Paralegal Skills for a Resume

Law firms and legal departments hire paralegals who keep matters organized, meet every deadline and prepare accurate documents. Show your practice area, the tools you use and the cases or deals you have supported.

Updated

13 skills at a glance

Hard skills

What the work takes, how a hiring manager judges each skill, and a bullet point that shows it.

  1. Litigation or transactional support

    Name your practice area and the cases or deals you support.

    Example bullet pointSupported four attorneys on commercial litigation from the complaint through settlement.

  2. Discovery and e-discovery (Relativity, Everlaw)

    Name the platform and the volume of documents you managed.

    Example bullet pointManaged review of 200,000 documents in Relativity, setting up searches and coding fields for attorneys.

  3. Drafting pleadings and correspondence

    Name the documents you draft, from pleadings to client letters, for attorney review.

    Example bullet pointDrafted discovery requests, subpoenas and client letters for attorney review.

  4. E-filing and court rules

    Show filings made correctly and on time.

    Example bullet pointFiled documents in federal and state courts, following each court's local rules.

  5. Docketing and calendaring

    Show the deadlines you track, without misses.

    Example bullet pointTracked deadlines for 60 active cases with no missed dates.

  6. Trial preparation

    Show your role in getting a case ready for trial.

    Example bullet pointPrepared exhibit binders and witness files for a two-week jury trial.

  7. Case management software (Clio, iManage)

    Name the system and how you kept files organized.

    Example bullet pointOrganized case files in iManage so the team could find any document quickly.

Soft skills

Shown through what you did, never claimed as adjectives.

  1. Attention to detail

    Show errors you caught before filing.

    Example bullet pointCaught wrong citations and exhibit numbers before filing.

  2. Discretion

    Show how you handle privileged and confidential information.

    Example bullet pointHandled privileged documents and client information in strict confidence.

  3. Organization

    Show systems that kept matters in order.

    Example bullet pointBuilt a case tracker that showed every attorney their upcoming deadlines.

  4. Clear writing

    Show documents attorneys used with few changes.

    Example bullet pointWrote deposition summaries that attorneys used to prepare for trial.

  5. Working under deadlines

    Show filings or projects completed under pressure.

    Example bullet pointAssembled a large filing overnight to meet a court deadline.

Licenses and certifications

Give them a section of their own, with who issued each one and the year or expiry date.

  • Certified Paralegal (NALA)
  • Registered Paralegal, RP (NFPA, through the PACE exam)
  • Paralegal certificate from an ABA-approved program

Keywords from paralegal job postings

Use the ones that are true for you, in your bullet points as well as your skills list.

  • discovery
  • Relativity
  • deadlines
  • attorneys
  • matters
  • motions
  • e-filed
  • trial
  • depositions

Each posting has its own words. Our guide to tailoring your resume to a job description shows how to find them and where to put them.

Where to put your skills

  • In a skills section: a short list of the hard skills the posting names, in its words.
  • In your bullet points: every skill that matters should show up in something you did, with a result. That is where a hiring manager believes it.
  • In your summary: two or three of the skills the job asks for most.

More on choosing them in how to choose and prove the skills on your resume.

Questions

What skills should a paralegal put on a resume?

Litigation or transactional support, e-discovery, legal research, drafting, e-filing, docketing, trial preparation and case management software, plus attention to detail and discretion.

Should I list my paralegal certificate?

Yes. A certificate, or a certification such as NALA's CP, shows training employers trust.

How do I show results as a paralegal?

Mention the cases or deals you supported, document volumes managed, deadlines met and trials prepared.

Put them to work

Start from a paralegal resume that already uses these skills, for an invented person, and make it yours in the builder.

Use this exampleRead the paralegal resume example