Legal Assistant Resume Examples 2023 (with Job Description)

Legal assistant jobs can come with high pay and prestige. But they may also come with a surplusage of stress, long work hours, and boring tasks that must be completed in legalese. To land the former, you need to prove you're the crème de la crème.

That’s why your legal assistant resume must not only make your case, but also win it.

This guide will show you:

• A legal assistant resume example better than 9 out of 10 others.
• How to write a legal assistant resume that gets more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a legal assistant resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for a legal assistant to get any job you want.

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Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume samples here.

Are you writing a legal administrative assistant resume? Do you need a legal secretary resume sample? Applying for other roles? See our guides:

• Secretary Resume
• Office Assistant Resume
• Administrative Assistant Resume
• Entry-Level Administrative Resume
• Executive Assistant Resume
• Criminal Justice Resume

If you’re making a paralegal resume or law student resume, consider switching to our dedicated guides:

• Legal/Law Resume
• Paralegal Resume
• Claims Adjuster Resume
• Internal Auditor Resume
• Attorney Resume (with advice for law students)
• Law Student Resume
• Law School Resume

And for everything else:

• Resume Samples for Every Career

1

What's the Best Format for a Legal Assistant Resume?

Say hello to the hiring manager at that high-powered firm.

His name’s Kevin and he’d give his bar membership for a detail-oriented assistant.

Are you shocked your legal administrative assistant resume must give him that?

Impress him with the best legal assistant resume format. The reverse-chronological resume format would convince a hung jury.

It opens with your most recent accomplishments.

Fill it with the best resume fonts, big, friendly headings, and lots of white space.

But—should you send it as a PDF or in MS Word?

Today’s PDFs are machine readable. Send a legal assistant resume PDF unless the job ad outlaws it.

Pro Tip: Is this your first time writing a resume? Use the combination resume format. It’ll make your case with all your best transferable achievements from past jobs.

Want the due diligence on personal injury legal assistant resume format? See our guide: Best Resume Format: How to Choose? (with Examples and Templates)

A legal brief starts with a short description of the case.

The first paragraph of your legal assistant resume should do that for your career.

It’s called a resume summary or resume objective. But which is which? And which one should you use?

A resume summary works if you’ve got more experience than Phil Beck. It proves you can do that job because it shows you already have.

Is your experience still making its opening arguments? Write a resume objective. It conveys your Harvey Specter-level passion.

Pack either with evidence of your achievements.

These two senior legal assistant resume examples show how.

Legal Assistant Resume Examples [Resume Summaries]

Where’s the infraction in the first of our senior legal assistant resume samples?

That's not actionable, but it won’t impress the jury.

Do it like the next of our legal assistant resume examples instead:

That legal assistant resume summary could get you hired at Sullivan & Cromwell.

Is your experience less convincing? See the junior legal assistant resume examples below.

Two Entry-Level Legal Assistant Resume Objectives

Still an entry-level legal assistant with no experience?

That used to mean you had to show passion. That’s how the first of our legal assistant resume objectives handles it:

Who’s that, Lionel Hutz? A legal administrative assistant resume objective like that lacks evidence.

So—add details, like the next of our entry-level legal assistant resume examples:

I rest my case.

And if you have no experience for a resume for legal assistant jobs?

That’s next.

Pro Tip: The first legal office assistant resume sample summary above says, “solution-driven.” It adds, “seeking to further Flagler’s mission.” Those points came straight from the online legal assistant job description. Seek yours there too.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

Ready to write the greatest research assistant legal resume on record? Gunning for the perfect real estate legal assistant resume objective or summary? See our guides:

Write a Resume Heading Statement that Wins Jobs: 21 Best Examples Ever

Writing a Resume Career Objective that Gets You on the Employment Fast Track [20+ Examples]

3

How to Describe Your Legal Assistant Experience

Let’s look in on Kevin, our hiring manager.

He really cares about experience.

But he doesn’t just want someone who’s had a legal assistant job.

He wants to know you’ve had the exact legal assistant jobs that match his needs.

So, bind your legal assistant skills resume experience to the job offer like you notarized it.

How?

First, highlight the legal assistant duties and responsibilities in the job ad.

Then, research your past for evidence.

Legal Assistant Resume Examples [Experience]

The first of these professional legal assistant resume examples can’t be discredited:

Perfect. You just made your case like Kelly Ayotte. You used measurable accomplishments that replevin the job.

Now take out those achievements:

So you’ve held legal assistant jobs. But did you do them like Elle Woods or Barry Zuckercorn? I mean—were you good at it?

The best legal assistant resume examples use numbers and achievements.

Think you don’t have those? See the entry-level legal assistant resume examples below.

How to Write a Resume for Legal Assistant with no Experience

You want the truth?

Nobody will hire a legal assistant with no experience.

The good news? You can show experience from:

• Volunteering
• File clerk jobs
• Secretary or office assistant work
• Notary experience
• Writing experience
• Research work

List any work experience that shows you’ve got those J.A.R.V.I.S. chops.

The next entry-level legal administrative assistant resume samples will brief you.

Two Entry-Level Legal Assistant Resume Samples [No Experience]

The first of these two entry-level legal assistant resume examples pleads no contest:

Guilty! Up the river with you.

So—add transferable experience to get this legal assistant skills resume example:

Vinny Gambini couldn’t have done it better. Even the journalism helps. It shows you’re good at writing.

But you might already have the makings of a legal assistant resume like that.

Pro Tip: Can’t get a job with a real estate or immigration legal assistant resume? Consider taking a legal secretary job and working up. You can get a paralegal certification in as little as 14 weeks.

Your resume for legal assistant jobs shouldn’t read like the Affordable Care Act. Give it zing with action words. See our guide: 240 Resume Buzzwords, Action Words & Power Words to Make Your Resume Shine

Every legal assistant resume needs an education section.

But there are two ways to write it.

Only one will get you hired.

Start with:

• School Name and Location
• Years in School
• Degree

But don’t stop there.

Add 3–5 bullet points. Stuff them with achievements that cement you to the job like civil law.

The next legal assistant resume examples give full disclosure:

Legal Assistant Resume Examples [Education]

Pretend Kevin wants someone with writing skills and a detail-oriented mindset. The first of our legal assistant resume samples sets the precedent:

No objection. That assistant was getting ready for this job in college.

If you’ve got your paralegal certificate, list that first, before your other education:

The next of our legal administrative assistant resume examples botches it:

That legal office assistant resume example won’t make parole.

Pro Tip: Online paralegal degrees aren’t always ABA approved. Most lack internships and other bells and whistles. Here’s a good list of ABA sanctioned online programs.

Should you include your major in a resume for legal assistant jobs? What about your school’s location? See our guide: How to Put Your Education on a Resume [Tips & Examples]

If you can prove your legal assistant skills, you’ll land the interview.

So why doesn’t everybody do it?

They don’t know how to customize a legal assistant resume skills section.

The next of our legal office assistant resume examples shows the prima facie evidence.

It’s for a job that wants skills in (1) legal document preparation, (2) AV systems, and (3) scheduling appointments.

Legal Assistant Resume Examples [Skills]

Of course you’ll show legal document prep, AV skills, and scheduling in your skills list, plus a couple more.

But then—present your argument like the next of our legal assistant resume examples:

That’s no mere legal assistant resume skills list. It’s a court order for an interview.

Use the legal assistant skills for resumes below to start.

List of Skills to Put on a Legal Assistant Resume

This legal assistant resume skills list files some great resume keywords, but—

It doesn’t have them all. Find more in the job ad and other job offers online.

Pro Tip: When you use LinkedIn as your job search site, you get lists of legal assistant or legal administrative assistant resume skills for each job posting. These are the exact skills the employer wants.

You’ll get more interviews if you create a master list of skills. Why? See our guide: +30 Best Examples of What Skills to Put on a Resume (Proven Tips)

I’d say this under oath:

A paralegal certification, notary license, or professional legal secretary certificate all look great on legal assistant resumes.

But that hiring manager is busy. He’s got mountains of research, writing and a thousand calls to make.

He might miss your great certification if you hide it in your resume for legal assistant jobs.

So list your most important cert:

• At the top of your legal assistant or legal administrative assistant resume, near your name
• At the beginning of your resume summary
• In a special “Certifications” section beneath your summary

Then the employer will know you’re qualified, even if he skims your resume for legal assistant jobs.

Legal Assistant Certifications: Clearing the Confusion

What’s the difference between a paralegal and a legal assistant? Good question!

In the past, paralegal and legal assistant meant the same thing. Both were legal professionals who did quasi-lawyer work.

But—

Law firms started calling legal secretaries legal assistants too.

To confuse things further, NALA (the National Association of Legal Assistants) used to issue a “CLA” certification for paralegals.

NALA no longer offers the CLA cert. Today there are only:

• Certified paralegals (CP from NALA or PP from NALS—referred to as both “paralegals” and “legal assistants”)
• Legal secretaries (PLS—also called “legal assistants”)

Pro Tip: Are you a certified paralegal? List that near the top of your general, bankruptcy, or family law legal assistant resume. Otherwise, put your PLS, or Notary license in that place of honor.

What’s the difference between free online classes and certifications on a resume for legal assistant jobs? See our guide: How to List Certifications on a Resume: Guide

Let’s get back to our hiring manager, Kevin.

Would he rather hire:

Someone who “needs a job?” Or—a legal assistant who cares more about her work than Jack McCoy?

On a resume for legal assistant work, that means adding “other” sections.

See that in two sample legal assistant resume sections.

Legal Assistant Resume Examples [Other Sections]

Interesting. Now let’s show you’re a great legal assistant instead.

Do it like this sample from a resume for legal assistant jobs:

That’s no generic legal administrative assistant resume. It’s a fledgeling Stephen Neale.

Even the “yoga” helps because you listed it as self-care. You obviously know enough to do self-maintenance.

Pro Tip: Even with no experience, you can have a killer resume. Cram it with positions you had at school (assistant, intern, projects, part-time jobs). Pack each with bullets that show your super-helper powers.

Should you put scholarships on a resume for legal assistant jobs? Internships? Software? Foreign languages? See our guide: What to List on a Resume (Good Things to Include)

Do you need to send a cover letter with a legal assistant resume?

If you want the firm to take you seriously, yes.

Most hiring managers will skim your resume in seven seconds, according to our HR statistics report.

A decent legal assistant cover letter can turn those seconds into minutes and a phone call.

So—

Use the manager’s name if you can find it. Then show you understand his needs.

Then show the smoking gun: proof you’ve already solved problems like his.

This short example legal assistant cover letter gets it right:

Always end a cover letter with an offer. For example: “I’d be happy to jump on a call to discuss how I built and led a team of 50+ volunteers for a money making hobby project."

Pro Tip: When you get the interview, wear a suit. Bring extra copies of your resume. Research the firm and have some interesting questions ready to ask them.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

Create my cover letter now

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Why does “PS” on a cover letter make the hiring manager want to read your legal administrative assistant resume? See our guide: How to Write a Good Cover Letter for Any Job

And learn how to write a legal cover letter from our guide: Legal Assistant Cover Letter: Sample, Format & Guide, Law Firm Cover Letter Example, Paralegal Cover Letter Sample

9

Do This Before You Add Contact Info to a Resume

Is it easy to add contact info to a legal office assistant resume?

Of course list:

• Full Name
• Updated Phone Number
• Professional Email Address

Like this:

Ana Mexia, Legal Assistant, CP, [email protected], 214-893-8361

A "professional email address” is [email protected]. Don’t use [email protected].

But don’t leave off your LinkedIn profile. Today, 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn for hiring.

Pro Tip: Did you work as a receptionist for just a couple months? Ditch it from your legal administrative assistant resume. Use the space to show how much you soared in more relevant jobs.

Which legal assistant resume format makes hiring managers think you’re hiding something? See our guide: How to Make a Resume: A Step-by-Step Guide (+30 Examples)

Here’s a recap of how to write a legal assistant resume:

• Write a legal assistant resume objective or resume summary. Stuff either one with metrics to get custody of the interview.
• Read the job description like an email from Erin Brockovich. Write legal assistant resume bullet points full of achievements that match.
• Add other sections that prove you bleed legal assistant skills. List publications, certifications, volunteer work, conferences, and professional associations.
• Write a legal assistant cover letter. In it, show you understand the firm’s problems and you’ll solve them like Evan Chesler.

Do you have questions on how to write a great resume for a legal assistant? Not sure how to describe your skills or achievements? Give us a shout in the comments! We’d be happy to reply.