Paralegals and Legal Assistants
Assist lawyers by investigating facts, preparing legal documents, or researching legal precedent. Conduct research to support a legal proceeding, to formulate a defense, or to initiate legal action.
Most important skills
- Writing
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
Key knowledge
- Law and Government
- English Language
- Administrative
- Computers and Electronics
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics
- Education and Training
What the work involves
- Gather and analyze research data, such as statutes, decisions, and legal articles, codes, and documents.
- Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing system.
- Prepare for trial by performing tasks such as organizing exhibits.
- Meet with clients and other professionals to discuss details of cases.
- Investigate facts and law of cases and search pertinent sources, such as public records and internet sources, to determine causes of action and to prepare cases.
- Prepare, edit, or review legal documents, including legislation, briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing statements.
- Call upon witnesses to testify at hearings.
- Direct and coordinate law office activity, including delivery of subpoenas.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Investigative, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (36.9% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (26.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (35.7%)
- 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 Paralegals and Legal 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 | High | Higher on contact with others than 61% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 58% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 53% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 51% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 85% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 90% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 93% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 53% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: moderate
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: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 29.22%
- Fairly important: 2.75%
- Important: 15.89%
- Very important: 20.84%
- Extremely important: 31.31%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 10.41%
- Important: 16.56%
- Very important: 10.98%
- Extremely important: 62.05%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 2.36%
- Very little freedom: 2.36%
- Limited freedom: 18.26%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: 41.99%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 2.35%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 54.3%
- Every day: 43.36%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 23.27%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.38%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 6.22%
- Every day: 5.6%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 18.37%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 72.71%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 5.64%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0.57%
- Every day: 2.71%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 14.07%
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 13.22%
- Very serious: 13.74%
- Extremely serious: 21.88%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 23-2011.00 · SOC 23-2011 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8