How to Write a Legal Assistant Resume: Guide and Examples

A legal assistant plays a fundamental role in the everyday activities of a law firm. As a legal assistant, you are responsible for preparing legal materials for lawyers, so you will need to be a strong multitasker and organizer. 

However, a legal secretary, a different role, is oftentimes referred to as a legal assistant due to both being a lawyer’s right-hand man. Do keep a note that while they will be used interchangeably, a legal assistant usually is a more important role within a law firm due to the higher education required for the job.

As you apply for a legal assistant job, put your research and writing skills to practice by building a professional legal assistant resume for your application.   

🖋 Step 1: Understand the differences between a legal assistant CV and a resume. 

Both a cv and a resume are used to show the employer that you have what it takes for the role. A CV is a document that covers your background all past accomplishments in detail while a resume covers just the accomplishments and skills that are job related. 

🖋 Step 2: Choose the right format for your lawyer assistant resume. 

A resume format affects how you present yourself to the employer. Based on your experience level and your background, you will be able to decide which of the three types of resume formats will be suitable for your legal assistant resume. 

• Chronological resume format
• Functional resume format
• Combinational resume format

🖋 Step 3: Look up legal assistant resume templates and samples. 

Gaining some ideas from online legal assistant resume samples can be very beneficial for your resume writing process, especially if you are starting to write an entry-level legal assistant resume.

🖋 Step 4: Customize your legal assistant resume for the position. 

Similar to how each court case may require a different legal research process, your legal assistant resume may need to be adjusted for each role you apply for.

If you are to apply for an immigration paralegal role, you will want to focus on your expertise in immigration laws and fluency in multiple languages in your immigration legal assistant resume. 

🖋 Step 5: Craft a professional legal assistant cover letter. 

Support the strengths and skills mentioned in your legal secretary resume with specific examples in a cover letter. 

🖋 Step 6: Double-check your legal assistant resume. 

Demonstrate that you are sharp-eyed enough to review legal documents with a clear, typo-free lawyer assistant resume.

Ensure that you provide all the necessary information in your lawyer assistant resume with the checklist of the eight parts of a resume below:

1. Resume Profile (Personal Information)

Allow the law firm employers to reach out to you easily for future opportunities by starting with essential contact information.

• Full name
• Job title
• Professional email address
• Mobile number
• Address

2. Legal Assistant Resume Headline

Your resume headline provides the employer with an idea of what your strengths are in a one-line introduction. In your legal assistant resume headline, remember to capitalize the first letters of each word and include your most unique accomplishments.

3. Legal Assistant Resume Summary

Your resume summary is a brief overview of what materials your lawyer assistant resume holds. Make your legal assistant resume summary compelling by customizing it specifically for the role and keeping it between one-to-two sentences. Using a resume summary is a good choice for you if you have many years of experience and are building an executive legal assistant resume. 

4. Legal Assistant Resume Objective

Your resume objective summarizes your strongest skillsets with the central focus on what your career goal is as a legal assistant. In your career objective for a legal assistant, make sure to have a detailed career goal with two to three accomplishments showcasing you are the right candidate. A resume objective is a better option for you if you are crafting a legal assistant resume with no experience. 

5. Skills for a Legal Assistant Resume

The skills section presents to the employer the specifics of what you are knowledgeable in, helping them decide if you qualify for the role or not. In your skills section, be sure to include both soft skills and technical legal assistant skills in your resume.

6. Legal Assistant Work Experience on a Resume

The work experience shows the employers cases of where you applied your knowledge and skills. Whether you include full-time work experience or apprenticeships, make sure that these examples are related to the legal assistant role or demonstrate legal-related skills on your resume.

7. Legal Assistant Resume Education Section

The education section lets the employer know if you meet the minimum requirement of a legal assistant job or not. When listing your education for your legal assistant resume, make sure to include at least:

• Your Degree/Major
• Name of School
• Starting Year & Ending Year
• Honors/Awards

8. Additional Information for a Legal Assistant Resume

To stand out from the pile of legal assistant resumes, include additional achievements, such as certificates or awards earned, personal side projects, and even hobbies and interests. 

✏️ 1. Adjust your legal assistant resume for the role. 

The requirements of different legal assistant jobs can vary depending on the area of specialization. To become the best candidate for a role, you will want to make adjustments based on the job description of a legal assistant role when writing your resume. 

✏️ 2. Include keywords in your legal assistant resume.

When providing examples of job-related skills or achievements in your legal secretary resume, make sure to include the keywords listed in the job posting. Only the most fitting legal assistant resumes will be selected so be sure that yours matches the requirements. 

✏️ 3. Add measurable details in your legal assistant resume descriptions. 

Show your impact during the experience with numerical details such as the rates of cases you helped win or the amount of legal research you did per week.

✏️ 4. Choose an ATS-friendly legal assistant resume format.

An ATS-friendly lawyer assistant resume should have a simple format with clear headings and legible font.

✏️ 5. Feature action verbs in your legal assistant resume.

Shed a light on what you have accomplished by starting sentences with action verbs for your legal assistant resume.

✏️ 6. Include your LinkedIn profile. 

LinkedIn is a powerful tool that you can utilize to reach out and connect with other professionals. By listing your LinkedIn URL on your legal assistant resume, you can show your professionalism.

Once you have finished crafting up a legal assistant resume, you will want to create a legal assistant cover letter to back up the examples that you have provided. 

1. Introduce yourself:
   Begin your legal assistant cover letter with a few essential information about yourself to let the recruiter know whose profile they are reviewing. In your introduction, provide at least your full legal name, email address, and mobile number. 
   
2. Greeting:
   Politely greet the hiring manager by respectfully addressing them. 
   
3. Why you are interested:
   Let them know why you want to join their company. Out of all the positions available, what made you apply to this specific company to work as a legal assistant?
   
4. Why Choose You?
   Address the final question they want answers for: what qualities do you have that can help the company? Showcase your skills with a few cases of your accomplishments.
   
5. Close of with a Thanks: 
   Sign off your legal assistant cover letter with sincere gratitude.