Legal Professions and Studies
Legal Support Services
Colleges award this field under 6 named programs, from Legal Administrative Assistant/Secretary to Legal Support Services, Other.
Inside the major
Programs within this field
Colleges may offer this field under 6 more specific program names. The program you choose affects the courses you take.
- Legal Administrative Assistant/Secretary
- Prepares you to serve as legal office managers, special assistants, and legal secretaries. Covers office management, secretarial science, principles of U.S. or Canadian law, legal terminology and documentation, legal research, legal software applications, law office procedures, record-keeping, billing, applicable policies and regulations, and professional standards and ethics.
- Legal Assistant/Paralegal
- Prepares you to perform research, drafting, investigatory, record-keeping and related administrative functions under the supervision of an attorney or court. Covers legal research, drafting legal documents, appraising, pleading, courthouse procedures, and legal specializations.
- Court Reporting and Captioning/Court Reporter
- Prepares you to record and transcribe examinations, testimony, judicial orders and instructions, legal opinions, and other formal proceedings via print or electronic methods. Covers legal terminology, legal transcription, shorthand, verbatim recording, equipment operation and procedures, applicable regulations, and professional standards and ethics.
- Court Interpreter
- Study that prepares you to provide accurate translation and interpretation between two or more languages for parties involved in a legal proceeding. Covers courtroom standards and procedures, court interpreting, legal terminology, consecutive interpretation, simultaneous interpretation, and sight translation.
- Scopist
- Prepares you to perform editing and word processing on a court reporter transcript to ensure the accuracy of the transcripts. Covers legal terminology, legal transcriptioning, machine shorthand, and computer-aided transcription software.
- Legal Support Services, Other
- Legal support services not listed above.
Also called Court Reporter Transcript Editor
Where it can lead
Careers this field can lead to
Explore related careers, starting with the closest connections and the occupations hiring the most people.
Paralegals and Legal Assistants
- Median pay
- $62,890
- Hiring change through 2035
- −0.3%
- Job openings a year
- 40,800
To get hiredAssociate's degree
Explore this career ShrinkingLegal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
- Median pay
- $55,570
- Hiring change through 2035
- −5.2%
- Job openings a year
- 18,100
To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent
Explore this career ShrinkingLegal Support Workers, All Other
- Median pay
- $72,110
- Hiring change through 2035
- −0.3%
- Job openings a year
- 4,700
To get hiredAssociate's degree
Explore this career ShrinkingCourt Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners
- Median pay
- $72,420
- Hiring change through 2035
- −0.1%
- Job openings a year
- 1,800
To get hiredPostsecondary nondegree award
Explore this career Growing with the economyInterpreters and Translators
- Median pay
- $60,170
- Hiring change through 2035
- 2.0%
- Job openings a year
- 6,000
To get hiredBachelor's degree
Explore this career Growing with the economyTitle Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers
- Median pay
- $58,650
- Hiring change through 2035
- 2.1%
- Job openings a year
- 5,300
To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent
Explore this careerAll work is projected to grow 3.5% between 2025 and 2035; read every hiring-change figure against it. The figures beside each career are the pay of that work, across everyone doing it. Graduates of this field earn $35,365 one year after completing the program, which is the start of a career rather than the shape of one.
Working style
How and where the work happens
Related careers can feel very different from one another. Compare the specific occupations to understand the work each one involves.
Few of the careers connected to this field are measured as substantially in-person or active work. Compare the specific occupations to see how much time each one involves with people, equipment, and movement.
College options
Where to study it
Ordered by how many degrees each college awards in this field. Sort by any numbered column.