job holders report), O*NET job-incumbent data, the U.S. Employment and Training Administration and employer job postings). Figures on this page are for that occupation. TryHired has no separate career page for this title yet.

1. Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files. importance 4.3 of 5
2. Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials. importance 4.3 of 5
3. Prepare and distribute invoices to bill clients or pay account expenses. importance 4.3 of 5
4. Prepare, proofread, or process legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, motions, or pretrial agreements. importance 4.3 of 5
5. Make photocopies of correspondence, documents, and other printed matter. importance 4.2 of 5
6. Assist attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records. importance 4.1 of 5
7. Complete various forms, such as accident reports, trial and courtroom requests, and applications for clients. importance 4.1 of 5
8. Receive and place telephone calls. importance 4.1 of 5
9. Schedule and make appointments. importance 4.0 of 5
10. Draft and type office memos. importance 3.4 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Performing Administrative Activities, Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates, Working with Computers, Processing Information and Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work.

Also part of the job

Supplemental tasks O*NET lists for this occupation: less central than the core duties above, and not done in every job.

• Submit articles and information from searches to attorneys for review and approval for use.
• Make travel arrangements for attorneys.
• Attend legal meetings, such as client interviews, hearings, or depositions, and take notes.
• Review legal publications and perform database searches to identify laws and court decisions relevant to pending cases.

Knowledge areas: Administrative, English Language, Law and Government, Customer and Personal Service and Computers and Electronics.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Visio. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 3 of 5 (medium preparation). Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board.

The most common answer among legal secretaries surveyed by O*NET is an associate's degree (48%).

Job title: Legal Secretary
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring a Legal Secretary to perform secretarial duties using legal terminology, procedures, and documents.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files.
- Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials.
- Prepare and distribute invoices to bill clients or pay account expenses.
- Prepare, proofread, or process legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, motions, or pretrial agreements.
- Make photocopies of correspondence, documents, and other printed matter.
- Assist attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records.
- Complete various forms, such as accident reports, trial and courtroom requests, and applications for clients.
- Receive and place telephone calls.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in reading comprehension, active listening and writing
- Working knowledge of Administrative and English Language
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Office software]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

For Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, the median annual wage was $55,570 in May 2025. The median hourly wage was $26.72. BLS estimates about 156,280 jobs in this occupation in the U.S.

BLS projects employment of Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants to decline 5.2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 18,100 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

• Read a real legal secretary posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only legal secretary work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (reading comprehension and active listening): a real situation, what you did and what changed.