Paralegal Work – What Kind of Job Do Paralegals Have?

Written by admin on May 12th, 2011

This is due to the fact that paralegals are in such high demand, and will continue to be through the year 2014 as indicated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.

We intend to address these questions in this article: what is a paralegal? What are the daily activities of paralegals? What kind of salary should I expect as a paralegal? And what kind of paralegal degrees or credentials are required to be a paralegal?

Paralegals are sometimes called legal secretaries or legal assistants. However, unlike secretaries or executive assistants, paralegals have a knowledge base rooted in the law, and are much more specialized.

Here are some of the daily activities you may be responsible for as a paralegal: document preparation, legal research, preparation for litigation, filed administration, office management, collection of judicial decisions, data retrieval, preparing motions, and much more. Basically anything their employers need them to do except of course offering legal advice, representing clients, or charging for legal services.

Most paralegals work for law firms, but many also work for government institutions, real estate offices, banking institutions, corporations of all kinds, and many more. As such, the actual activity is a paralegal is responsible for can be very different depending on factors such as, the environment they work in, their position, the needs of their employer, and of course their background.

For those seeking a career in the legal field, paralegal work can allow you to work and pay the bills while going to school full or part time. Paralegal degrees are offered at many community colleges, four-year universities and even post-graduate institutions. In fact, an estimated 1000 colleges, organizations, and law schools offer training for future paralegals.

Paralegal salaries can vary heavily depending on many factors. For example, the area of the country, the weight of responsibilities, past experience, and education level, all play a big role in determining a paralegal salary. The going rate for an entry level paralegal positioni is between ,000-,000. From there, salaries can elevate into the ,000-0,000 in some cases. The minimum requirement for most law firms is a paralegal certificate requiring a few months basic education, but realistically, a bachelors degree or post grad degree in paralegal studies should be obtained.

One of the benefits of paralegal work over a traditional assistant or secretary is the fact that you will never be bored, and always be carrying out different tasks throughout the days, weeks, and months of the year. Since attorneys obviously have lots of different clients with different situations and needs, the nature of these cases are quite unique, and thus, the role of the paralegal is this way as well. Paralegal work is never a boring or monotonous. As a result, most paralegals are very satisfied with their jobs and tend to have a high morale.

Learn more about paralegal work and becoming a paralegal – stop by this site where you can find out about how to obtain an online paralegal degree

 

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