Anyone a paralegal?

[Michelle&Lolli]

 Is anyone a paralegal?  Or know anything about it?  

I am thinking about getting an associates degree or certified as a paralegal.  From the descriptions and salary info, it seems like it would suit me.  I like research things, etc.  The pay seems decent…..more than I’m making now.  I should be able to easily support myself.  So….anyone have any thoughts?  lol

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m a Paralegal. I’m off work right now but I’m most likely going to go back into it at some point.

I LOVED my job. It was super stressful because working in a law office means there are tons of deadlines but I loved the actual work. I’ve always found legal theory super interesting. I took a Law class in High School and my teacher told me to go into that field (I was highest in the class…only time that ever happened ). I wasn’t interested in being a lawyer so I followed my grandmother’s footsteps and took a Paralegal course.

I took a one year course at a private college and I really enjoyed it but would have preferred a two year because a lot of the stuff was not covered as much as it should have been.

I worked in a law office for 5 years with 1 lawyer, another Paralegal and 1 Real Estate secretary (thank God….Real Estate is the worse imo… soooo boring). I really enjoyed doing research and trips to Court.

The lawyer I worked for did General law which meant that I did a lot of different work like Divorces and Estates as well as some Criminal. If you are more interested in a certain area and live in a big city you could try to find a lawyer that specializes in a certain type of law.

You certainly stay busy working in a law office and you meet lots of interesting people (some good and some bad). If you find law interesting and can handle deadlines/stress I definitely recommend it. You also need super duper typing and grammar skills.

Feel free to PM me if you like.

[LBJ10]

I think it would be interesting. I knew someone who worked in a law office as a paralegal. I would look around in your area though to see what the job prospects are. I was told by this person that a lot of paralegals were being laid off and, actually, that is how I met her because she was working at the store I worked at. If a law office isn’t making any money, it is the “extras” that get cut. I’m not trying to scare you, that is just my experience. Also make sure to look around at different schools. Some of those for-profit schools charge up the who-hah in tuition and sometimes your local community college will have a similar program for way less money.

[Monkeybun]

The only thing I foresee as being a problem for you is the hours. There are massive deadlines, and your back issues could cause problems for you

[LittlePuffyTail]

Yes, you have to be able to sit for long periods of time but also, at times, run around like a chicken with your head cut off. Often the newer paralegals have to do out-of-office errands as well. I was in charge of all the banking and trips to Court to get documents as well as tedious stuff like re-organizing files. Lawyers can be very demanding too. I’m not saying this to discourage you. I think you should go for it if you think you can handle it mentally and physically. I found it to be very rewarding work.

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