Anyone here do paralegal? Career advise sought

[bornfree2]

Im finding I enjoy legal research, writing, and forms. Perhaps within 5 years becoming a lawyer myself

But first paralegal seems an easier entry point. What are the steps to become a paralegal? Is it formal education? College degree enough? Does it pay well? Is the market saturated?

Is paralegal a spring board into becoming a lawyer? Can one have several years of paralegal then take the bar and thats a good transition? Or does one have to go to law school?

Anyone here done a path like this or practicing as a paralegal now?

[justbroke]

Im finding I enjoy legal research, writing, and forms. Perhaps within 5 years becoming a lawyer myself

Legal Research & Writing is a skill. Skilled paralegals do much of this work under a supervising attorney. (See more below.)

But first paralegal seems an easier entry point. What are the steps to become a paralegal? Is it formal education? College degree enough? Does it pay well? Is the market saturated?

To become a paralegal you do need to take classes. You can do a certificate program but I would recommend an Associates of Science in Paralegal Studies. A skilled senior paralegal can make money. The average salary for a California paralegal seems to be $60K and Florida's around $51K. But there are some paralegals (highly skilled) which demand just into six-figures. Of course it will depend on skill, experience, and for which firm the paralegal works.

Is paralegal a spring board into becoming a lawyer? Can one have several years of paralegal then take the bar and thats a good transition? Or does one have to go to law school?

From what I have learned, being a paralegal first can help. Especially if you're a more skilled paralegal that does research & writing for your supervising attorney/office. Now, to become an attorney in most States, you have to graduate from an American Bar Association (ABA) accredited school with a Juris Doctorate (JD). You then must sit for the bar.

I have talked to several people on this particular transition question. The attorneys have said that it is good to be in a law office as a paralegal. There you can learn legal research and writing and become skilled at writing case briefs. How much of a boost this will give you in a particular school will likely come down to how skilled you were as a paralegal.

Fortunately for you, California has accredited certain schools (non-ABA schools) which can also teach the curriculum and allow you to take the bar in California. They do have some minimum requirements which I think mandates that you have at least an associate's degree to be admitted to those schools. You will not be able to practice law in another State, so you would basically be a California attorney. (This is because nearly every other state -- 48 of them, plus PR -- require a JD from an ABA approved school.)

Overall, I don't think it's a bad path.

(Erin Brokovich originally worked as a paralegal and law clerk for Vittoe. Her first major case, she received a check for $2,000,000. She's an outlier and a champion of the under-represented. But it shows what you can do as a paralegal/law clerk. I may have oversimplified.)

[shipo]

I have lots of lawyers in the family; the consensus is being a paralegal is not only a bad path to becoming an attorney, it is a horrible path. Assuming one becomes a paralegal first, and then an attorney second, having a work history of "paralegal" on your resume is literally the mark of death, ain't nobody going to hire you as an attorney.

[justbroke]

shipo probably because of the training and that paralegals have been in an office and do things a certain way. I wouldn't have thought that would hinder someone from being hired. I guess the paralegal turned attorney could always start their own practice.

[flashoflight]

Watch out for student loans. Unless you enjoy a second trip back to these forums with non-dischargeable student loans, don't do it. Try to do as much as possible via nearly free California community colleges and pay with cash or grants. There are a very few areas of study that are worth it for student loans (nursing, medical school, computer science). Nothing in law is worth the risk of student loans. Many areas of law are oversaturated and there are too many that are applying for employee positions rather than building their own law firm. If you don't have a bachelor's already and truly need it, it's cheaper to go to WGU after community college and complete it as fast as humanly possible instead of going to an overpriced CSU/UC school. Pay all of it with cash. No credit cards. No student loans.

[shipo]

Watch out for student loans. Unless you enjoy a second trip back to these forums with non-dischargeable student loans, don't do it. Try to do as much as possible via nearly free California community colleges and pay with cash or grants. There are a very few areas of study that are worth it for student loans (nursing, medical school, computer science). Nothing in law is worth the risk of student loans. Many areas of law are oversaturated and there are too many that are applying for employee positions rather than building their own law firm. If you don't have a bachelor's already and truly need it, it's cheaper to go to WGU after community college and complete it as fast as humanly possible instead of going to an overpriced CSU/UC school. Pay all of it with cash. No credit cards. No student loans.

flashoflight, you and I have disagreed from time to time on how best to used credit, but in this case, I agree 100% with everything you wrote above.

[bornfree2]

Watch out for student loans. Unless you enjoy a second trip back to these forums with non-dischargeable student loans, don't do it. Try to do as much as possible via nearly free California community colleges and pay with cash or grants. ... Pay all of it with cash. No credit cards. No student loans.

Student loans. lol. NEVER. My degree is from the School of Fools. "learn from the pain and google your way out of it." /s

Thanks for the tip on community colleges. I dont see how they are 'nearly free' as each course around here is like $400. I havent yet looked at grant programs so i will look into that.

[justbroke]

Courses at public colleges (and universities) can be free if you qualify for the Pell Grant or similar education grants. If you make "too much money" you won't be eligible for those grants, but you could be eligible for scholarships.

[bornfree2]

So i found this

https://www.nala.org/certification/c...gal-cp-program

and this

https://www.nala.org/sites/default/f...20Handbook.pdf

The exam fee is $275

So whats required is, in my situation is:

- A bachelor's degree in any field plus one year of experience as a paralegal or successful completion of at least 15 semester hours (or equivalent quarter hours) of substantive paralegal courses.

I find the curriculums that online courses offer and see what this is all about. Focus on what the exam asks. Take the exam. Pass and done..... step 3.... profit!!

[flashoflight]

bornfree2

Just want to make sure you are using Google Scholar for researching your cases. I would search for the plaintiff's name and search for cases with them. They all use the same boilerplate so the defenses are the same. I don't think you should be creating new legal strategies when many others have already done so. The only difference is all proceedings are Zoom so you can't force their expert to show up in-person (I would have opposed any telephonic or Zoom pre-covid if I defended one of my cases).

[bornfree2]

bornfree2

Just want to make sure you are using Google Scholar for researching your cases. I would search for the plaintiff's name and search for cases with them. They all use the same boilerplate so the defenses are the same. I don't think you should be creating new legal strategies when many others have already done so. The only difference is all proceedings are Zoom so you can't force their expert to show up in-person (I would have opposed any telephonic or Zoom pre-covid if I defended one of my cases).

Can you provide an example? I took a look but they only do appelate, court of appeal, and supreme court. Im looking for district trial courts right?

[flashoflight]

I never did any work on my state cases except for anything that would cause a delay but used scholar on my adversary proceeding. Maybe you can go to another California county courthouse where the case lookups are cheaper or free. There is no need to come up with legal strategies out of thin air when your lawsuit is boilerplate text where they only changed the amount and the defendant's information. Everybody has the identical lawsuit.

[bornfree2]

I never did any work on my state cases except for anything that would cause a delay but used scholar on my adversary proceeding. Maybe you can go to another California county courthouse where the case lookups are cheaper or free. There is no need to come up with legal strategies out of thin air when your lawsuit is boilerplate text where they only changed the amount and the defendant's information. Everybody has the identical lawsuit.

The challenge is because of COVID the law libraries dont allow access to computers. They say they offer 'remote access' but really its just a sort of coupon with lexis/thompson for a trial account for a few hours or days. Better than nothing i guess

I'll have to see what access is at the different court houses.

What i really need at the moment is a nerdy law student girlfriend with an account to this stuff ... and a passion for pre-pro bono work ... hehehe