Home Legal Secretary Resume template
Legal Secretary resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what legal secretarys actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most legal secretarys should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Legal secretary with a strong grounding in court procedure, document drafting and case file management for busy legal practices. Comfortable working across litigation, conveyancing and commercial matters, with the attention to detail and discretion that legal work demands. Known for keeping solicitors on top of deadlines and files audit-ready.
Key skills
- Legal research
- Drafting and contracts
- Regulatory compliance
- Court filing and pleadings preparation
- Case file and deadline management
- LEAP and Clio practice management software
- Microsoft Word and Outlook
- Adobe Acrobat
- File and document management systems
- Attention to detail
- Written communication
- Stakeholder management
Experience: example bullet points
- Prepared and formatted court pleadings, affidavits and contracts to firm and court style requirements, reducing rework from partner review
- Managed active case files and diarised deadlines across multiple matters, ensuring no missed filing dates
- Coordinated hearing dates, consultations and barrister briefs directly with courts, clients and opposing counsel
- Maintained the firm's document management system and legal database, improving file retrieval time for fee earners
- Handled day-to-day client correspondence and phone enquiries, escalating urgent matters to the responsible solicitor promptly
Education
Typically Year 12 completion plus a Certificate III or IV in Legal Services or Business Administration (Legal), or a Diploma of Paralegal Services; many legal secretaries build skills through on-the-job training within a firm, and some hold a bachelor degree in an unrelated field before moving into legal support.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- Legal secretary
- Court filing
- Case management
- LEAP
- Clio
- Document management system
- Legal correspondence
- Pleadings
- Affidavits
- Briefs to counsel
- Legal practice management software
- Regulatory compliance
- Law Society
- Supreme Court
- Federal Circuit and Family Court
- Conveyancing support
- Litigation support
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.