Legal & Paralegal Careers
Salary ranges from $24,000 to $61,000 per year
Paralegals and legal assistants are projected to grow faster
than the average for all occupations through 2012. Some employment
growth stems from law firms and other employers with legal
staffs increasingly hiring paralegals to lower the cost and
increase the availability and efficiency of legal services.
The majority of job openings for paralegals in the future
will be new jobs created by employment growth, but additional
job openings will arise as people leave the occupation. Despite
projections of fast employment growth, competition for jobs
should continue as many people seek to go into this profession;
however, highly skilled, formally trained paralegals have
excellent employment potential.
Career Requirements
There are several ways to become a paralegal. The most common
is through a community college paralegal program that leads
to an associate’s degree.
Click
here for more information on requirements
Job Description
paralegals—also called legal assistants—continue to assume
a growing range of tasks in the Nation’s legal offices and
perform many of the same tasks as lawyers. Nevertheless, they
are still explicitly prohibited from carrying out duties which
are considered to be the practice of law, such as setting
legal fees, giving legal advice, and presenting cases in court.
One of a paralegal’s most important tasks is helping lawyers
prepare for closings, hearings, trials, and corporate meetings.
Paralegals investigate the facts of cases and ensure that
all relevant information is considered.
They also identify appropriate laws, judicial decisions,
legal articles, and other materials that are relevant to assigned
cases. After they analyze and organize the information, paralegals
may prepare written reports that attorneys use in determining
how cases should be handled.
Should attorneys decide to file lawsuits on behalf of clients,
paralegals may help prepare the legal arguments, draft pleadings
and motions to be filed with the court, obtain affidavits,
and assist attorneys during trials. Paralegals also organize
and track files of all important case documents and make them
available and easily accessible to attorneys.
In addition to this preparatory work, paralegals also perform
a number of other vital functions. For example, they help
draft contracts, mortgages, separation agreements, and trust
instruments.
They also may assist in preparing tax returns and planning
estates. Some paralegals coordinate the activities of other
law office employees and maintain financial office records.
Various additional tasks may differ, depending on the employer.
This site contains all original Content.
Some data sourced from: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
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