Paralegal Profession - More Than Just "Legal Assistants"

I'm sure you have seen ads on television and the internet promising you a lucrative career in the paralegal profession. What exactly do paralegals do anyway and what is required to become one?

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Paralegals are often referred to as "legal assistants". Their job is to do tasks that lawyers would normally do but usually don't have the time for. There are many different things paralegals are responsible for but they do not represent people in court, give legal advice, or establish any types of payments. Paralegals can investigate many aspects of a case. They track down all sorts of information that is relevant to a current case from researching prior judgements on similar cases to reading articles about laws on their type of case. They are very important to help attorneys prepare all their material for trials, hearings, etc.. Paralegals often are responsible for all the written materials that an attorney will refer to as he decides how he is going to state his case in front of a judge and jury. This is a big responsibility and paralegals must be educated in court motions, draft pleadings and all types of paperwork that is necessary for a legal argument in court. Paralegals also help attorneys in the courtroom by keeping vital documents organized and easy for the attorney to access when needed. Paralegals might help in trademark applications, depositions, shareholder agreements, estate matters, and many other areas you would seek an attorney for.

There are many places paralegals can work. Any company that has business involving immigration, labor laws, entertainment, real estate, and bankruptcy all need the help of a well trained paralegal so there is no short demand for this profession. A good example of what a paralegal does can be seen in the movie Erin Brockovich. She researched and helped in such a great way she got her own movie!

If you are going to get into the paralegal profession, you will want to have a strong motivating force to help people and want to get more familiar with the legal field. This can be a very lucrative and rewarding career for those with a passion for law. If this sounds like the type of career for you there are many ways to go about becoming a paralegal. There are schools in most major cities and many online opportunities to begin your career in the paralegal field.