Whenever I’m browsing online paralegal forums and job boards I often see job seekers asking the question “what is it like being a paralegal?”. So in this post I like to explain the paralegal profession in general, and answer the question as thoroughly and detailed as possible. I’m not going to embellish the advantages being a paralegal and make it sound as if this career is the best thing since sliced bread – as with any profession there are pros and cons. It’s every job seeker’s responsibility to decide whether a given career suits their personality and natural skill sets.
Working as a paralegal requires long hours and is difficult work compared to many other jobs. Generally the bigger and more established the firm one works for, the more hours they will be required to work. However those who are income motivated will relish in this fact, because most firms offer time and a half for overtime. Likewise, the smaller the firm one works for the less they will get paid. This correlation obviously can be attributed to company revenues – the larger firms not only get paid more on a per case basis, but they typically have a much higher case load as well. So they can afford to pay staff more and offer bonuses and higher amounts for overtime hours.
To illustrate this point, here is what one paralegal said on a thread from Yahoo Answers:
Regardless of the hours you worked, most firms will compensate you for the work you do. The smaller the firm, the less the pay. The bigger the firm, the higher the pay. I have a friend that I use to ride with on the train into Chicago who works for a major law firm….150+ attorneys. She is just a legal secretary, works 40 hours a week and gets paid $60,000 per year.
Unfortunately, becoming a paralegal is not very easy in today’s economy as most firms require at least 2 years experience. While there are firms that will take people with a paralegal certification and no job experience, they will be paid much less than experienced paralegals. The good news is that once a job is secured your income can grow very quickly and even double within just a few short years, especially paralegals who stand out and make a visible difference for the attorneys they work for.
As for paralegal training, it is recommended to obtain a bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies, pre-law or political science. Although a paralegal certificate or associate’s degree will qualify one for a paralegal position, it’s another thing to actually obtain a job with these minimal credentials. The reality is that simply meeting the minimum requirements for a given position will no longer be adequate. There are so many other candidates with four-year degrees, if not several years experience on top of their four year degree.
As for what the job is like itself, being a paralegal is very demanding – it is not uncommon to have 20+ cases at a time as your workload – there is ALWAYS something to do. Typical duties include drafting documents, meeting with clients, courthouse filings, legal research, legal writing, courtroom preparation and much more. It is generally the paralegal’s job to make the life of the attorney that work for much easier in any way possible.
The only thing paralegals are not permitted to do is give legal advice to clients or make court appearances, outside of filing court documents or obtaining a continuance on a particular case. But for the most part they are very educated on the legal process and in many cases know more than the attorneys they work for.
Many paralegals have significant job perks, depending on their stature within the company, such as, corporate credit cards, their own office, a shared secretary, and some even travel outside of the United States for various cases. There are however some downsides, such as dealing with inflated egos that many attorneys have. Attorneys can also be extremely demanding, and a paralegal will typically have more than one attorney as a boss, unlike the corporate environment where one will normally only have one direct report.
Hopefully this accurately illustrates the paralegal experience and what it is like being a paralegal. If any of you have experience working in a law office, I would appreciate any feedback you can provide on your experience that would assist other readers to make a decision whether or not they’d like to join the paralegal field. Just fill out the comment field below and I will more than likely add your feedback to this post!
