People who are interested in providing support for lawyers can benefit from reviewing sample interview questions for legal assistant positions. This is a great way for prospective legal assistants to get prepared to conduct a successful job search.
Legal Assistant Responsibilities
Legal assistants provide administrative support to one or more attorneys. They may work in law offices, corporations or government offices. Some non-profit organizations may also hire people to work in this capacity.
Legal assistants may perform routine office duties, such as preparing correspondence and accounts, answering the phone and booking appointments.Other duties that may fall on legal assistants include setting dates for hearings, preparing court documents and delivering them to other attorneys and the appropriate court office. At times, legal assistants may be involved in conducting research and in trial preparation.
Legal assistants may not provide clients with legal advice. Only a licensed attorney may give legal advice.
Personal Characteristics
Legal assistants are likely to be exposed to confidential client information on a daily basis. They must be mature enough to refrain from talking about anything they are working on to anyone not directly connected with the file.
Legal assistants must show good judgment and have excellent organizational skills. The workload can be heavy at times. A certain degree of patience and tolerance is also required to deal effectively with attorneys, other staff members, clients and others.
Interview Questions for Legal Assistant Position
The kinds of interview questions someone applying for a legal assistant position can be expected to encounter include inquiries about the candidate's education and previous employment and personal attributes. The interviewer will likely also ask some questions designed to help determine whether the candidate would be a good fit for the law firm or organization's corporate culture.
Education and Experience Questions
- Which areas of law are you most interested in?
- Why did you decide to become a legal assistant?
- What subject did you like the most at school? Why?
- Which subject did you like the least, and why?
- What made you choose to attend [name of school]?
- How has your education prepared you to work for us?
Personal Attributes
- What qualities do you feel are most important for a successful legal assistant?
- What is your greatest strength? Greatest weakness?
- Can you give me an example of a situation where you needed to deal with multiple priorities at once and how you deal with it?
- How do you deal with stress?
- Do you work well under pressure?
- Do you enjoy working as part of a team?
- How do you deal with sensitive or confidential information?
- Can you give me an example of a situation where you demonstrated an eye for detail?
Corporate Culture
- Why did you leave your last position?
- Why do you want to work for us?
- Where do you see yourself in the next two years? Five years?
- What type of work environment would allow you do to your best work?
- Why should I hire you?
The answers to the interview questions for legal assistant position will help the interviewer to determine if the candidate has the skills necessary to do the day to day work, as well as if the individual might be a good fit for that organization's corporate culture. A candidate who demonstrates a good knowledge of legal office procedures, and eye for detail and the ability to stay calm under pressure is likely to be considered a good candidate for the position. Taking the time to consider the types of questions asked and planning answers before the interview will help the candidate make a good impression.
