Is anyone a paralegal?

Re: Is anyone a paralegal?

• missyishere member

  April 2014

  Gosh I just love the word interrogatory @ColeRose‌. I worked in a legal office, but I was the secretary. The paralegals did the hardest work.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Parenting Floozie Brigades official motto:  We welcome to you the board with open legs.  Also, open beers. ~@cinemagoddess
  

  
  

  
  
  

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• evaazalea member

  April 2014

  I will be starting school in September for legal assistant, good thread!

  
                      
  

  
  

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• angelashly member

  April 2014

  I have a degree, but hated it when I worked for a firm. I think i was in the wrong firm.

  
  

  
  
  

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• jorkz821 member

  April 2014

  @jessicabcairns‌
  They are? What's the difference?

  SQUIRREL!!!
  
  
  
   

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• theimpossibleastronaut member

  April 2014

  jessicabcairns said:

  I got all excited about this thread.
  
  Then I remembered Paralegals are something totally different here

  So what are they where you are?
  

  
  

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• chardonnay24 member

  April 2014

  I was a docketing paralegal and I hated every minute of it. My job involved getting information from secretaries (trial dates, certain legal documents submitted, etc.) and generating events based on legal rules and scheduling them in the attorneys' calendars. So basically, if there is a trial date, I'd look up everything that needs to be done before the trial and when, and schedule it accordingly. It was mind numbingly dull for me. My degrees are in English and accounting, and I hoped to work in tax law. I made an entry level salary ($38k/year) when I started with no experience, and my manager made about double that after doing the job for 20 years. Our bonuses were pitiful, but that was because of the firm, not the field. 

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• maven212 member

  April 2014

  I live with one. The answer to a lot of the questions you are asking here are jurisdiction-specific. Some states/provinces require you take a licensing exam, or a course and licensing exam. Other states (i.e. NYS, where law firms have serious political sway, does not require such stuff).
  
  He already had a B.A., and after a few years kicking around doing something else he took a 4 weekend course in the professional school of a college. It taught him a few things, but basically it allowed him to transition. In NYC, where he was located at the time, there are dozens of temp firms that specialize in paralegal placement. He hooked up with one of those, which placed him quickly. After that, he was more or less recruited from job to job via LinkedIn. He's actually the only person I know who has consistently been recruited via LinkedIn.
  
  The base salary was okay. In that market, as a mid-range paralegal you could expect between 60-70K. It would be less elsewhere. He made almost twice as much in overtime. That said, though, it was serious overtime. He went to work early-mid morning and came home generally after 8 pm. There were many weeks on end when he came home after midnight...or just slept in the office. He was on a number of litigation teams, which also meant he would be flown off to some other place and set up a war room for a few weeks. All told, our combined income was in the low 6 figure range at that time - and I was contributing very little to that haul. However, he missed the entire first trimester of my pregnancy. He usually worked at least one day of the weekend. He usually pulled an 80+ hour week.
  
  It was cool at first because I too worked those hours. We used the extra coin to pay down debts and travel etc.. Eventually, he burnt out. One of the problems he had was that the lawyers in the firms he worked in (very large firms) routinely bullied the staff and often fired people at the drop of a hat. He also maxed out how far he could climb in the field within 5 years...so with no room to move up, and burn out, he moved on.
  
  That established, he worked for insanely large and high profile firms in NYC. NYC is very tough legal market. Firms eat up and spit out associates constantly.  Had he gotten a job in house, at a company or government, or worked in another jurisdiction, his hours would have been more liveable. There would be, presumably, less abuse. He might have had a chance to migrate out of the area entirely, to some other in house job.
   
  Now I've said all of this and it sounds like hell, but he really did love it right up until the last few months. It was very exciting work. Lots of great cases. He also worked on a few pro bono cases for the innocence project. They were successful cases as well, so he is very proud of that.
  
  So...I guess that's my two cents. He's ultimately the authority on his situation. PM me if you want more info..
  
  

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• Mrs.Rose member

  April 2014 edited April 2014

  I am a criminal prosecutor and I run a division with one paralegal.  She is in charge of taking incoming police reports, screening the cases and proposing charges.  She gives us a summary of the case and prepares our indictment paperwork after that.  She also helps out prepping cases for trial.  She is awesome and we rely on her heavily. She does not have a degree; I promoted her from a secretary position.  I live in a low cost of living area, and we work for the state, so the pay is not great.  However, we do have good benefits and a pension plan.  Plus our work is super interesting and we have a lot of fun.  

  
  

  ETA: We do have lots of paralegals in the office that have paralegal degrees.

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  Carson Henry, born 39w, 2d, via emergency c/s due to no fetal movement and fetal distress.  Seizures, IVH grade 2, brain injury, kidney and liver damage.  Complete blood clot in the artery in his right arm.  27 days in the NICU.  Now discharged from all specialists, excepts his kidney doctor, who will monitor him indefinitely.  My tough little cookie.

  
  

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