MightyRecruiterLegal support workers, such as legal clerks and paralegals, assist lawyers in the many tasks that sustain the optimal functioning of a legal firm. Legal support staff take on office administrative assistant tasks as well as organizing documents and files for upcoming meetings and trials. More advanced legal support workers can complete legal research tasks and assist lawyers in generating drafts of statements.
Legal support workers increasingly rely on technology to complete everyday tasks for everything from trial preparation to office management. In your own legal support worker job description you are planning to write, make sure to include information technology knowledge and expertise in the areas of spreadsheets, data management and research.
Excellent professional interpersonal communication skills are also necessary for a legal support worker to be successful. Take a look at the following legal support worker job description for ideas of how to write your own.
Legal Support Worker Job Summary
Do you like the fast-paced environment of a busy legal firm? Our position at Sloan and Perkins Law Firm may be just what you are looking for. As a general practice law firm, our attorneys specialize in everything from family to criminal law, so you will always have a variety of cases to work on. We seek a legal support worker to assist in managing the support tasks of our growing ranks of attorneys. Professional communication skills and excellent proficiency with technology is a must, along with an ability to adjust to changing deadlines. We offer a competitive compensation package along with paid professional development. Apply today to move your career into the fast lane!
Job Responsibilities
- Gather the evidence and facts of a case through legal research at the attorney’s direction in order to assist the attorney’s trial preparation, and gather affidavits, formal statements and legal documents for case preparation by the legal staff
- Find the relevant legal opinions, regulations and laws relating to upcoming cases
- File all legal documents that are required to be sent to opposing counsel or the court itself
- Draft correspondence, contracts, reports and settlement documents and adjust work priorities due to changing deadlines
- Coordinate appointments with witnesses, clients and other lawyers for trial preparation as well as arrange details and schedules for trial days
- Utilize technological applications in order to conduct research, organize information and make it readily available for attorneys in email, spreadsheet and report form
- Take notes during attorney meetings and utilize to prepare drafts of agreements, financial reports or settlements, coordinating with other legal support staff as necessary
Job Skills & Qualifications
Reqiured:
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills
- Applicable legal clerk or paralegal training
- Extreme detail oriented research skills
- Highly organized and able to manage multiple tasks at once
Preferred:
- Prior legal firm work experience
Legal Support Worker Job Responsibilities
Working in the legal field requires skill, attention to detail and superior critical thinking abilities. How are you supposed to attract candidates with these traits, though, if you do not accurately convey them in your legal support worker job description? Writing it right is vital, and the legal support worker job responsibilities section is where you will pack in most of the essential information.
It is a good idea to format the responsibilities of the job with bullet points that job candidates can easily read and assess. Beginning each bullet point with an action verb will convey the excitement of the job and inspire the right candidates to imagine themselves in the position. Choose no fewer than six, and no more than eight bullet points to include, and consider the following examples when you are writing your legal support worker job description:
- Manage clerical and administrative duties necessary to the operation of the legal office
- Compile written reports and presentations when necessary on items requested by the legal team
- Assist attorneys throughout trial by providing expert notes, organized research and previous reports
- File motions in court and draft contracts that clients of the legal team will sign
Legal Support Worker Job Specifications
While the job responsibilities tell potential candidates what daily expectations the position entails, the legal support workers job specifications will tell them what requirements they need to meet in order to submit a considerable application. Though the legal support worker job qualifications and skills section is likely to be one of the shortest, it is still one of the most important.
Be as specific as possible so that your legal support worker job description attracts candidates who are neither over- nor underqualified. The legal support worker job specifications that you indicate should narrow your prospective applicants down to only the very best.
It is a good idea to separate these specifications into two categories: required specifications and preferred qualifications. You may determine the former by talking with your hiring manager and identifying key characteristics that are absolutely essential to the job. Include these in a bullet point list in your legal support worker job description. Some examples of potential specifications include:
- 3-5 years of experience working in an office environment
- Exemplary written and spoken communication skills
- Acute attention to detail and ability to think critically
- Bachelor’s Degree or higher
- Ability to maintain records and compile reports easily
- Familiarity with legal procedures and vocabulary
