Top Law Schools

I have an interview this week for a paralegal position. The lawyer is a personal injury lawyer who is very successful locally. (Yale graduate btw)

If i get in, I will also be working translating material from a different language and for dealing with a good portion of her clientele who do not speak english.
I have no prior experience as a paralegal and i have no idea what they make. I am expecting to be asked how much i think i should be compensated etc..

Can i have some help here. What do paralegals make? what can someone like me with zero expereince expect to make?
What should i ask for without looking like a retard??

.

Small firm, she is the main lawyer. I think she has one or two other lawyers helping her.
In Detroit, MI. Personal Injury

313D313 wrote:I have an interview this week for a paralegal position. The lawyer is a personal injury lawyer who is very successful locally. (Yale graduate btw)

If i get in, I will also be working translating material from a different language and for dealing with a good portion of her clientele who do not speak english.
I have no prior experience as a paralegal and i have no idea what they make. I am expecting to be asked how much i think i should be compensated etc..

Can i have some help here. What do paralegals make? what can someone like me with zero expereince expect to make?
What should i ask for without looking like a retard??

You can go on payscale.com and they can give you a better number based on location and education, buy I would say between $14-$18 and hour with maybe $1-2 more for the language skills. The lawyer can bill you for about $60, depending on the retainer.

313D313 wrote:Small firm, she is the main lawyer. I think she has one or two other lawyers helping her.
In Detroit, MI. Personal Injury

What languages? Some are way more valuable than others.

SemperLegal wrote:

313D313 wrote:I have an interview this week for a paralegal position. The lawyer is a personal injury lawyer who is very successful locally. (Yale graduate btw)

If i get in, I will also be working translating material from a different language and for dealing with a good portion of her clientele who do not speak english.
I have no prior experience as a paralegal and i have no idea what they make. I am expecting to be asked how much i think i should be compensated etc..

Can i have some help here. What do paralegals make? what can someone like me with zero expereince expect to make?
What should i ask for without looking like a retard??

You can go on payscale.com and they can give you a better number based on location and education, buy I would say between $14-$18 and hour with maybe $1-2 more for the language skills. The lawyer can bill you for about $60, depending on the retainer.

Thank you very much. I will check it out.

Aqualibrium wrote:

313D313 wrote:Small firm, she is the main lawyer. I think she has one or two other lawyers helping her.
In Detroit, MI. Personal Injury

What languages? Some are way more valuable than others.

A large number of the clients speak mostly arabic with poor english. I am very fluent in arabic, but so is the main lawyer.

I used to speak some Arabic. I really really want to find a way to get an LLM in Saudi Arabia, even though I think that is impossible.

Dunno how it translates to small law or Detroit, but biglaw in the medium-sized Southern city I'm from starts paralegals with zero experience at $40k.

313D313 wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:

313D313 wrote:Small firm, she is the main lawyer. I think she has one or two other lawyers helping her.
In Detroit, MI. Personal Injury

What languages? Some are way more valuable than others.

A large number of the clients speak mostly arabic with poor english. I am very fluent in arabic, but so is the main lawyer.

I figured it was Arabic or Farsi when you said Detroit. I'd take what ever number you found was the high range of the pay scale, then add 2 t0 4 to it. Then come down from there.

Just say: "I figured you'd ask how much pay I was expecting. I researched that, and from what I saw, X number seems appropriate. I know you're a solo practitioner tough, so I understand that number may need to be negotiated down a bit."

Start high, end up up at a number that is probably close to the high end of the pay scale, profit cuz she probably wanted to pay you far less than that.

Do you guys think the pay scale drops a lot if the job title changes from paralegal to legal assistant?

You may also want to check out ONet.

dextermorgan wrote:You may also want to check out ONet.

Great source! Thanks

.

313D313 wrote:Do you guys think the pay scale drops a lot if the job title changes from paralegal to legal assistant?

If the firm has both paralegals and legal assistants, and each does separate (but sometimes overlapping) tasks, then yes, the pay scale may drop some. Usually not "a lot."

You should be paid for what you do--not less simply because the employer uses a different title. (i.e., some small firms don't have secretaries, paralegals, and legal assistants, but they have one or two of the three--it doesn't matter what they're called so long as they do the tasks meriting the pay).