Not Very Resilient
Last Update: 6/19/2026
AI Resilience Score for Legal Secs & Admin Asst.:
24.1%
Median Score
Meaningful human contribution
Measures the parts of the occupation that still require a human touch. This score averages data from up to four AI exposure datasets, focusing on the role’s resilience against automation.
Low
Long-term employer demand
Predicts the health of the job market for this role through 2034. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it balances projected annual job openings (60%) with overall employment growth (40%).
Med
Sustained economic opportunity
Measures future earning potential and career flexibility. This score is a blend of total projected labor income (67%) and the role’s inherent ability to adapt to economic and technological shifts (33%).
Low
This reflects the reliability of your score based on the number of data sources available for this career and how closely those sources agree on the outlook. A higher confidence means more consistent evidence from labor experts and AI models.
Most data sources align, with only minor variation. This is a well-supported result.
Contributing sources
AI Resilience Report forLegal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
$54,140 median salary•19,600 annual openings•SOC Code: 43-6012.00
Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants are less resilient to AI impacts than most occupations, according to our analysis of 6 sources.
Legal secretaries and administrative assistants are labeled "Not Very Resilient" because the core tasks of this job, like scheduling, drafting documents, transcribing meetings, and filling out forms, are exactly what AI tools are already doing faster and cheaper inside software most law firms already own. Adoption is accelerating fast, with legal professionals using AI jumping from 31 to 69 percent in just one year, and the BLS projects about a 6% drop in legal secretary jobs from 2024 to 2034.
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View analysisChat with CoachLatest newsMore career infoAnalysisChatNewsMoreThis role is not very resilient
Legal secretaries and administrative assistants are labeled "Not Very Resilient" because the core tasks of this job, like scheduling, drafting documents, transcribing meetings, and filling out forms, are exactly what AI tools are already doing faster and cheaper inside software most law firms already own. Adoption is accelerating fast, with legal professionals using AI jumping from 31 to 69 percent in just one year, and the BLS projects about a 6% drop in legal secretary jobs from 2024 to 2034.
Read full analysisAnalysis of Current AI Resilience
Legal Secs & Admin Asst.
Updated Quarterly
How is AI changing Legal Secs & Admin Asst. jobs?
Right now, AI is mostly augmenting (helping with) the work of legal secretaries and administrative assistants rather than fully replacing them — but that augmentation is happening fast. Robert Half explains that AI is taking over the repetitive, time-consuming parts of the job for administrative pros — including scheduling, meeting transcription, email drafting, auto-creating tasks, and building slide decks [1]. In law specifically, the 2026 Thomson Reuters AI in Professional Services Report [2] found that 55% of firms now use general-purpose AI, 38% use enterprise tools like Microsoft Copilot, and 35% use legal-specific AI — mostly for drafting correspondence (55%), document review (74%), and summarization (73%).
A separate 2026 Legal Industry Report covered by LawSites [3] shows gen-AI use among legal professionals jumped from 31% to 69% in a single year. These are exactly the tasks — scheduling, paperwork, form-filling, drafting subpoenas — that legal secretaries handle. Brookings flags secretaries and administrative assistants (1.7 million workers) as one of the largest occupations in the top quartile of AI exposure [4], and BLS projects legal secretary jobs will decline about 6% from 2024–2034 [5].
Sources
How fast is AI adoption growing for Legal Secs & Admin Asst.?
Adoption is moving quickly because the tools are cheap, easy to use, and already inside Microsoft 365 — the Association of Legal Administrators notes staff are using these tools "whether firms formally adopt automation tools or not" [6], with confidentiality and ethics being the main brakes. On the labor side, The Agency Recruiting reports the traditional law-firm pyramid is "compressing" [7], with firms hiring fewer entry-level roles and more tech-fluent paralegals and legal-ops specialists. The hopeful takeaway: human judgment, client communication, and knowing legal procedure still matter — and being the person who knows how to direct the AI is becoming one of the most valuable skills you can build.
Sources
Will AI replace Legal Secs & Admin Asst.?
In part. We think AI will eventually automate a real share of this work, but the path forward still has room for people who adapt.
The numbers here are honest: a 24.1% AI Resilience Score puts this role among the more exposed occupations. The tasks at the core of the job, including drafting correspondence, scheduling, transcription, and document review, are exactly what AI tools are already handling. Gen-AI use among legal professionals jumped from 31% to 69% in a single year [3], and BLS projects legal secretary jobs will decline about 6% through 2034 [5]. Brookings also flags this occupation as one of the largest in the top quartile of AI exposure [4].
What stays human is real, though: client communication, procedural judgment, and knowing when something feels off in a document. The bigger opportunity is in the career journey beyond this specific role. Firms are already shifting toward tech-fluent paralegals and legal-ops specialists [7]. If you are in this field now, the most valuable thing you can build is comfort directing AI tools, not just using them. That skill travels well into legal operations, compliance support, and office management, roles where human judgment still anchors the work.
Sources
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Latest AI news for Legal Secs & Admin Asst.
These articles highlight the evolving landscape for legal secretaries and administrative assistants in the age of AI. For instance, the article on women powering America’s offices emphasizes proactive strategies to enhance job security by developing new skills. Meanwhile, insights from legal professionals reveal that while AI may redefine roles, it can also enhance efficiency and create new opportunities. Understanding these dynamics can help students prepare for a resilient career, focusing on adaptability and embracing technology to thrive in a changing job market.
The women who power America’s offices are making themselves AI-proof
19thnews.org • 5/30/2026
Administrative assistants know you're wondering whether AI is coming for their jobs. They're not waiting to find out.
Women at the sharp end as AI takes over administrative roles
www.ft.com • 5/20/2026
Female-dominated clerical work is among the most vulnerable to automation, and labour market losses are already being felt.
Here's how many Kansas City-area jobs are highly vulnerable to AI
www.bizjournals.com • 2/20/2026
Research reveals which workers lack the skills and resources to adapt as AI reshapes the job market, with women disproportionately at risk.
AI Won’t Replace Paralegals, But Experts Say It’s Likely to Redefine the Role
www.law.com • 10/1/2025
New artificial intelligence-powered legal tech tools have stoked large fears of job losses for paralegals, but those fears so far have yet...
See what legal professionals say about the role of AI and law
legal.thomsonreuters.com • 8/18/2025
Get insights into how legal professionals view AI's impact on legal work - including its benefits, challenges, and where it's driving the...
More Career Info
Career: Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
They help lawyers by organizing files, scheduling meetings, and handling important paperwork to keep everything running smoothly.
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Employment & Wage Data
Median Wage
$54,140
Jobs (2024)
156,300
Growth (2024-34)
-5.8%
Annual Openings
19,600
Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Experience
None
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2024-2034
Task-Level AI Resilience Scores
AI-generated estimates of task resilience over the next 3 years
1
Attend legal meetings, such as client interviews, hearings, or depositions, and take notes.
2
Prepare and process legal documents and papers, such as summonses, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, motions, and pretrial agreements.
3
Assist attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records.
4
Receive and place telephone calls.
5
Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files.
6
Review legal publications and perform database searches to identify laws and court decisions relevant to pending cases.
7
Submit articles and information from searches to attorneys for review and approval for use.
Tasks are ranked by their AI resilience, with the most resilient tasks shown first. Core tasks are essential functions of this occupation, while supplemental tasks provide additional context.
