Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
Perform secretarial duties using legal terminology, procedures, and documents. Prepare legal papers and correspondence, such as summonses, complaints, motions, and subpoenas. May also assist with legal research.
156,280 people do this job in the US. $55,570 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 54%
- 0%
- 46%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 35%. Today's estimate: 41%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 39% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare, proofread, or process legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, motions, or pretrial agreements.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 77%Half by now | |
| Assist attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | 57%Half by now | |
| Attend legal meetings, such as client interviews, hearings, or depositions, and take notes.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 2.1 h50 min to 5 h | 65%Half by now | |
| Complete various forms, such as accident reports, trial and courtroom requests, and applications for clients.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Review legal publications and perform database searches to identify laws and court decisions relevant to pending cases.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | 55%Half by now | |
| Make photocopies of correspondence, documents, and other printed matter.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Submit articles and information from searches to attorneys for review and approval for use.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Receive and place telephone calls.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Draft and type office memos.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Schedule and make appointments.Done several times a day by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 2% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | 99%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Paralegals and Legal Assistants23% now, 70% by 2028
- Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive39% now, 69% by 2028
- Court, Municipal, and License Clerks51% now, 69% by 2028
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants47% now, 75% by 2028
- Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners36% now, 79% by 2028
- Correspondence Clerks81% now, 85% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).