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.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Speaking
- Time Management
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
Key knowledge
- Administrative
- English Language
- Law and Government
- Customer and Personal Service
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
- Public Safety and Security
- Communications and Media
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.
- Complete various forms, such as accident reports, trial and courtroom requests, and applications for clients.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Enterprising, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree (48.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (52.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (36.3%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 51% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 55% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 84% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 85% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 62% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 57% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 65% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 76% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 5.85%
- Contact with others about half the time: 11.53%
- Contact with others most of the time: 21.54%
- Constant contact with others: 61.08%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 19.72%
- Fairly important: 8.41%
- Important: 8.33%
- Very important: 23.33%
- Extremely important: 40.22%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 26.54%
- Important: 9.74%
- Very important: 30%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Limited freedom: 19.54%
- Some freedom: 38.23%
- A lot of freedom: 21.74%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.41%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 14.97%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 44.3%
- Every day: 32.32%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 18.81%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 30.42%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 16.31%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 27.13%
- Every day: 7.33%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 16.4%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 17.56%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 18.7%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 38.47%
- Every day: 8.86%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 29.36%
- Fairly serious: 18.03%
- Serious: 41.93%
- Very serious: 0.9%
- Extremely serious: 9.77%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 43-6012.00 · SOC 43-6012 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8