Are firms' reputations relevant to paralegals in the same way as they are to new lawyers?

That is, are firms that are highly ranked in Vault (or other rankings) considered by paralegals to be good places to work? Or are there overriding reputations that have more to do with treatment of paralegals -- how much they can learn, how involved they get to be, and how hard they have to work?

Or, looking at it from the other side, is it fair to say that the Wachtells of the world are more selective in their hiring of paralegals than smaller regional firms?

I'm sure the bigger firms have much better pay and benefits at least. I worked at a small NYC firm and the paralegal job paid around $13 or $14/hour. There was also a lot of turnover (nobody stayed more than a year or two). I think some of the bigger firms have career paralegals that make much more than that. Another difference might be that the larger firms have worse hours. The small firm where I worked was usually 9-5 or less.

Looking at job postings for big-law paralegals it seems like these jobs would not be an ideal arrangement. They usually require a minimum 2-year committment and long hours & weekends, i.e. total loss of life outside work. And the pay sucks in the majority of the cases...

I work in a big nyc law firm and I can only speak from my experience.

The NYC law firms are very selective of their paralegals. Most of the paralegals hired come from the top schools in the nation and they expect you to put in hours like a lawyer and a 2 yr commitment. It takes about six months to a year to become competent at your job.

For example, at Skadden you WILL work over 80 hrs a week. The positive side to this is that after 35 hrs you get overtime - time and a half.

The rankings really mean nothing, work is work, but some firms have a reputation for treating their paralegals badly.

Also keep in mind that at a mid-sized or boutique firm, paralegals and legal assistants may have the opportunity to perform a range of substantive tasks in addition to the standard tedious filing.