Career
Paralegals and legal assistants
Do the research and preparation that cases are built on.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing system.
- Prepare, edit, or review legal documents, including legislation, briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing statements.
- 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 for trial by performing tasks such as organizing exhibits.
- Meet with clients and other professionals to discuss details of cases.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
AI
BLS now cites artificial intelligence in this occupation's outlook: “share decreases as tasks such as conducting research and preparing documents are increasingly automated via technology including artificial intelligence (AI), reducing the need for these workers.”
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on information & systems, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing system.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Writing, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
2 years of education after high school (associate's degree), for a median of $62,890 a year and 40,800 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Legal StudiesCIP 22.0000
- Legal Assistant/ParalegalCIP 22.0302
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants$55,570 · -5.2%
- Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers$58,650 · +2.1%
- Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners$72,420 · -0.1%
- Court, Municipal, and License Clerks$48,700 · +3.4%
- Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive$47,540 · -6.0%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.