Paralegal

Paralegals, or legal assistants, work directly under a lawyer or attorney. They help the lawyer with many duties, although the paralegal is not allowed to perform certain tasks. These tasks include, practicing law or representing someone in court. The usually help the attorney prepare for a trail, or meeting with a client. They get together the materials the lawyer may need to review before a case, and review different aspects of a case for the him or her. They also keep records of different activities and transactions of the lawyers and client. The paralegal has a number of other duties within the law firm as well.

Paralegals may contact the detectives or police department for documents or evidence to help the trial the attorney is working on. Many times, a lawyer is working on more than one case at a time, so he or she may employ a few paralegals to help keep everything straight. It is important for the paralegal to keep all papers, evidence, and legal documents very organized.

A paralegal may even have the help of other legal assistants who aren’t quite as trained as they are. Legal assistants are employed at very large law firms or businesses. They can act as secretaries or receptionists. Legal clerks can be employed at law firms or courthouses to organize papers and data. They perform mainly clerical work for the lawyer and paralegals.

Most paralegals are trained, and have completed an associate’s degree. They should be registered or certified to gain credibility when looking for a job. Paralegals are employed by the same types of law firms, businesses, and government positions that lawyer’s work for. They make around $40,000 per year. Untrained jobs like a legal clerk probably will not make this much per year. More than likely, the legal clerks will be paid on a hourly basis at minimum wage or higher. The job outlook is very good for this profession, and there is expected to be a very fast job growth over the next few years.