How to become a legal executive
Official title: Legal executive
Also called: Paralegal, Legal assistant
Legal executives research and prepare cases for lawyers, file legal documents and may provide legal advice.
Main tasks
- Assist lawyers in legal proceedings
- Research materials for legal cases
- Prepare legal documents and contracts
- Give legal advice to clients
- Communicate with other law professionals
- Guide property sales and purchases
- Prepare wills
- Set up trust funds
How to become one
You need a qualification to become a legal executive and experience may be useful. You need NCEA Level 2 to do the study or training for this job. Required: a New Zealand Diploma in Legal Executive Studies (Level 6). Other requirements: to join the New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives; experience in similar work.
Ways in
- Certificates and diplomas: Advanced certificates and diplomas in legal practice. TEC links this job to study in law studies. Qualifications: NZ Dip in Legal Executive Studies, NZ Dip in Conveyancing. Usually 9 months to 1 year. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $63,000 a year one year after study and $71,000 five years after; 89% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).
Pay · Past change · AI and this job
- Most common pay: $64,000 to $93,000 a year (median $77,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
- Lower: $53,000 a year · Upper: $112,000 a year
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
- People employed in the group Conveyancers and Legal Executives: 2,031 at the 2018 Census and 2,334 at the 2023 Census (+14.9%). Past change, not a forecast.
- Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
Who does this work
- About 2,800 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
- In the group Conveyancers and Legal Executives, 94% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
- Where people in the group Conveyancers and Legal Executives work (2023 Census): Auckland 29.2%, Canterbury 14.7%, and Waikato 10.3%.
Related jobs
Not sure this is for you? Take the 2-minute career quiz
Questions people ask
How do I become a legal executive?
You need a qualification to become a legal executive and experience may be useful. You need NCEA Level 2 to do the study or training for this job. Required: a New Zealand Diploma in Legal Executive Studies (Level 6). Other requirements: to join the New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives; experience in similar work.
How much does a legal executive earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $77,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $64,000 to $93,000 a year.
Has the number of people working as a legal executive grown in New Zealand?
It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.
Will AI change the work of a legal executive?
Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026