Legal research
Checks authority, jurisdiction, date, relevance, contrary material, and citation.
Returns the first plausible result without validating status or scope.
Finance, Accounting & Legal
Paralegal Job Description
A Paralegal supports authorised legal work through accurate research, drafting, evidence organisation, filings, and matter administration under the supervision required locally.
Define practice area, jurisdiction, authorised tasks, supervision, client contact, deadlines, and credential requirements.
Candidate-facing template
Edit the description for your organisation
Replace bracketed details, remove anything that is not genuinely required, and obtain the appropriate internal approval before advertising.
Ready-to-edit job description
Copying excludes all recruiter notes below.
Paralegal
- Location
- [Location or working arrangement]
- Employment type
- [Full-time, part-time, temporary, or contract]
- Reports to
- [Named supervising lawyer or Paralegal Manager]
About the role
[Organisation name] is seeking a Paralegal for [practice area]. You will research issues, maintain matter files, prepare accurate drafts and bundles, track deadlines, and support authorised legal work within local supervision and professional boundaries.
What you will be responsible for
- Research legal and factual questions using approved sources and document authority and currency.
- Draft, proof, file, serve, and organise documents under appropriate review.
- Maintain chronology, evidence, correspondence, costs, deadlines, conflicts, privacy, and matter records.
What success looks like
- Lawyers receive organised, traceable research and complete matter material.
- Deadlines and filing requirements are visible, checked, and escalated early.
Essential qualifications
- Paralegal, legal operations, casework, or comparable evidence-management experience.
- Strong research, drafting, proofreading, chronology, and confidential-record skills.
- Understanding of local scope, supervision, privilege, conflict, and professional conduct boundaries.
Preferred qualifications
- Relevant paralegal, legal studies, or practice-area qualification.
- Experience with [jurisdiction, court, regulator, transaction, or matter platform].
Tools and working knowledge
- Legal research and matter-management systems
- Document, e-discovery, filing, signature, and billing tools
- Secure email, calendar, spreadsheet, and collaboration platforms
Compensation: [Add approved range, currency, overtime, qualification support, benefits, and location basis.]
[Organisation name] will discuss reasonable adjustments for document review, hearings, travel, assessment, and work.
How to apply
Apply through [secure method] with an anonymised example of research, drafting, or case-file work.
Performance expectations
What good performance looks like
Use these outcomes to replace vague activity lists with the evidence the hiring manager expects to see after the person joins.
Matter records allow an authorised colleague to understand status, evidence, deadline, and next action.
Drafts distinguish verified fact, client instruction, legal authority, and unresolved question.
Hiring-manager intake
Questions to settle before advertising
Record specific answers so sourcing, screening, and interview decisions use the same definition of the role.
- 1
Which jurisdiction, practice, matter types, clients, and proceedings are in scope?
- 2
Which tasks may the paralegal perform and which require lawyer review or attendance?
- 3
What caseload, filing calendar, billable expectation, travel, and peak workload apply?
Evaluation criteria
Evidence to use in a Paralegal scorecard
Agree the criteria before interviews begin, then score examples against the same evidence standard.
Matter control
Maintains chronology, evidence, versions, deadlines, instructions, and review status.
Keeps useful knowledge in personal notes rather than the authorised file.
Structured interview
Paralegal interview questions and strong signals
Ask the same core questions in the same order, then use follow-ups to understand the candidate’s individual contribution.
1
Tell me about a deadline or filing risk you caught.
Strong answer signal
Explains verification, urgency, escalation, correction, record, and prevention.
2
What would you do if a client asked you directly for legal advice?
Strong answer signal
Explains the boundary, protects urgency and relationship, and refers to an authorised lawyer.
Related titles
Check the scope behind the title
Legal Assistant — may be more administrative depending on jurisdiction and employer.
Senior Paralegal — usually carries complex matters, supervision, or specialist depth.
Common hiring mistakes
Problems to remove before publishing
Copying tasks from another jurisdiction without checking authorised scope.
Using Paralegal and lawyer responsibilities interchangeably.
Continue the hiring workflow
Related roles and recruiter resources
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Interview Question Generator
Draft evidence-led legal support questions.
How to Identify Genuine Skills
Verify attributable work through structured examples.
Source and review notes
How this template was prepared
- Language
- International English
- Prepared by
- ATZ CRM Editorial Team
- Review
- ATZ CRM Recruitment Editorial Review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-05
O*NET: Paralegals and Legal Assistants
Reference for occupation tasks, knowledge, skills, abilities, and work activities.
ESCO: occupations and skills
Reference for internationally recognised occupation and skills terminology.
Qualifications, compensation, licences, working conditions, and equal-opportunity wording must be checked for the role and location before use.
Recruiter questions
Paralegal job description FAQs
What should a Paralegal job description include?
State practice, jurisdiction, authorised tasks, supervision, caseload, deadlines, client contact, systems, credentials, and confidentiality.
Can a Paralegal give legal advice?
Rules vary, but paralegals generally must not provide unauthorised legal advice. Confirm local professional and employer requirements.