Legal Assistant Interview Questions to Ask an Employer
These are interview questions to ask for a legal assistant or legal secretary job, written for the candidate and put to the firm. The 55 questions follow the order the conversation usually takes: the role and the attorneys you would support, documents and deadlines, workload and hours, training and standards, pay and progression, and what to settle before you leave the room. Nobody asks them all, so pick the handful from each group that the posting left unanswered.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The role
Which attorneys would I be supporting, and how many of them?
Why ask it
The number is the job. Supporting two partners and supporting six associates are different roles with the same title. If they cannot say yet, ask who decides and when, because an unassigned assistant tends to absorb whatever nobody else wants.
What does a normal day in this seat look like, start to finish?
Why ask it
An account of one real morning beats a list of duties. Listen for what fills the hours: intake calls, document prep, filings, scanning. An answer made only of the interesting parts has left most of the day out.
How does work reach me: straight from each attorney, or through someone who triages?
Why ask it
Direct requests from several attorneys with no filter means you would be doing the prioritizing yourself, usually without the authority to say no. Ask who you go to when it is too much, and note whether a name comes back.
Do you call this job a legal assistant or a legal secretary, and what is the difference at this firm?
Why ask it
Titles are not used the same way from one office to the next. In some, the legal secretary takes dictation and keeps the calendars while the legal assistant opens files and prepares filings; in others the two words describe one desk. Whichever word they use, the list of tasks behind it is what you would be accepting.
Which practice areas would my work fall under?
Why ask it
A family law desk means court forms and callers on their worst week. A corporate or property desk means signature packets, closing binders and month-end rushes. A desk split between two areas tends to be run by whichever one has a court date that week.
How much client contact would this role have?
Why ask it
Intake calls, scheduling and status updates make a different job from one spent working only with attorneys. Where this desk is the first voice clients hear, the number of calls a day, and how many of the callers are upset, matter more than anything in the posting.
Would I be covering the front desk or the main phone line as well?
Why ask it
Reception cover is easy to leave out of a posting for legal support staff. An hour at lunch is one thing. Being the standing backup for a front desk that is often empty means your own filings wait while you sign for couriers.
How much of the job is dictation, transcription and tidying documents from an attorney's draft?
Why ask it
Some attorneys still dictate every letter, and others type their own drafts and want a final proofread only. The split tells you whether this is a typing desk, a proofreading desk or neither, and whether your speed and accuracy are likely to be tested before an offer.
Would I be managing an attorney's calendar and inbox, or only the matter files?
Why ask it
Running a partner's calendar is close to a personal assistant's job: hearings moved, client lunches booked, travel arranged. Find out whether you could accept and move appointments yourself or would have to check each one, because that decides how much of the day goes on waiting for a reply.
Would I be entering the attorneys' time or preparing client invoices?
Why ask it
Typing up other people's time sheets and chasing the missing ones is a real slice of many support desks. Ask when the billing cycle closes each month, since that is the week everything else on your desk slows down.
Is this a new position or a replacement, and how long was the last person in it?
Why ask it
A seat that has turned over twice in two years is telling you something the interview will not. If the previous person moved up internally, that is worth knowing too, and worth asking how they managed it.
Documents and deadlines
What systems would I be using for case management, documents and e-filing?
Why ask it
Named programs are something you can look up before a second interview, and they tell you how steep the first month would be. Shared drives and paper folders mean the tracking is done by hand, so follow up with what opening a new matter involves, step by step.
Which courts and agencies do you file with, and how often would I be the one filing?
Why ask it
Each court has its own portal, formatting rules and cut-off time, so three courts is three sets of habits to learn. A firm that now and then files somewhere unfamiliar should be able to say who reads the local rules before the document goes in.
Who keeps the deadline calendar, and who checks it?
Why ask it
A missed date can do real harm to a client's case, which makes this the riskiest part of the desk. The reassuring answer is a second pair of eyes, whether an attorney or a docketing clerk. An assistant who keeps the calendar alone is carrying the firm's risk on an assistant's pay.
Would I be working out deadlines from the court rules myself, or entering dates an attorney has already counted?
Why ask it
Counting days under court rules is skilled work, and the rules change from one court to the next. If the counting would fall to you, ask what reference tools the firm provides and who signs off the date before it goes on the calendar.
What happened the last time a filing was rejected or a deadline came close?
Why ask it
Every office that files has one of these stories. What matters is the ending: a calm fix and a changed procedure, or a hunt for someone to blame. If they say it has never happened, ask how they would know.
How do documents get served and sent out here: e-service, courier, mail or a process server?
Why ask it
Arranging service, and collecting the proof that it happened, usually lands on the assistant. Booking the process server and chasing the return afterwards can swallow an afternoon nobody budgeted for.
Would I be expected to notarize documents or witness signatures?
Why ask it
Who may notarize or witness what depends on the state or country, so ask how it works at this firm. It is also worth asking who pays for a commission taken out for the job, and whether it would stay with you if you left.
Are the files paper, electronic or both, and who closes and archives them?
Why ask it
A firm that runs both systems tends to handle every document twice: once on screen and once in a folder. Closing old files is the chore that piles up between assistants, so ask whether a backlog is waiting for whoever takes the seat.
Are there templates for the letters and forms I would produce most often?
Why ask it
A maintained bank of templates means you would be filling in and checking, not building each letter from a blank page. Where every attorney keeps personal versions in a personal folder, expect to learn several house styles and to be corrected on each.
Workload and hours
When two attorneys need something at the same time, who decides what comes first?
Why ask it
Ask for a specific example, since the answer is what your bad days will consist of. A firm with no tiebreaker leaves you refereeing between people who both outrank you.
How many other assistants and paralegals are there, and how is the work split between us?
Why ask it
The split shows whether paralegals hand tasks down to assistants, whether you would be peers, or whether you would be the only support person in the building. Being the only one is a different job, with nobody to ask where the form is kept.
Would I be recording billable time of my own, and is there a target?
Why ask it
Some firms bill clients for part of an assistant's work and others never do. Where there is a target, get the number and set it against the hours that cannot be billed, such as phones, filing and scanning. A high target on top of a heavy administrative load cannot both be met.
What are the working hours, and is time beyond them paid as overtime?
Why ask it
Get the arrangement plainly: hourly or salaried, and how late evenings are handled. Who is entitled to overtime pay depends on the law where you work and on the contract, so ask how this firm classes the role. Vagueness at the interview stage rarely improves once you have accepted.
How much warning do I usually get for something that has to go out the same day?
Why ask it
Rush work comes with any legal office. An attorney who hands over a filing at four o'clock most afternoons is a habit, though, and no amount of organizing on your side fixes it. Ask what last week's latest request was and when it arrived.
What does the week before a trial or a closing look like for support staff?
Why ask it
Exhibit binders, last-minute copies and late couriers land on support staff, and none of it appears in a posting. The date of the last trial or closing, and what the assistant did that week, shows whether crunch is occasional or the normal state of the practice.
Who covers this desk when I am on leave or off sick, and whose desk would I be covering?
Why ask it
Cover runs in both directions. With one assistant per attorney and no floater, your vacation gets negotiated around the court calendar and you come back to a stack. The honest test is what happened the last time an assistant took a full week.
Is there a set lunch break, and who picks up the phones during it?
Why ask it
At a small firm the assistant's lunch is often whatever fits between calls. Rules on breaks depend on where you work, so the useful thing to learn here is the practice: does someone take the line, or do you eat at the desk with a headset on?
Would I be expected to answer emails or messages outside working hours?
Why ask it
Plenty of attorneys send at ten at night with no thought of a reply before morning, and a few do expect one. For an hourly role, find out how time spent answering gets recorded, since the rules on that differ from place to place.
What is the expectation for days in the office, and can any of this be done remotely?
Why ask it
Support roles are often tied to the office by the mail, paper filing and signatures. Which tasks need you in the building is the useful part of the answer: it shows whether a remote day is realistic or only permitted on paper.
Training and standards
Who would train me in the first month, and what does that look like?
Why ask it
The answer to hope for is a name and a plan for the first weeks. Learning by watching usually means filling gaps by interrupting colleagues who are already busy, and a slower start than either side wants.
Are there written procedures for this desk, or would I be writing them?
Why ask it
A desk manual left by the last person is worth a week of training. Where nothing is written down, producing the manual may turn out to be part of the job, and it matters whether time would be set aside for it or squeezed in around the filings.
How do conflict checks work here, and what part of them would be mine?
Why ask it
At many firms the assistant runs a new client's name, and the other side's, against the firm's records before a file is opened. Find out what you would search, who decides when a match turns up, and what you may tell the caller in the meantime.
If a client asks me something that sounds like a legal question, what do you want me to say?
Why ask it
In most places only a licensed lawyer may give legal advice, and a firm should be able to tell its staff where that line sits day to day. A ready script, such as promising a call back from the attorney by the end of the day, shows they have thought about protecting you as well as the client.
Would I handle client money, such as taking payments or recording deposits to a trust account?
Why ask it
Client funds are held under strict rules set by the bar or regulator where the firm practices, and those rules differ from place to place. A desk that touches them should come with training on the firm's procedure and with someone else who reconciles the account, so the checking does not rest on you alone.
Who do I go to when an instruction is unclear and the attorney is in court?
Why ask it
Attorneys vanish for hours on hearing days, and those are the hours when the awkward question turns up. A named second person, whether a paralegal, another attorney or the office manager, means you are not guessing on a letter that goes out under the firm's name.
What would you want me to be handling on my own after three months?
Why ask it
This hands you the yardstick you will be measured against. The best answers are concrete, such as running the e-filing for two attorneys without a second check. A vague reply suggests the yardstick has not been set, and that the first review will rest on somebody's impression.
Is there a probation period, and what decides whether I pass it?
Why ask it
How long probation lasts, and what it changes about notice or benefits, differs by employer and by country, so ask how it works here. Find out too whether it ends with a sit-down conversation or simply lapses without a word.
How is my work reviewed, by whom, and does the review affect pay?
Why ask it
Support staff are sometimes reviewed by an office manager who does not see the daily work. Ask whether the attorneys you support contribute, since a review written by someone unfamiliar with your matters is hard to build a case on.
What did the best assistant this firm has had do differently?
Why ask it
You will hear what is valued here beyond the posting: watching the calendar a week ahead, catching a wrong exhibit number, keeping a nervous client calm on the phone. Write the answer down, because it is the standard your first review will quietly compare you to.
Pay and progression
What is the salary range for this seat, and what puts someone at the top of it?
Why ask it
Some places require the range to be published and others do not, so if the posting left it out it is fair to ask. The second half tells you whether years of experience, a certificate or a second language is what moves the figure.
How do raises work for support staff here?
Why ask it
Increases may be annual, tied to review scores or negotiated one person at a time. Where they are entirely discretionary, the date of the last raise for this role is the only fact on offer, so get it.
Is there a bonus for support staff, and what was it tied to last year?
Why ask it
A law firm bonus can follow the firm's year, your own billable hours, or nothing more than a partner's mood in December. Asking about last year gets you a fact where asking about next year gets you a hope.
Which benefits apply to support staff, and when do they start?
Why ask it
Health cover, retirement contributions and paid leave are sometimes different for staff than for attorneys, and some begin only after a waiting period. Ask for the staff benefits summary on paper; a recollection from across the table is not something you can check later.
How much paid time off is there, and are there times of year when leave is hard to take?
Why ask it
Litigation practices have trial terms, estates and tax work bunch up at year end, and property offices live by closing dates. Learning the blackout periods now is easier than finding out that the week you have booked falls inside one.
Does the firm pay for certification or courses, and is study time on the clock?
Why ask it
Support for a paralegal certificate or a notary commission is a concrete benefit worth real money. The study-time half of the question separates firms that mean it from firms that will reimburse a fee and expect your evenings.
Is there a route from this job to a paralegal role, and has anyone here taken it?
Why ask it
What it takes to be called a paralegal varies by state and country, and firms differ on whether they want a certificate or promote on experience. A firm with a real route can name the person who took it and say how long it took. If everyone who held this seat had to leave to move up, plan around that ceiling.
Before you leave
What is the hardest part of working with this team?
Why ask it
Asked plainly and late in the interview, this often gets a straight answer: one demanding attorney, a chaotic filing period, short staffing. Whatever they name, check it against what anyone else you meet says about the same thing.
Can I meet the attorneys I would be working for before a decision is made?
Why ask it
Support hires are often interviewed by an office manager alone, and the first meeting with the attorney is the first morning. Getting on with one or two people is most of this job, so fifteen minutes with them is a reasonable thing to request.
Could I talk to one of the current assistants about the day-to-day?
Why ask it
A colleague at the next desk will tell you how often the printer queue, the phones and the four o'clock rush really collide. Keep it to ten minutes, and ask which attorney's work they would warn a newcomer about.
Will there be a skills test, such as typing, proofreading or a sample document?
Why ask it
Some firms test before they make an offer, and knowing the format lets you prepare. Find out which word processor it will be on, since formatting a pleading in an unfamiliar program is harder than it sounds.
Is there anything in my background that makes you hesitate about me for this desk?
Why ask it
It takes some nerve, but it gives you the chance to answer a doubt while you are still in the room: no experience in their practice area, say, or with their court's e-filing portal. Do not argue the point. Reply with one specific example and leave it there.
What checks or references do you run before an offer is final?
Why ask it
Legal support staff see confidential files and sometimes handle client money, so many firms check references and some go further. What an employer may look into depends on where you are. Asking early means you can warn your referees and are not surprised by a form.
When would you want the person you hire to start?
Why ask it
The notice you owe a current employer sets your earliest honest date, so say it now and not after an offer. A firm that needs someone by Monday may be covering a trial or a sudden departure, and either one describes the first month.
What happens after today, and who makes the final decision?
Why ask it
The office manager may run the process while a partner has the last word, and it helps to know whose opinion you still have to win. Get a date as well, so that a quiet week reads as their timetable and not as a no.
Preparing for a legal assistant interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
- 1Look up the firm's practice areas and the courts it appears in, so you can ask about filings in the right jurisdiction rather than in general.
- 2Note which systems the posting mentions and prepare a sentence about your experience with each, or with the nearest equivalent.
- 3Write down your own constraints in advance: the hours you can cover, the commute, the minimum salary. It is far harder to hold a line once you like the people.
- 4Choose two or three questions from each group above and put them in your notebook. Arriving with notes suits a job that is about keeping track of things, and reading from them is fine.
Choosing what to ask
Legal assistant or legal secretary
The two titles overlap, and many firms use them for the same desk. If the posting says legal secretary, lean on the questions about dictation, calendars, the phones and templates. If it says legal assistant, spend longer on filing, deadline counting and how the work is split with the paralegals. Either way, ask the title question early, because the answer tells you which of the others matter.
A first interview of half an hour
You may get only five or ten minutes for your own questions. Use them on the things you cannot find out any other way: how many attorneys you would support, who settles a clash between them, who checks the deadline calendar, and what the hours really are. Pay, benefits and probation can wait for a second conversation or the offer.
A solo practitioner or a small firm
Here the assistant is often the receptionist, the bookkeeper's helper and the filing clerk as well. Ask about front desk cover, who covers your leave, whether any procedures are written down, whether you would handle client money, and who you turn to when the one attorney is in court. Skip the questions about triage and reviews by an office manager; there may be no such person.
A large firm or a legal department
Work is more likely to arrive through a coordinator, and a docketing team may keep the calendar. Ask how many attorneys share each assistant, how overflow is passed around, whether support staff bill time, and what the path to a senior assistant or paralegal post looks like. In a company's legal department, replace the court questions with ones about contracts, signatures and who the internal clients are.
Who to ask what
Office manager or HR
Hours, overtime, pay bands, benefits, review cycles, certification reimbursement. Ask for these in writing before you accept rather than relying on what was said in the room.
The attorneys you would support
How they like work handled, what they need first thing in the morning, and what went wrong with the last arrangement. Their answers tell you more about the daily job than the job description does.
Another assistant or paralegal
Ask to meet one, even briefly. They are the only people who will tell you about crunch weeks, who is difficult, and whether the deadline calendar is actually checked. A firm that will not arrange fifteen minutes has answered a question of its own.
What to listen for
- Nobody can say how many attorneys you would support, or the number keeps changing during the conversation.
- The deadline calendar has one owner and no second check, and nobody seems concerned about that.
- Overtime described as occasional, alongside stories that all involve evenings and weekends.
- Repeated turnover in the seat with no explanation offered when you ask.
- Vagueness about pay reviews combined with enthusiasm about the firm being like a family.
After the interview
- Write down the numbers the same day: hours, salary, billable target if any, notice period. Details blur fast when you are interviewing at several firms.
- Send a short thank-you that mentions one specific thing about the practice, and offer to answer anything they were unsure about.
- If two people gave you different answers about hours or workload, raise it before accepting, politely and directly.
- Ask for the offer in writing with the hours, overtime treatment and review cycle stated. It is a normal thing to request, and it settles any later disagreement about what was promised.