Legal Assistant Job Description

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 posted by Christine Stokes

A law firm cannot run without the help of legal assistants. Since the 1960’s, when the legal industry boomed and all aspects of civil life became legal matters, legal assistants have been indispensible to lawyers. Some of the tasks that legal assistants do are interviewing clients and witnesses, maintaining contact with the client, doing legal research, documentary research, drafting legal documents and correspondence, summarizing testimonies and interrogatories, attending real estate closings and court hearings, signing correspondents, and attending trials with the lawyer.

In short, a legal assistant does the tasks a lawyer does, except he or she cannot give out legal advice. The time spent by a legal assistant on client’s work is also billed to the client the same way as lawyers’ fees are charged, except legal assistants get a lower hourly rate. There are many ways to become a legal assistant, but the most popular way is to get a two-year associate degree program. We hope this has helped with the legal assistance job description.