December 12 2011

7 Benefits of Becoming a Paralegal

posted in Law School Applicants by Christy
Categories: Life Before Law School

As with any career, becoming a paralegal has its ups and downs. However, being a paralegal isn’t the glorified secretary career it is made out to be. It can be a complex and demanding career, as well as rewarding and fulfilling. To help give you a better grasp of this, we have gathered the seven benefits of becoming a paralegal.

1. Job growth – According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job projections for paralegals are excellent. Growth is expected to go higher than number of qualified candidates and those with formal training and experience are expected to do the best.
2. Legal work – If you have a love of the law, becoming a paralegal can be a hugely rewarding career. They can do everything from researching and looking up laws and past cases to helping prepare for trial.
3. Variety of jobs – Paralegals are needed for just about every area of the law including family, criminal, real estate, corporate, and many others. With over 1,000 schools offering accredited education as a paralegal, there are even some programs that help students learn the area of the law they are interested in.
4. No graduate school – The only educational requirement usually asked of paralegals is an associate’s degree. These two-year degrees can often be obtained at a community or junior college and cost just a fraction of what an undergraduate degree can cost. 
5. No law school debt – We’ve all heard horror stories about law students who graduate school with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, but you hardly ever hear about paralegals with tons of student debt. Because the degree can be an associates, or in some cases even with on the job training, and certification, it costs considerably less to obtain.
6. No law license – While lawyers are required to obtain a license to practice law from the state, paralegals are not required to do so. The same goes for the intensive legal bar exam that lawyers are required to take and paralegals are not.
7. As a stepping stone – Did you know that many lawyers started out as paralegals? Not only did it help them get into law school, becoming a paralegal also helped them figure out if law was really a career they wanted to take part in.