Legal Secretary Sample
Download and customize our resume template to land more interviews. Review our writing tips to learn everything you need to know for putting together the perfect resume.
A Legal Secretary does receptionist work in a legal office. Below is a general job description from Payscale: Legal secretaries work primarily for lawyers’ offices and courts to perform secretarial duties and provide legal support services to attorneys. They must file materials, such as motions, briefs, memorandums, pleadings, etc. at various court systems in a timely manner, as well as maintain appointments and remind lawyers to see clients. They may need to interview clients, either on the phone or in-person prior to referring them to their lawyers. They are generally tasked with typing and editing pleadings, briefs, technical papers, letters to various parties, and memos, among other documents, and must ensure that all legal documents are free of grammatical errors and typos.
Expert Tip
You should never use a creative resume
Many job seekers think that an eye-catching resume template will help them stand out to hiring managers and increase their chances of landing an interview. This is a myth put out by resume builders that value design over content.
The truth is that most hiring managers prefer a traditional resume format.
Creative resume templates, like the one pictured here, can actually hurt your chances of landing an interview. Instead, you should use a basic resume format that quickly communicates your basic information and qualifications–like the one included below.
Legal Secretary resume (text format)
How confident are you feeling about your resume? If you need more help, you can always refer to the following resume sample for a position.
Name
Title
City, State or Country if international
Phone | Email
LinkedIn URL
LEGAL SECRETARY PROFESSIONAL
Established Legal Secretary showcasing 11 years of experience supporting Attorneys and ensuring fast-paced offices are running at top productivity. Extremely accurate and organized with strong skills in legal office administration, document preparation, correspondence and pleadings, file management and providing exceptional client/customer service. Strives in fast-paced environments performing regular and recurring duties independently without supervision. Self-starter with excellent oral and written communication skills with extensive knowledge of legal terminology, scheduling and documentation. Outstanding in project management with the abilities to analyze, prioritize and multi-task efficiently to ensure projects are delivered timely and accurately.
CORE COMPETENCIES
Legal Office Administration
Employment Litigation
Time Management
Family Law
Software Fluency
Legal Correspondence
File Management
Arbitration Hearings
Client Billing
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Legal Secretary
ZipJob, New York NY | Year to Year
Responsibilities
Involved in all aspects of litigation support and case management for over 50 family law cases
Served as a liaison between clients, opposing counsel, vendors and witnesses providing exceptional support at all times
Efficiently and accurately drafted, filed and served mediation briefs, pleadings, motions and discovery
Maintained busy schedules ensuring accurate calendaring and file management
Managed a heavy case load and diligently assisted with all aspects of the litigation lifecycle from inception to trial
Developed key methods for improving the organizational efficiency of the insurance analysis process, including the review of voluminous insurance company claim files and the creation of detailed summaries of damages used in settlement negotiations
Drafted pleadings, discovery, jury instructions, motions, briefs and correspondence and ensured timely and accurate electronic filings within the Federal Court system
Responsible for accurate time entry and preparation of client billings, file management and providing exceptional customer service while talking with high profile clients
Legal Secretary
ZipJob, New York NY | Year to Year
Responsibilities
Prepared concise, issue-pertinent deposition and document summaries from voluminous document productions, deposition transcripts and multi-party discovery responses
Maintained strong relationships with clients in order to sustain updated client information and review, organize and summarize employment and medical records
Drafted and filed legal pleadings and discovery responses in a timely and efficient manner
Provided exceptional customer service while handling client questions and providing support
Promptly and meticulously prepared legal documents including discovery, motions, stipulations and declarations
Performed extensive document reviews and produced numerous transcript summaries
Supported attorneys by researching appropriate cases, laws and judicial decisions
EDUCATION
Complete School Name, City, St/Country: List Graduation Years If Within the Last Ten Years
Complete Degree Name (Candidate) – Major (GPA: List if over 3.3)
Relevant Coursework: List coursework taken (even include those you are planning on taking)
Awards/Honors: List any awards, honors or big achievements
Clubs/Activities: List clubs and activities in which you participated
Relevant Projects: List 2-3 projects you have worked on
Everything you need to write your legal secretary resume
Now that you’ve seen an example of a job winning Legal Secretary resume, here are some tips to help you write your own. You should always begin with a summary section. Remember to use basic formatting with clear section headings and a traditional layout. Finally, be sure to include top skills throughout your resume. We’ve included several examples common for Legal Secretary below.
Let’s start with your resume summary section.
1. Summary
The resume summary replaces the out-of-date resume objective. A summary outlines the most impressive parts of your resume for easy recall by your potential employer, while also serving to fill in personal qualities that may not appear elsewhere on the page. Remember that summaries are short and consist of pithy sentence fragments! You can check out the Legal Secretary resume example for more information!
Expert Tip
Always start with your most recent positions at the top of your resume. This is called reverse-chronological format, and keeps your most relevant information easy for hiring managers to review.
2. Formatting
Our experts recommend you start your resume with a resume summary, like the one above. Other common sections are Work Experience, Education, and either Skills or Core Competencies. Here are some guides from our blog to help you write these sections:
Some resumes will include other sections, such as Volunteer Experience or Technical Skills. When it comes to what sections you need to include on your resume, you will know best!
Other sections for you to consider including are foreign language skills, awards and honors, certifications, and speaking engagements. These could all be relevant sections for your resume.
3. Appropriate skills
Your resume should include all your skills that are relevant to your target job. Skills include both hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are the technical know-how you need to complete a job, such as data analysis or HTML. You can include hard skills in your core competencies section. Soft skills are harder to quantify, so they require more information to explain your aptitude. Some top soft skill examples include communication, problem solving, and emotional intelligence. Use several examples of how you use your key soft skills throughout your work history, profile summary, and resume title.
4. Experience section
Your Work Experience section should make up the bulk of your resume. This section should include your relevant job titles, companies that employed you, and the dates you were employed.
Your Work Experience section should make up the bulk of your resume. This section should include your relevant job titles, companies that employed you, and the dates you were employed. Most people will finish this section by listing daily duties in short bullet points. Don't be one of them! To make your resume stand out, you need to add your accomplishments and key skills to your resume's Work Experience section. Here are three tips from our experts:
Use the STAR method to describe a situation, task, action, and result. This is adapted from a behavioral interview technique, so interviewers will recognize the format. it's also a great chance for you to organize your key accomplishments.
Don't forget about LinkedIn! The majority of employers are going to look you up on LinkedIn, so it's smart to make sure your LInkedIn profile is up to date and include your URL in your resume's contact section.
Always include a cover letter. Not everyone will bother, so it helps you look like a serious job applicant. It's also your chance to introduce yourself: who you are, why you're applying for this job, and how you want to proceed.
Let’s wrap it up!
Standout resumes will include a resume summary, a traditional reverse-chronological layout, and the skills and experience relevant to your job target. This resume example shows how to include those elements on a page. It’s up to you to insert your personal compelling qualifications.
Keep your resume format easy to scan by both humans and computers; our resume template is designed by our experts to satisfy both audiences. And be sure to include your own skills, achievements, and experiences. Job-winning resumes are resumes that successfully market you, leading recruiters and hiring managers to want to learn more!
Finally, emphasize your interest with a customized cover letter. When writing, remember that the resume and cover letter should support each other. Check out our cover letter tips and examples for more advice.
Didn’t get the specific answers you were looking for on this page? Hire a professional resume writer to get the advice you need to land your next job.
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