← All 785 jobsFile 23-2011
Paralegals and Legal Assistants
Also filed here: Paralegal, Legal assistant, Legal associate
Mostly untouched
AI barely touches this work so far. The BLS expects 0.3% fewer of these jobs by 2035.
Legal work often runs on specialised, compliant AI tools that consumer Copilot data does not see, so this file probably understates how much AI touches it.
- Rank
- Joint #685 of 785 jobs, by how much of the work AI does
- US jobs, 2025 to 2035
- -0.3% All jobs: +3.5%
- Median US pay
- $62,890 a year, 2025
- People doing it
- 404,900 in the US, with about 40,800 openings a year
The work, 6 activities
The job description, marked up.
Every activity in this job, the biggest first. Tap a line for the evidence.
- deleAI does this
- +AIAI helps
- stetStill yours
Still yours: Prepare legal or regulatory documents44%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI helps with this: Consult legal materials or public records30%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 748 conversations, and it got them there 81% of the time.
Still yours: Discuss legal matters with clients, disputants, or legal professionals or staff13%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Direct legal activities7%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Present information in legal proceedings4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Mediate disputes3%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
2025 to 2035
Ten years from now.
For every 100 of these jobs in 2025, the BLS projects 100 in 2035. Across all US jobs, about 104.
Even shrinking, it should still see about 40,800 openings a year as people retire or move on.
BLS on AIAI and other technology automate legal research and document preparation, and the Occupational Outlook Handbook says AI will limit demand. Source ↗
Nearby
Where your skills travel.
The jobs closest to this one. None of them is much less exposed.
- Shares 88% of the workTitle Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers0% AI does, against 0% here+2.1% by 2035 · $58,650 · High school diploma
- Shares 58% of the workJudicial Law Clerks9% AI does, against 0% here+2.8% by 2035 · $64,920 · Doctoral or professional degree
- Shares 34% of the workArbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators16% AI does, against 0% here+4.7% by 2035 · $75,530 · Bachelor’s degree
The wire
On the wire.
Nothing filed about this job yet. The latest from the Politics front:
How to read this file.
deleAI does this. In US Bing Copilot conversations from January to September 2024, AI itself performed the activity, completed it and made a real difference often enough to count.
+AIAI helps. People brought the activity to AI as their own goal, and it usually got them there.
stetStill yours. It barely shows up in AI use, AI rarely finishes it, or in this job it needs hands.
Shares are weighted by how much each activity matters in the job, using O*NET. Microsoft’s own AI applicability score for this job is 0.06, higher than 15% of jobs.
Doing an activity is not doing a job. The researchers behind this data warn against reading it as job loss, and so do we. It is US data; the shape of the work travels.
Legal work often runs on specialised, compliant AI tools that consumer Copilot data does not see, so this file probably understates how much AI touches it.
Sources: Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025) · O*NET OnLine, 23-2011 · BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
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