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Legal Support Services

Types of Degrees Legal Support Services Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Legal Support Services have the option of earning degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	2,431
Associate’s Degree	4,606
Bachelor’s Degree	938
Master’s Degree	2,385

What Legal Support Services Majors Need to Know

Programs in Legal Support Services emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Legal Support Services graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Legal Support Services emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• English Language — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Administrative — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 5.4 / 7.
• Law and Government — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Computers and Electronics — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set emphasized by a Legal Support Services program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Active Listening — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.2 / 5; level 3.3 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Legal Support Services careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Near Vision — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Legal Support Services graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.2 / 7
Working with Computers	4.1 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.1 / 7
Getting Information	4.1 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	3.9 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	3.9 / 7
Processing Information	3.9 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	3.9 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	3.9 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	3.7 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Legal Support Services professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Word processing software	Word processing software	—
Adobe Acrobat	Document management software	—
Accounting software	Accounting software	—
LexisNexis Time Matters	Data base user interface and query software	—
Dropbox	Cloud-based data access and sharing software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Legal Support Services graduates include:

• Certified Legal Secretary Specialist
• Legal Secretary
• Legal Management Assistant
• Legal Practice Assistant
• Secretary
• Legal Administrator (Legal Admin)
• Litigation Secretary
• Law Secretary
• Magistrate Assistant
• Legal Office Support Assistant
• Legal Executive Assistant (Legal Exec Assistant)
• Confidential Secretary
• Law Office Assistant
• Accredited Legal Secretary
• Litigation Legal Secretary

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Legal Support Services graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	27.0%
High school diploma or equivalent	22.1%
Bachelor’s degree	19.9%
Postsecondary certificate	16.0%
Some college courses	6.7%
Master’s degree	6.6%
Post-master’s certificate	0.9%
Doctoral degree	0.4%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	0.3%
First professional degree	0.3%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Legal Support Services?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 84.3% of Legal Support Services degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	8,846	84.3%
Men	1,646	15.7%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Legal Support Services graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	5,031	48.0%
Asian	319	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	2,634	25.1%
Black or African American	1,494	14.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native	70	0.7%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	17	0.2%
Two or More Races	382	3.6%
Race Unknown	421	4.0%
International Students	124	1.2%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Legal Support Services Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of Legal Support Services graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Wages typically rise steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$37,277
4 years	$37,648
5 years	$42,965

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $42,965 — roughly 15% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Legal Support Services Programs

Fully online options is tracked by IPEDS for Legal Support Services. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	130	55
Bachelor’s	21	18
Master’s	2	2

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Legal Support Services Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Legal Support Services graduates earn a median of $37,648 four years after completion — about 1% below the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000). On earnings alone, this program does not show an income premium over the baseline; non-financial outcomes (career interests, certification requirements, advancement potential) are typically the stronger argument for fields in this range.

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Legal Studies and Professions	22
Law	22.01
Legal Professions and Studies, Other	22.99
Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies	22.02
Non-Professional Legal Studies	22.00

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.