Simply put, a paralegal does legal work delegated by a lawyer. This means that an attorney is ultimately responsible for the output of paralegals. While paralegals can be found in many organizations, they mostly work for law firms, corporate legal departments, and government agencies.
Paralegals perform a variety of tasks that include clerical work like maintaining and organizing files. They likewise work as writers, drafting documents and conducting legal research. They can be hired to help lawyers during trials by investigating facts of cases, keeping relevant case information in computer databases, and soliciting formal statements and affidavits that could be used as evidence in court.
Image source: paralegalhow.com
In bigger firms, some paralegals are employed to work only on a particular stage of a case. For example, a litigation paralegal might be tasked to draft settlement agreements and prepare trial documents, but not be required to attend trials. In any case, they may be assigned various responsibilities based on specialized areas, from corporate law and bankruptcy, to real estate and family law.
As a career option, paralegal employment is seen to grow 17 percent by 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Experienced and formally trained ones with good computer and database management skills should get the upper hand.
Image source: mtsac.edu
Finally, paralegals are not law clerks, as while the latter are often given work similar to a paralegal’s, they are typically legal professionals who’ve already completed law school and get their lawyering start in firms as a clerk. Their compensations are thus almost always higher.
Edgar Gonzalez is an entrepreneur based in Santa Ana, California. Hailing from Mexico, he moved to Orange County in 1993 to further his education, attending paralegal classes at Fullerton College while working at different restaurants at night. For related reads, check out this blog.
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