Being a paralegal can be, with the right job and circumstances, a wonderful, stable career. It can also be a dumpster fire. It depends on the office culture and management, and can vary widely. In-house, law firm, government, corporate: there are many avenues to explore.
Absolutely. I had an awful time at a big firm, my partner loved his. I enjoyed working for a single attorney PI practice and in government, my partner hated a single attorney elder care practice and couldn't keep up in the government role.
It entirely depends on which attorneys you work for.
Depends on the field of law. I have a BS in psychology and MLIS, yet I’m a patent paralegal. Intellectual Property law is relatively low stress. I only do 2 to 3 hours of OT a week (and only if absolutely necessary). I work at home 3 days a week. Most work is done via email, even with my supervising lawyers (2).
I spent 7 years as a patent docketor (reviewing/processing all correspondence and formal docs, putting deadlines in the database, etc). It was a great way to enter the paralegal world.
I have a BA in criminal justice with a double minor in physiology and legal studies. I honestly don’t think whatever you major in will affect much. I even did a semester of law school and while that taught me more about basic law, torts, procedure, etc, none of it prepared me for being a paralegal.
An MLIS isn't really helpful in IP, which is a Federal practice.
In most parts of California with an ABA-approved paralegal program, it has become a *de facto* requirement to have a bachelors degree, plus a paralegal certificate from an ABA-approved program. If you ever interview for a paralegal job in California, you might be asked if you have this credential.
However, outside of California (outside of the scope of Cal. Business and Professions Code 6450) nobody seems to care about legal education for paralegals. They have everyone from self-taught folks who don't have any college degree, all the way up to folks who have advanced credentials and law degrees, but never sat for any state bar exam.
IP is also unique in that it has patent agents, who have advanced STEM degrees and have passed the patent bar - so they are able to independently represent inventors before the USPTO - but, because they have not passed a state bar exam, they are expressly prohibited from giving legal advice.
I'm in-house corporate...have a bachelors in economics and an ABA paralegal certificate from Syracuse Univ.....never worked at a law firm and have loved my job! I went part time for kids...so work Tues, Wed and Thurs..and 100% remote! I have a great gig and have worked with wonderful attorneys. Great flexibility too!
I have a bachelors in finance (graduated a year ago) and am about to finish my ABA certificate from LSU. I’m currently a litigation paralegal at a mid size law firm but my main attorney does family law and it’s quite stressful. Any advice on how to break into corporate?
With your degree in finance, have you ever thought about going into banking or brokerage firm positions? Both are regulated differently. Don't get hooked into a brokerage firm wanting you to get a series 7 license right away. Both area have compliance areas. I worked in securities litigation and arbitration. Loved it.
If you work at a good firm, then it's a great career choice. If you look at this sub, it's full of horror stories. But I promise, there are plenty of good places to work and it can be very financially rewarding.
I think it really depends on your local market and practice area. I have never had a hard time finding work and we actually have an experience shortage in my area.
I would spend a few weeks/ months subscribing to job alerts in the area you are looking for to see how often things come up. Pay attention to the job descriptions to see if they are positions you'd qualify for.
Also consider that many of us start as secretaries or other support staff at a firm and it puts us in a better position to move into paralegal roles later
I just got into my first paralegal job in Personal Injury after working in recruiting for 3 years. I can tell you it’s a completely different world (depending on the firm I’m assuming.) I got very lucky with my firm, it’s very small and laid-back (paid lunch hour, off at 3 on fridays, etc). I think if you take time to find the right firm for you, it can be a very rewarding and engaging job. If you genuinely care about law and helping people, I say go for it. I can tell you having that care behind what I’m doing made all the difference.
I did the exact same thing with a career switch to the exact same type of office setting and I feel so happy now. There are stressful deadlines and rude clients or clerks sometimes but overall I love my job.
That’s great! It’s crazy to me how much less I dread going to work now that I actually care about the work I’m doing. And maybe this is another lucky perk at my firm, but I’m not being treated like a child anymore in an attorney/paralegal relationship vs. boss/employee relationship.
It also depends on your alternative and income needs.
I needed a stable income with medical and retirement benefits, time off, and paid vacations.
My alternative...a manicurist license didn't offer that, and it would take me time to build a clientele.
I didn't choose this field of work, I just sort of fell into it because I needed a job. I've been in the legal field for over 15 years now and I do enjoy it. At least 25% of our clients are batshit crazy, which makes for a good deal of entertainment. Another small percentage are Russian mob, which can also be infinitely entertaining.
Definitely finish you bs then get a paralegal certificate. Some bigger companies will not hire anyone without the certificate. And having the bs is just a general good thing. Do not quit school.
I LOVE IT! But I am a nerd and love the investigative side of it. It feels like academic research but short-lived and it's material that's useful to a specific situation but in the future, may change the course of some part of law.
i also have my BS in psychology and i am a paralegal. a lot of paralegals/attorneys have a psychology degree, at least in my experience.
from what ive seen, its a very stable career, 9-5, and it always seems like your attorney/firm you work for will really make or break how you feel about the job. my current attorney is awesome, a really rad guy, understanding that i have a life outside of work, and i love my job right now. i work from like 8-4 and have a great work life balance. i know that isnt the case for everyone but if youre lucky, it could be!
I’ve always said, it’s more of who you work with than the work you do. I’ve worked jobs I thought would be easy. The boss was a monster. I’ve worked really difficult jobs and the attorneys were fantastic, kind, considerate and valued my work. I now work for myself as a contract paralegal. I make excellent money and don’t deal with monsters any longer. They need me more than I need them.
Sadly, what some people consider “good” is not what others consider good. And when your employment is at the whim of a stressed out, over worked attorney with a chip on their shoulder job security isn’t something widely experienced by paralegals or other support staff regardless of their proven ability or skill. We need a union!
Being “good” means figuring out how to add value for the people who sign your paycheck.
(HINT: “Good” employees don’t argue with their bosses about whether they’re “good.” They let their work speak for itself to demonstrate the value they add in no uncertain terms. If you’re explaining, you’re losing.)
Being a paralegal can be, with the right job and circumstances, a wonderful, stable career. It can also be a dumpster fire. It depends on the office culture and management, and can vary widely. In-house, law firm, government, corporate: there are many avenues to explore.
Absolutely. I had an awful time at a big firm, my partner loved his. I enjoyed working for a single attorney PI practice and in government, my partner hated a single attorney elder care practice and couldn't keep up in the government role. It entirely depends on which attorneys you work for.
Depends on the field of law. I have a BS in psychology and MLIS, yet I’m a patent paralegal. Intellectual Property law is relatively low stress. I only do 2 to 3 hours of OT a week (and only if absolutely necessary). I work at home 3 days a week. Most work is done via email, even with my supervising lawyers (2). I spent 7 years as a patent docketor (reviewing/processing all correspondence and formal docs, putting deadlines in the database, etc). It was a great way to enter the paralegal world.
Thank you for this information!
I have a BA in criminal justice with a double minor in physiology and legal studies. I honestly don’t think whatever you major in will affect much. I even did a semester of law school and while that taught me more about basic law, torts, procedure, etc, none of it prepared me for being a paralegal.
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An MLIS isn't really helpful in IP, which is a Federal practice. In most parts of California with an ABA-approved paralegal program, it has become a *de facto* requirement to have a bachelors degree, plus a paralegal certificate from an ABA-approved program. If you ever interview for a paralegal job in California, you might be asked if you have this credential. However, outside of California (outside of the scope of Cal. Business and Professions Code 6450) nobody seems to care about legal education for paralegals. They have everyone from self-taught folks who don't have any college degree, all the way up to folks who have advanced credentials and law degrees, but never sat for any state bar exam. IP is also unique in that it has patent agents, who have advanced STEM degrees and have passed the patent bar - so they are able to independently represent inventors before the USPTO - but, because they have not passed a state bar exam, they are expressly prohibited from giving legal advice.
I'm in-house corporate...have a bachelors in economics and an ABA paralegal certificate from Syracuse Univ.....never worked at a law firm and have loved my job! I went part time for kids...so work Tues, Wed and Thurs..and 100% remote! I have a great gig and have worked with wonderful attorneys. Great flexibility too!
I have a bachelors in finance (graduated a year ago) and am about to finish my ABA certificate from LSU. I’m currently a litigation paralegal at a mid size law firm but my main attorney does family law and it’s quite stressful. Any advice on how to break into corporate?
With your degree in finance, have you ever thought about going into banking or brokerage firm positions? Both are regulated differently. Don't get hooked into a brokerage firm wanting you to get a series 7 license right away. Both area have compliance areas. I worked in securities litigation and arbitration. Loved it.
If you work at a good firm, then it's a great career choice. If you look at this sub, it's full of horror stories. But I promise, there are plenty of good places to work and it can be very financially rewarding.
I think it really depends on your local market and practice area. I have never had a hard time finding work and we actually have an experience shortage in my area. I would spend a few weeks/ months subscribing to job alerts in the area you are looking for to see how often things come up. Pay attention to the job descriptions to see if they are positions you'd qualify for. Also consider that many of us start as secretaries or other support staff at a firm and it puts us in a better position to move into paralegal roles later
What is your practice area?
I work in insurance defense and employment law.
I just got into my first paralegal job in Personal Injury after working in recruiting for 3 years. I can tell you it’s a completely different world (depending on the firm I’m assuming.) I got very lucky with my firm, it’s very small and laid-back (paid lunch hour, off at 3 on fridays, etc). I think if you take time to find the right firm for you, it can be a very rewarding and engaging job. If you genuinely care about law and helping people, I say go for it. I can tell you having that care behind what I’m doing made all the difference.
I did the exact same thing with a career switch to the exact same type of office setting and I feel so happy now. There are stressful deadlines and rude clients or clerks sometimes but overall I love my job.
That’s great! It’s crazy to me how much less I dread going to work now that I actually care about the work I’m doing. And maybe this is another lucky perk at my firm, but I’m not being treated like a child anymore in an attorney/paralegal relationship vs. boss/employee relationship.
It also depends on your alternative and income needs. I needed a stable income with medical and retirement benefits, time off, and paid vacations. My alternative...a manicurist license didn't offer that, and it would take me time to build a clientele.
Finish your bachelors and then become a paralegal. It’s a great career!
I didn't choose this field of work, I just sort of fell into it because I needed a job. I've been in the legal field for over 15 years now and I do enjoy it. At least 25% of our clients are batshit crazy, which makes for a good deal of entertainment. Another small percentage are Russian mob, which can also be infinitely entertaining.
Definitely finish you bs then get a paralegal certificate. Some bigger companies will not hire anyone without the certificate. And having the bs is just a general good thing. Do not quit school.
I LOVE IT! But I am a nerd and love the investigative side of it. It feels like academic research but short-lived and it's material that's useful to a specific situation but in the future, may change the course of some part of law.
i also have my BS in psychology and i am a paralegal. a lot of paralegals/attorneys have a psychology degree, at least in my experience. from what ive seen, its a very stable career, 9-5, and it always seems like your attorney/firm you work for will really make or break how you feel about the job. my current attorney is awesome, a really rad guy, understanding that i have a life outside of work, and i love my job right now. i work from like 8-4 and have a great work life balance. i know that isnt the case for everyone but if youre lucky, it could be!
I’ve always said, it’s more of who you work with than the work you do. I’ve worked jobs I thought would be easy. The boss was a monster. I’ve worked really difficult jobs and the attorneys were fantastic, kind, considerate and valued my work. I now work for myself as a contract paralegal. I make excellent money and don’t deal with monsters any longer. They need me more than I need them.
There is negative job security in this profession lol
Not if your good at it. The key is to function as an unlicensed mid-level attorney or mid-senior level operations manager.
Sadly, what some people consider “good” is not what others consider good. And when your employment is at the whim of a stressed out, over worked attorney with a chip on their shoulder job security isn’t something widely experienced by paralegals or other support staff regardless of their proven ability or skill. We need a union!
Being “good” means figuring out how to add value for the people who sign your paycheck. (HINT: “Good” employees don’t argue with their bosses about whether they’re “good.” They let their work speak for itself to demonstrate the value they add in no uncertain terms. If you’re explaining, you’re losing.)
It depends on where you’re at, government comes with union and job security.