Depends where you are. They are legal secretaries here and the base salary is higher than that of paralegals. Most big firms only hire people with 4-year degrees and many also require 5 years’ experience.</p>
<p>We have several JDs who are paralegals, but many more who are contract attorneys. A contract attorney is a long-term temp, on a yearly basis. We hire, literally, dozens of JDs as temp attorneys every year for task work on various cases. They are generally housed in sub-basements and paid in the range of $20 per hour with no benefits.</p>
<p>Thanks. It was a horrible shock, but our industry (building products) just isn’t coming back yet and I had the least tenure… Have some severance, but did NOT want to be in the market at my age and seniority. A lesson to all- I felt VERY secure, even with the business conditions.</p>
<p>I have a daughter, a college sophomore, majoring in Finance/Marketing & very involved with her nationally ranked mock trial team. She will be working a summer internship with a prominent attorney in her college town & also taking 2 weeks to teach mock (all expenses paid) to middle/high school students at a well known university.</p>
<p>She doesn’t think law school is a good option, and I think she may be right because of what I’ve read here & elsewhere, but the combination of finance/marketing & an understanding of law, coupled with the ability to present could be important skills. She’s also a great sax player.</p>
<p>But here’s the question; what career path should she consider? Sometimes we are so busy with the process of getting through college, we don’t consider the large picture. </p>
<p>Many of you have such insight, and I would appreciate your input. Thanks!</p>
<p>She shouldn’t rule out law school. It sounds like she has some real aptitudes. If you are pretty certain about residing in a particular state, and can get into the state u law school and DO WELL, you can get a job. I think law school provides a good education.</p>
<p>My son was planning on law school, bailed on the plan, got a good corporate job with an industry-leading tech company and is now planning to get an MBA in a couple of years.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks, but it’s not happening for that industry. I can now pick a healthier industry and have a few places I’m targeting. Nissan’s corporate headquarters is on my running course!</p>
<p>I think housing and jobs in America are on cycles, one day there is a shortage and over supply in another. This cycle is going to be long and hard to break, it will break eventurally and when it does, things will look rosy again and colleges will be producting lawyers again. For now, it is in a down cycle.</p>
<p>I haven’t read the whole thread, but if I every became disabled from doing my medical work, I would do paralegal training. But, only because I feel my medical expertise plus paralegal training would be valuable. </p>
<p>PMK- I would research the areas of law that you may already have experience with. Family Law with your experience with kids? That way, you bring more to the table with your paralegal degree.</p>
<p>Another issue is tort reform. You may think this is a phrase that politicians just bat around, but legislation in the past decade or so has really acted to reduce the number of lawsuits…fewer lawsuits, fewer lawyers needed. (Why then have health care costs and insurance premiums not gone down? That is the subject for another converasation.)</p>
<p>There is probably less demand for nurse/medical paralegals, but it is stil terrific to have a medical background.</p>
<p>Incidentally, the public sector needs paralegals too. The Commonwealth’s Attorney has a few and I know the United States Attorney for D.C. hires them in batches periodically. It’s definitely something to consider if you’re interested in criminal procedure law as well as family law and other civil actions. </p>
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<p>MomofWildChild’s advice is great. In my area, firms and agencies hire from local and regional law firms anyway. You don’t need to chase after Harvard to find a job and you can get a much better deal in-state (in terms of networking and internship opportunities) if you intend to live and work in that area. There’s always a demand for tax litigators too and as the economy rebounds it’s certainly possible that opportunities will open up as businesses and the public sector begin expanding again.</p>
<p>I was a paralegal for 12 years. Started as a litigation paralegal at a large law firm, then moved to a corporate paralegal position in a telecom company (and moved to different practice areas within). I in essence had my own practice over time, and stuff the attys did not want to do was often dumped on me. I was compensated well but at age 36 when I was going through the same 14+ boxes of docs for the SEVENTH time because the young whippersnapper atty could not make up his mind what he wanted us to identify- I snapped. I WAS DONE. It can be a great job (at the right firm) and everyday was different- never knew what a day might hold. I was treated with respect but found generally that litigation was the home of the more mind numbing tasks, while other areas allowed be to do legal research and writing which paved the way for me to what I do now. (I am not an atty but I sometimes play one at work. ) My quick suggestion is not to take a job where they will take anyone with a BA and without any paralegal training. Generally those firms do not hold paras in as high esteem. YMMV.</p>
<p>I got a post BA paralegal certificate specializing in Employee Benefits. </p>
<p>Technically, I’ve never worked as a paralegal. I work in the pension/401(k) field in administration. I love it because it requires legal research, legal knowledge, some math and finance, detail oriented…I spend much time translating the law to common speak for my clients.</p>
<p>Check out ASPPA and BenefitsLink sites for more details on this field.</p>
<p>Good post, longhaul. There are some very specalized areas like employee benefits and social security where knowledge can make a paralegal very valuable. A paralegal I know jumped into the corporate compliance field after Enron, etc. and has a very good job.</p>
<p>Thank you all again. So much information to consider, I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>The program at Duke looks very interesting. However, as part of the two year program here, you do two internships with local lawyers. I think it might be worth it to do the two year program just to get an “in” with some local lawyers vs Duke where I’d have the certificate but no local contacts. The small city I live in tends to be very “who knows who” when it comes to employment. People also seem to prefer local/state education than out of state. This is Texas, after all.</p>
<p>I’m really looking forward to meeting with the head of the paralegal program on Monday morning. I’m going to bring a list of questions with me…if anyone has any ideas for questions, I’m certainly open to it. So far I’m going to ask about their completion rate and rate of graduates that get jobs as paralegals.</p>
<p>I went to my appt. and the program sounds very interesting. I was thrilled to find out that I could use credits from my BS, therefore I will not have to take Algebra again…whew!</p>
<p>So, now I’ll think about it for awhile. If I did it, I would not start until Spring semester so I’ve got some time.</p>
) My quick suggestion is not to take a job where they will take anyone with a BA and without any paralegal training. Generally those firms do not hold paras in as high esteem. YMMV.</p>