Notary to legal assistant
A notary already meets 37% of what the legal assistant role asks for. The move turns on 9 required skills not yet in the profile.
59/ 100
1 How much of what a legal assistant is expected to do is already part of a notary’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the legal assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A legal assistant role treats 6 of its required skills as things a notary already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- court procedures
- legal research
- legal terminology
- private law
- revise legal documents
- use word processing software
What stands in the way is 9 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 10 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A legal assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a notary background worth leading with.
- already held advise on legal services communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held revise legal documents communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held private law business, administration and law
- already held legal terminology business, administration and law
- already held civil law business, administration and law
- already held court procedures business, administration and law
All 10 carried skills, including the 6 the legal assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 19 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn execute working instructions required
- still to learn handle case evidence required
- still to learn pose questions referring to documents required
- optional, not held assist judge optional
- optional, not held process commissioned instructions optional
- optional, not held proofread text optional
- still to learn manage accounts required
- still to learn meet deadlines for preparing legal cases required
- optional, not held brief court officials optional
- optional, not held manage personnel agenda optional
- optional, not held perform office routine activities optional
- still to learn legal department processes required
- still to learn legal case management required
- optional, not held civil process order optional
- optional, not held criminal law optional
- still to learn compile legal documents required
- still to learn study court hearings required
- optional, not held record court procedures optional
- optional, not held respond to enquiries optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a legal assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 legal department processes study this
- 02 compile legal documents practise this
- 03 execute working instructions practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 10 skills that carry over
- already held court procedures knowledge
- already held legal research knowledge
- already held legal terminology knowledge
- already held private law knowledge
- already held revise legal documents skill
- already held use word processing software skill
- already held advise on legal services skill
- already held apply technical communication skills skill
- already held civil law knowledge
- already held perform clerical duties skill
10 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held assist judge optional
- optional, not held brief court officials optional
- optional, not held civil process order optional
- optional, not held criminal law optional
- optional, not held manage personnel agenda optional
- optional, not held perform office routine activities optional
- optional, not held process commissioned instructions optional
- optional, not held proofread text optional
- optional, not held record court procedures optional
- optional, not held respond to enquiries optional
33 held skills the legal assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role administer oaths skill
- not needed by the target role archive documentation related to work skill
- not needed by the target role authenticate documents skill
- not needed by the target role check official documents skill
- not needed by the target role conclude business agreements skill
- not needed by the target role constitutional law knowledge
- not needed by the target role contract law knowledge
- not needed by the target role conveyancing knowledge
- not needed by the target role create import-export commercial documentation skill
- not needed by the target role examine mortgage loan documents skill
- not needed by the target role facilitate official agreement skill
- not needed by the target role fix meetings skill
- not needed by the target role hand gestures knowledge
- not needed by the target role intellectual property law knowledge
- not needed by the target role international import export regulations knowledge
- not needed by the target role interpret law skill
- not needed by the target role issue official documents skill
- not needed by the target role law of non-marital cohabitation knowledge
- not needed by the target role manage contracts skill
- not needed by the target role manage digital documents skill
- not needed by the target role manage staff skill
- not needed by the target role mortgage loans knowledge
- not needed by the target role officiate weddings skill
- not needed by the target role perform powers of attorney skill
- not needed by the target role property law knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide legal advice skill
- not needed by the target role provide legal legitimacy to the transfer of assets skill
- not needed by the target role public law knowledge
- not needed by the target role real estate market knowledge
- not needed by the target role register deeds skill
- not needed by the target role take affidavits skill
- not needed by the target role types of oaths knowledge
- not needed by the target role witness the signing of documents skill
4 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn legal department processes required
- still to learn legal case management required
- optional, not held civil process order optional
- optional, not held criminal law optional
Other moves recorded from notary
- conveyance clerk 64% covered · moderate
- justice of the peace 36% covered · substantial
- legal consultant 34% covered · substantial
- legal administrative assistant 34% covered · substantial
- judge 30% covered · substantial
- intellectual property consultant 27% covered · substantial
- mediator 26% covered · substantial
- title closer 25% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a notary become a legal assistant?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A notary already covers 37% of what a legal assistant is expected to do: 10 skills carry over, 6 of which the legal assistant role treats as required.
What skills does a notary need to become a legal assistant?
9 required skills are missing, plus 10 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is legal department processes.
How hard is the move from notary to legal assistant?
Its learning distance is 59 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.