Paralegal before law school Forum

[blj50]

I am considering getting my paralegal certificate. I am thinking of going to either Villanova or Widener to complete the certificate program. I researched the two schools but I do not know which one is better.

Does anyone know which school is better for the program?

[anyriotgirl]

do you have a bachelor's?

[blj50]

Yes I graduate from Penn state in 2015.

[preamble]

Why private 4 year institutions? Don't community colleges offer paralegal certification? I imagine it'd be much cheaper on your end.

[anyriotgirl]

do you have a bachelor's?

Yes I graduated from Penn state in 2013.

if you're planning on going to law school in a few years, you can probably find someone to hire you without a certificate. I wouldn't spend the time and money on it. It is a very common thing to do for 1-3 years between college and law school, and out of the ten or so paralegals I know, none of them have certificates. That is something you would do if you wanted to be a career paralegal.

[preamble]

do you have a bachelor's?

Yes I graduated from Penn state in 2013.

if you're planning on going to law school in a few years, you can probably find someone to hire you without a certificate. I wouldn't spend the time and money on it. It is a very common thing to do for 1-3 years between college and law school, and out of the ten or so paralegals I know, none of them have certificates. That is something you would do if you wanted to be a career paralegal.

Not to hijack OPs thread - but I had a question; if one were able to get the certificate for free, would you recommend getting it under OPs/similar circumstances. Would having a certificate as a paralegal planning on law school in the near future have any benefit over a paralegal without one (in terms of pay, etc)?

[blj50]

do you have a bachelor's?

Yes I graduated from Penn state in 2013.

if you're planning on going to law school in a few years, you can probably find someone to hire you without a certificate. I wouldn't spend the time and money on it. It is a very common thing to do for 1-3 years between college and law school, and out of the ten or so paralegals I know, none of them have certificates. That is something you would do if you wanted to be a career paralegal.

I do not know anything about legal writing or research. So i wanted to go to school to learn. Wouldn't this paralegal program put me ahead anyway?

[blj50]

Why private 4 year institutions? Don't community colleges offer paralegal certification? I imagine it'd be much cheaper on your end.

You will be surprised,nova is the cheapest (7,200), Community college was around 10,000. I wanted to do Widener because it offers concentrations-which would be criminal law for me.

I just need to know the better school for paralegal program

[pancakes3]

Why go to school for a paralegal certificate if you can a) get a job as a paralegal without it and b) you're going to apply to law school within a couple years anyway? Just for the "leg up" in legal research?

[anyriotgirl]

do you have a bachelor's?

Yes I graduated from Penn state in 2013.

if you're planning on going to law school in a few years, you can probably find someone to hire you without a certificate. I wouldn't spend the time and money on it. It is a very common thing to do for 1-3 years between college and law school, and out of the ten or so paralegals I know, none of them have certificates. That is something you would do if you wanted to be a career paralegal.

Not to hijack OPs thread - but I had a question; if one were able to get the certificate for free, would you recommend getting it under OPs/similar circumstances. Would having a certificate as a paralegal planning on law school in the near future have any benefit over a paralegal without one (in terms of pay, etc)?

I can only speak to my experience (small-medium sized firm in NYC), and relay second hand information from friends (biglaw paras, mostly corporate) but that was not the impression that I got when I was job hunting. If you wanted to be a paralegal forever, it might be a different story, but for the kind of paralegal job you get between college and law school, the firm generally wants to train to do the things it needs you to do the way it wants you to do them.

I do not know anything about legal writing or research. So i wanted to go to school to learn. Wouldn't this paralegal program put me ahead anyway?

legal writing and research fall under the umbrella of lawyer work. The closest I get to legal writing is filling in the blanks in form motions. If I'm researching anything, it's a debtor's assets. And I do fairly substantive work for a paralegal. My friends at bigger firms make binders all day. My friend at a smaller firm does a lot of secretarial work. If you are a moderately intelligent person, you can already do most paralegal work without spending the time and money on getting a piece of paper.

[Winter is Coming]

Assuming you have decent grades from undergrad, I really think your best bet is to apply widely to biglaw firms. I did this right after graduating and was able to land a bunch of interviews and a few offers from NYC firms (all of which wanted a two year commitment from me before leaving for law school).

I wound up taking a position in a prosecutor's office as a paralegal (although that's not my official title), with the same informal two-year commitment and couldn't be happier with my decision.

None of these positions required a certificate. You're far better off saving that money and eventually using it for school because you're not going to make a ton working in these spots.

[crossem]

Putting that money you would spend for a certificate would be significantly better spent towards your law school tuition, in your savings account or IRA. I cannot imagine being a paralegal, even a certified paralegal, would help you much in your job search.

I had a legal-relevant job before law school and it has yet to be mentioned or matter in any context.

Once you get any legal job your 1L summer, that is what you will talk about as far as experience goes. The rest is grades, ties, fit, ect. ect.

[rdawkins28]

Our paralegal took an online class with a local university which has different programs ranging from 2 months to a few years. She took the cheapest and fastest one. Cost was less than $1500. She got a paralegal certificate.

I wouldn't spend much more than that.

[Ti Malice]

do you have a bachelor's?

Yes I graduated from Penn state in 2013.

if you're planning on going to law school in a few years, you can probably find someone to hire you without a certificate. I wouldn't spend the time and money on it. It is a very common thing to do for 1-3 years between college and law school, and out of the ten or so paralegals I know, none of them have certificates. That is something you would do if you wanted to be a career paralegal.

I do not know anything about legal writing or research. So i wanted to go to school to learn. Wouldn't this paralegal program put me ahead anyway?

Ahead for law school? Not one bit.

[Ti Malice]

Our paralegal took an online class with a local university which has different programs ranging from 2 months to a few years. She took the cheapest and fastest one. Cost was less than $1500. She got a paralegal certificate.

I wouldn't spend much more than that.

Spending that much time and money for something that's totally unnecessary for a short-term paralegal makes no sense at all. If we were talking under two hours and less than $15, then I'd say go for it.

[Crowing]

I do not know anything about legal writing or research. So i wanted to go to school to learn. Wouldn't this paralegal program put me ahead anyway?

Ahead for law school? Not one bit.

Seems like former paralegals did disproportionately well at LRW in my class. Ofc this means nothing if you go to a school with ungraded LRW

[yadiermolina]

If you're doing it to figure out whether you want to be a lawyer or not, para seems like a great idea. If you're already decided for law school, another professional job seems like it would be more helpful for admissions and, much more importantly, getting a job.

Disclaimer: 0L--someone correct me if I'm off base.

[anyriotgirl]

I do not know anything about legal writing or research. So i wanted to go to school to learn. Wouldn't this paralegal program put me ahead anyway?

Ahead for law school? Not one bit.

Seems like former paralegals did disproportionately well at LRW in my class. Ofc this means nothing if you go to a school with ungraded LRW

Yeah but I highly doubt that a significant percentage of them spent time and money on paralegal classes. They got paid while they learned whatever they learned about legal writing.

[Crowing]

I do not know anything about legal writing or research. So i wanted to go to school to learn. Wouldn't this paralegal program put me ahead anyway?

Ahead for law school? Not one bit.

Seems like former paralegals did disproportionately well at LRW in my class. Ofc this means nothing if you go to a school with ungraded LRW

Yeah but I highly doubt that a significant percentage of them spent time and money on paralegal classes. They got paid while they learned whatever they learned about legal writing.

Oh right. I didn't read the whole topic. Yeah I wouldn't bother with a paralegal program. Being a paralegal might be a good experience, however.

[AT9]

At the firm I work for, certified paralegals are generally better paid and more respected around the office. So if you can get it for free or cheap and plan to work for 2+ years, may not be a bad idea.

[middlebear]

Current BigLaw paralegal. Can't speak for everywhere, obviously, but no one gets the cert unless you are a career paralegal--which 90% are definitively not. The firm gives you all the training you need, anyway.

[Young Marino]

Whether you decide to be a paralegal or not, you should do some networking before law school. Interning for a firm or government agency is a great way to get your foot in the door even if it is an unpaid position. Obviously, if you can work as a paralegal without being certified go for it but I would intern before dropping a few thousand on a certificate if you're going to law school anyway.

[penncon]

I'm currently a corporate paralegal at a small firm in Philadelphia and I wouldn't recommend getting the paralegal cert. I got my job without the certification and I don''t believe any of the other paralegals here have a certificate either. When hiring, my firm focused mainly on my writing samples and even made me sit for a writing test. At a small firm like mines, you work closely with the cases and at times you put in almost as much work as your supervising attorneys. On an everyday basis, I mainly focus on drafting letters, forms, and documents, ect. I would recommend having a strong resume and cover letter, and applying to as many open paralegal positions as possible.

[berkeleynick]

Current BigLaw paralegal. Can't speak for everywhere, obviously, but no one gets the cert unless you are a career paralegal--which 90% are definitively not. The firm gives you all the training you need, anyway.

I worked as a BigLaw paralegal in NYC and this is true for most cities/states. However, in California, you do need certification in order to be a paralegal. However, it's mostly just a title, and you can find roles that are almost identical but with different names, rendering a certificate unnecessary.

I think working as a paralegal/case clerk/project assistant/legal assistant (these are the variations I was talking about) at a law firm is a great idea for anyone who wants to figure out whether they want to really be a lawyer, or at the very least what kind of lawyer they DON'T want to be (big law, for example).

[Nep11]

Upper mid-level paralegal with an IP department here. I also wouldn't recommend getting a paralegal certificate. If you have a bachelors degree, that is all most firms need to hire you as a paralegal. When I asked about it years ago, I basically was told the same thing - the scuttlebutt seems to be that certs are generally a waste of time unless a position directly requires it, and it's just a way for colleges to make more $$$. It doesn't seem to be a good investment considering how quickly paralegal positions are being phased out at most firms. I think there are some major downsides to getting a cert, but if you want to know my concerns, send me a PM.

I know your question was which program of the two was better, but in all honesty, I haven't heard great things about either (most of the paralegal cert grads I know have retired or left the field), so I think you would need to think more strategically. If you want to work in PA and/or go to Villanova Law School, why not get your cert from there, and try to work in the area while going to law school? Could lead to a job as an attorney down the road.