Paralegals & Legal Assistants

Legal

AI exposure

  • Data source: BLSPublished: '26.08

    High· relative

    LowFour relative bandsVery high

    Group-level value

    Scale, basis and source

    Four relative bands (Low / Moderate / High / Very high)

    831 detailed occupations in the BLS Employment Projections table. Assigned per National Employment Matrix (NEM) code, so occupations sharing a NEM code carry the same band

    Source dataset (XLSX download)

  • Data source: AnthropicPublished: '26.03

    0.293

    0.000Range of values carried here0.745
    Scale, basis and source

    Observed exposure index, 0–1 as published

    Mapped onto O*NET tasks

    Source dataset

  • Data source: ILOPublished: '25

    0.39

    0.09Range of values carried here0.70

    Group-level value

    Scale, basis and source

    Generative AI exposure index, 0–1 as published

    ISCO-08 unit group — every occupation sharing the code gets this value

    Computed by this site, not published by the ILO: of the 1,012 occupations this site links to the ILO dataset, 44% score at or above this value.

    Source dataset

What kind of figure this source publishes

The BLS category is a relative rank, not an absolute level, and it is not a first-hand measurement: it groups an occupation's percentile ranks across several published studies into four bands. It is not an employment or wage forecast, not a probability of adoption, and it does not separate automation from augmentation.

Task-level exposure

Exposed tasks only
TaskClaude.aiRaw / share %APIRaw / share %
Prepare legal documents, including briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing statements.

23-2011

0.046574.90.001922.8
Gather and analyze research data, such as statutes, decisions, and legal articles, codes, and documents.

23-2011

0.007912.70.006377.2
Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing system.

23-2011

0.007712.40
Not observed on any surface — 9 task(s) These tasks have no row in the source for this release. The 0 in the share row is a display-stage composition ratio; absence is what the — in the raw row states.
Prepare for trial by performing tasks such as organizing exhibits.
00
Meet with clients and other professionals to discuss details of case.
00
File pleadings with court clerk.
00
Call upon witnesses to testify at hearing.
00
Direct and coordinate law office activity, including delivery of subpoenas.
00
Keep and monitor legal volumes to ensure that law library is up-to-date.
00
Appraise and inventory real and personal property for estate planning.
00
Investigate facts and law of cases and search pertinent sources, such as public records, to determine causes of action and to prepare cases.
00
Arbitrate disputes between parties and assist in the real estate closing process, such as by reviewing title searches.
00

Data sources & licenses — O*NET®, Anthropic Economic Index, Eloundou et al. (2023): see full notices on the Credits page

Occupation information

Recent Changes Affecting This Occupation

Apr 2026: OpenAI Jobs Transition Framework (April 2026) classifies paralegals in the 18% high-risk cluster: heavy document review, citation checking, and templated drafting are core LLM strengths.

[Source: OpenAI Jobs Transition Framework, April 2026]

Mar 2026: Brookings: regulated sectors (law) show constrained AI adoption due to privacy and liability concerns.

[Source: Brookings Institution]

Mar 2026: HBR: Paralegals classified as automation-vulnerable due to high text-processing task share. Job postings declining as AI handles document review and legal research.

[Source: HBR (Mar 2026)]