<p>I’m currently an undergrad and will be starting my senior year in August. I’m looking for work and stumbled upon a Legal Assistant job post. The job description makes the work sound pretty intensive, and I was wondering if anyone here has experienced working in a similar position during undergrad? Would this type of work possibly affect my GPA? I know that this, as a soft factor, weighs much less than do my GPA/LSAT and I’d rather pass on this then possibly compromise my GPA. </p>
<p>Here’s the job desc…</p>
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<p>I’m intrigued by the nature of the work, but as you can see, it’s described to be quite intensive. It would be 25-40 hours off campus and targets seniors and recent graduates who are taking 1-2 years to work before law school.</p>
<p>When I was a partner in a small law firm, we hired three recent college graduates (in succession) to work in a similar capacity. Two of them went on to become lawyers. </p>
<p>I’m not sure that working in such a capacity results in much of a boost for law school applications. It will, however, give you a realistic view of what it’s like to work for a law firm, and help you decide whether it’s a good long-term career path for you. If you don’t like that sort of work, it’s better to find out before you start law school than after you graduate with a lot of debt, and no other way to pay it off.</p>
<p>I am a partner in a 30+ lawyer firm in New York City. I have also worked at a 50+ lawyer firm, and at a 300+ lawyer firm.</p>
<p>The job description seems fairly accurate for a paralegal position for a person of intelligence. (There are paralegal positions for dummies, too).</p>
<p>Paralegals often work long hours, just like the attorneys they work for. But the attorneys get paid much more than paras. IMHO, working as a paralegal will NOT prepare you for law school or for being a lawyer, or help you to get into law school or a law firm. But you will see what it’s like to work in a law office and what attorneys do. If you get and take this job, don’t just do what’s asked of you. Read everything that you can. Not only will it help you do the job that you are to do, but it will also give you a better feel about what the attorneys do (so you can determine if law school is right for you). Try to sit in on depositions (to pass the attorneys the documents when they need them). Read the briefs. Read the files. You can then surprise the attorneys with your knowledge of the facts which they think you don’t know them. They WILL appreciate it. When they want you to find a document, they will not have to explain what they want for 10 muinutes, then again when you get the wrong thing. We had one para who went on to law school, and when he got out, (s)he applied for a job and got it because we thought (s)he was smart, hard working, etc. So really, you never know.</p>
<p>But realize, that the para job will be a big time suck, and they may expect you to stay late when there’s a crisis. The law firm will not care too much about your needs, only the needs of their cleitn and the case. So if push comes to chove, opt for your college course work, not the paralegal job. Without a college degree, you will be flipping burgers at Mickey D’s.</p>
<p>Speaking as a trial paralegal at a large midwest law firm with 20+ yrs experience (and a law school dropout :)) I think ConCernd Dad is spot on. The role of the paralegal and the attorney are quite different especially at larger law firms, and the analytical skills that make a good paralegal are not necessarily the same as the analytical skills that make a good attorney; the tasks performed by the paralegal during their first few years will most likely not prepare you for law school - although it will certainly give you a good idea of what it is like to work in a law firm. </p>
<p>This can be very demanding work both physically and emotionally, and I personally cannot imagine working even part-time in this job and taking classes at the same time. If the employer says you might work 25-40 hours a week, they expect you to be able to work up to 40 hours a week if not more if needed - and with little notice. On the other hand, it can be a great job for a new college graduate.</p>
<p>I’m quite acclimated with ungodly hours. I worked 40+ hours a week + did full time night school and managed a high GPA/transfer to a 4-year and a promotion. Yes, I came in nights and weekends. No, I didn’t mind. I really enjoyed churning out top-notch work in peace and quiet. The workload I would most likely handle well.</p>
<p>Really, the only reason that I strongly considered this job was because I felt it would be contributory to the advancement towards my legal career. I considered that it might be a decent soft factor (since I’ll likely land between the 25-75 percentiles in a couple of T14 schools) and and it would, like you said, help me in making a more informed decision about pursuing law school.</p>
<p>I’ve decided to stay away, though. I would rather not compromise my GPA, and already have a couple of decent “soft factors” for my application.</p>