10+ Paralegal Skills for Your Resume & How to Emphasize Them

Paralegal skills allow professionals to support attorneys and participate in the legal industry without attending law school. These skills are dynamic and vary from technical to interpersonal. Emphasizing them on your resume is essential in impressing potential employers and landing the role you’re applying for.

This article explores the most common paralegal skills that recruiters and HR professionals look for in resumes. We’ll explain what makes these skills valuable and how you should demonstrate them on your resume to maximize your chances of success. Let’s get started!

11 Key Paralegal Skills to Add to Your Resume

Now, let’s see what some of the key paralegal skills to list on a resume are. We’ll explore each one to see how you should demonstrate it to maximize your chances of impressing recruiters and potential employers.

#1. Legal Terminology

Proficiency in legal terminology is one of the key qualifications for paralegals, as it involves a complete understanding of the language unique to the legal system. Legal terminology encompasses everything from Latin phrases (e.g., pro bono or stare decisis) over statutory terms to profession-specific jargon.

As a paralegal, you need to understand the definition of concrete terms but also the context in which they are used. Misinterpreting legal terminology or using inappropriate wording can result in errors during documentation drafting or even the compromisation of client cases.

Mastering legal terminology enhances paralegals’ court presence, boosts their ability to support attorneys, and improves their interactions with clients.

#2. Legal Documentation

Legal documentation as a paralegal skill involves creating and managing various paperwork. This includes wills, contracts, pleadings, subpoenas, different types of agreements, and more.

In addition to drafting these documents, paralegals must also adhere to strict formatting rules and filing deadlines. They need to proofread these documents to correct mistakes and ensure consistency. Plus, they often need to practice version control, especially in multi-party or large-scale cases.

Paralegals often need specific software skills to automate repetitive tasks, streamline processes, and organize files. For instance, they might use templates to quickly generate standard contracts before modifying the necessary parts, and then labeling and indexing them for quick retrieval in the future.

#3. Legal Research

Legal research is the paralegal skill that involves finding relevant resources and information to support attorneys and their legal arguments. Paralegals can use many different platforms to conduct research, such as Westlaw, Bloomberg Law, or LexisNexis.

In addition to finding relevant information, paralegals must also be able to verify it for validity, which requires extensive critical thinking skills and source analysis. Moreover, they need to synthesize their findings to provide detailed reports and memos.

Legal research also refers to the factual investigation during cases. Paralegals often interact with clients, witnesses, and experts to get background information and testimonies, which serve as case foundations.

#4. Communication Skills

Communication skills are one of the most important soft skills for paralegals. Since these individuals often act as liaisons between attorneys and their clients, other professionals, and third parties, they need to have exceptional communication skills to adapt their approach and interact with everyone optimally.

For instance, an interview with a client might require active listening and empathy, while communication with a senior attorney should typically be brief and packed with factual information.

Written communication is also commonly employed in their line of work, as paralegals often draft letters and emails to clients and attorneys. As a result, they need to know how to balance assertiveness with professionalism and when to send succinct updates with key details for busy attorneys.

#5. Technical Skills

Technical skills are essential for paralegals in today’s digital business environment. There are many types of software, digital tools, and platforms that paralegals need to be proficient in to do their work optimally.

For instance, case management software like Clio or MyCase helps paralegals keep track of relevant records and deadlines, while word processing tools like MS Word are necessary to draft documentation. There are also Excel, Google Sheets, or similar programs that can be used for various spreadsheets and calculations.

In addition to all the industry-specific and more general software and platforms, paralegals also need to be adept at cybersecurity. They must be technically savvy enough to protect sensitive documents and client information (e.g., by using VPNs or encrypting their emails).

#6. Ethics and Confidentiality

Ethics and confidentiality are essential paralegal skills, as these professionals need to follow strict rules to ensure client trust and avoid unauthorized practice of law. For example, they need to recognize when there’s a conflict of interest or when they need to handle sensitive data in a proper manner.

Professionals in the field of law often encounter ethical dilemmas which they should know how to handle. For many instances and situations like these, paralegals can follow NFPA guidelines or rely on their mandatory ethics training.

Ethics and confidentiality violations can result in severe repercussions, which range from fines to employment termination or even disbarment for the attorney in charge.

#7. Case Management

Case management is one of the core paralegal skills that involves organizing documents, keeping track of timelines, and coordinating stakeholders. Paralegals typically use software to keep track of all the relevant dates and deadlines and checklists to ensure they’ve completed all the necessary tasks.

Depending on the case, paralegals can be in charge of organizing exhibits and coordinating available witnesses. Moreover, they can manage expert teams to review documents, liaise with other professionals, and more.

Additionally, effective case management includes anticipating future events and preparing in advance to overcome bottlenecks and streamline operations. This can impact the efficiency of the entire organization and help solve the case faster.

#8. Administrative Skills

Administrative skills are a staple legal assistant resume skills, but they are also important for paralegals as they contribute to the seamless operation of a legal practice. They encompass a variety of abilities, including managing calendars for attorneys, scheduling meetings and depositions, arranging travel and accommodation, and more.

Additionally, paralegals can be in charge of billing, generating invoices, and reconciling expenses. They can also assist with general office affairs, such as ordering supplies, troubleshooting and fixing equipment, and training new hires. In smaller law firms, paralegals can work on some marketing aspects, like the company website or newsletter.

#9. Time Management

Time management is another soft paralegal skill that involves balancing current tasks and objectives with long-term goals. Depending on your style of work and experience, you can use tools like prioritization matrices to categorize your duties and assignments based on urgency and importance.

Various other techniques, such as time-blocking or Pomodoro, help these professionals stay on top of their workload and maintain optimal efficiency. These time management methods and mechanisms are essential, as paralegals often have to juggle competing tasks and deadlines (e.g., coordinating the closer of one case while assisting in the opening of another).

#10. Problem-Solving

Problem-solving is another paralegal skill needed for a job that is filled with unforeseen circumstances and challenges. Paralegals can be tasked with a number of difficult assignments that range from tracking down witnesses who are hard to find to resolving discrepancies in contract versions between different parties.

Out-of-the-box thinking is the key to problem-solving, helping paralegals take a look at the issue from different points of view before coming up with optimal resolutions. On top of that, high-level problem-solving often includes a certain dose of risk assessment, as these professionals need to weigh the impact, the pros, and cons of every decision.

#11. Writing Skills

Writing skills for legal professionals involve utmost precision, clarity, and formality. Paralegals are frequently tasked with writing various documents, including briefs, motions, and demand letters, with the goal of influencing or persuading judges, opposing counsel, and other professionals.

Most of these documents need to feature clearly outlined facts backed by applicable law without emotional language or incoherent writing. In addition to a mastery of legal writing style, terminology, and citation, paralegals also need to know how to translate complex concepts into a plain and approachable manner to enhance client understanding.

On the other hand, poor writing skills or inadequate editing can weaken written arguments and messages or lead to misunderstandings.

How to Emphasize Your Skills as a Paralegal on Your Resume

To emphasize your paralegal skills on your resume and impress recruiters, you want to do two things:

1. Make sure that the skills you include are relevant to the role you’re after.

2. Prove your abilities by connecting them with relevant accomplishments.

To figure out which skills are required for the position you’re applying for, you should research the company and carefully read the paralegal job requirements from the job ad. The insights you find will help you create a tailored list of paralegal skills to add to your resume.

Next up, one of the best law firm application tips is to give recruiters solid proof of your competence. Instead of just listing your abilities on your paralegal resume or cover letter, you should demonstrate them next to the result of your work.

If you’re using the chronological format, which is generally the best resume format for paralegals, this is best done in the resume summary and work experience sections. When talking about one of your accomplishments or obtained results, mention a skill that helped you achieve it.

For bonus points, you should include numbers to quantify your efforts. That way, you add believability to your claims and make your achievements concrete.

Here’s a good example of a candidate highlighting and corroborating document management paralegal skills in their resume:

Here’s another good example of a paralegal demonstrating their legal research skills:

For comparison, here’s a bad example that lacks substance and concrete results, highlighting how not to emphasize paralegal skills on a resume:

Closing Thoughts

The demanding but rewarding role of paralegal requires a blend of technical skills, legal knowledge, and interpersonal ability. We’ve covered the essential paralegal skills to include in your resume and given you several entry-level paralegal resume tips to help you demonstrate them and stand out among the competition.

While the focus of your resume should be on hard skills, don’t neglect essential soft skills to make sure you’ve presented yourself as a well-rounded professional. That way, you’ll be all but guaranteed to get an interview invite. When that happens, make sure to check the most common interview questions and answers to ace the meeting and land the role you’re after!