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If the legal profession excites you, you could consider getting intoparalegal training and work as a legal assistant to established lawyers bypreparing closing statements and hearings and legal meetings, among others. Aslaw firms try to cut costs, paralegals are taking on more legalresponsibilities and doing many lawyers’ duties.
However, they are bound by law not to practice law by appearing in court fora client, presenting a case in court, charging fees, or giving clients legaladvice. Despite this, there are many things that they can do to streamline theday-to-day activities of a law firm. Considering this, a professional withparalegal training is much sought after and can earn a tidy sum too.
Your career roadmap with paralegal training
If you want to join the prosperous and well-respected field of paralegals,it’s better to be a graduate. The minimum education requirement, however, is ahigh school diploma, though these days, many paralegals come in with a year’scertification in paralegal training or a two to four year degree course in thisfield. A Master’s degree in this field is not unheard of either.
If you’re interested in acquiring paralegal training, you could attend acommunity college that offers anassociate degrees in paralegal studies, or youcould go in for undergraduate paralegal certificate courses. Usually, however,law firms ask for paralegals to have a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree from anaccredited paralegal course. You can also get yourself a paralegal certificateafter completing your baccalaureate. If you would like to enter thisprofession, this is the entry-level standard for you.
Job duties
Help lawyers prepare for trials, hearings, closings, and corporate meetingsInvestigate cases and ensure that all information regarding them are relevantIdentify legal articles, laws, judicial decisions, legal articles, and othermaterial relevant to cases on hand Analyze and organize information Writereports for attorneys to use to determine the handling of a case Draftcontracts, separation agreements, mortgages, trust deeds, etc Researchingrecords Performing and coordinating legal research Making a summary of legaldocuments
Certification
Though there are no mandatory certifications required for paralegals, it isbetter to have it for a secure career. The best-known certificates forparalegal training are:
Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) instituted by the National Association of LegalAssistants (NALA) Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE) administered by theNational Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA)Skills required
Ability to do legal research Interview witnesses and document what they sayGood communication and writing skills Work under pressure Have basic computerskills Know legal principles and terminology well Analyze legal documents forrelevance and accuracy
Job outlook
As a professional with paralegaltraining, your pay is dependent on the amount of experience you have as aparalegal, your geographic location, and the kind of law firm you work in. It’swidely known that if you work in a large city, you will be paid better than ina small town because of the larger exposure to cases. Also, you earn higher andbetter salaries if you work for the government. Attorneys also give theirparalegals a bonus depending on the quantity of work and the amount of overtimethey put in.
In 2008, annual wages for paralegals ranged between ,000 and ,000. So, ifthis is the job that excites you, head for a school that gives you goodparalegal training.