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I'm an unemployed 3L at a lower T14 and considering seeking employment as a secretary or paralegal. (this is NOT a flame, and I'm at median, so my grades aren't THAT bad)

I won't owe a terrible amount upon graduation, and I just want a job. My interest in practicing as an attorney is pretty low, and my undergraduate majors (French and Political Science) aren't exactly in demand fields.

Will the JD hurt my chances of getting hired? If I get hired, will I just get screwed into doing entry level associate work at a secretary's/paralegal's pay?

Welldamn wrote:I'm an unemployed 3L at a lower T14 and considering seeking employment as a secretary or paralegal. (this is NOT a flame, and I'm at median, so my grades aren't THAT bad)

I won't owe a terrible amount upon graduation, and I just want a job. My interest in practicing as an attorney is pretty low, and my undergraduate majors (French and Political Science) aren't exactly in demand fields.

Will the JD hurt my chances of getting hired? If I get hired, will I just get screwed into doing entry level associate work at a secretary's/paralegal's pay?

If we assume not flame...

Whoa whoa whoa this needs more explanation. Why are you interested in being a secretary or paralegal after getting a law degree? Do you just not want to practice law but still want use the degree to get some kind of employment, are you thinking you can move into an attorney job, or is this something else? Interested to see where this thread goes.

I'm

prezidentv8 wrote:

Welldamn wrote:I'm an unemployed 3L at a lower T14 and considering seeking employment as a secretary or paralegal. (this is NOT a flame, and I'm at median, so my grades aren't THAT bad)

I won't owe a terrible amount upon graduation, and I just want a job. My interest in practicing as an attorney is pretty low, and my undergraduate majors (French and Political Science) aren't exactly in demand fields.

Will the JD hurt my chances of getting hired? If I get hired, will I just get screwed into doing entry level associate work at a secretary's/paralegal's pay?

If we assume not flame...

Whoa whoa whoa this needs more explanation. Why are you interested in being a secretary or paralegal after getting a law degree? Do you just not want to practice law but still want use the degree to get some kind of employment, are you thinking you can move into an attorney job, or is this something else? Interested to see where this thread goes.

This is definitely not a flame, so thanks for the serious reply.

I am NOT hoping to lateral into an attorney position. I've worked since I was 15, and I just don't want to spend too much time after the bar looking for a job. I'm most interested in gainful, semi-professional to professional employment. Without putting too fine a point on things, I'm wondering if having a JD would help me get hired easier or earlier (so that I know what I'm doing with my life next year) as a legal secretary or paralegal.

Based on the little I know about paralegal hiring they tend to discriminate heavily against JDs, for flight risk sorts of reasons. secretarial work, particularly outside the legal context, might be easier

luthersloan wrote:Based on the little I know about paralegal hiring they tend to discriminate heavily against JDs, for flight risk sorts of reasons. secretarial work, particularly outside the legal context, might be easier

This is not always so; it depends on the context. I was at a presentation where an attorney was talking about a remote back-office support center the firm had set up, and mentioned as a point of pride the number of JDs working there as paralegals. A collective gasp of horror went up from the younger attorneys in the room.

Renzo wrote:

luthersloan wrote:Based on the little I know about paralegal hiring they tend to discriminate heavily against JDs, for flight risk sorts of reasons. secretarial work, particularly outside the legal context, might be easier

This is not always so; it depends on the context. I was at a presentation where an attorney was talking about a remote back-office support center the firm had set up, and mentioned as a point of pride the number of JDs working there as paralegals. A collective gasp of horror went up from the younger attorneys in the room.

Did the presenter give any additional details about these paralegals? Was the presenter speaking on behalf of a big law firm?

Welldamn wrote:

Renzo wrote:

luthersloan wrote:Based on the little I know about paralegal hiring they tend to discriminate heavily against JDs, for flight risk sorts of reasons. secretarial work, particularly outside the legal context, might be easier

This is not always so; it depends on the context. I was at a presentation where an attorney was talking about a remote back-office support center the firm had set up, and mentioned as a point of pride the number of JDs working there as paralegals. A collective gasp of horror went up from the younger attorneys in the room.

Did the presenter give any additional details about these paralegals? Was the presenter speaking on behalf of a big law firm?

It was a large firm, but not a traditional "big law" type firm; more like a midlaw firm with lots and lots of smallish franchise offices nationwide. And no, no more details about the paralegals. The talk was really about innovative ways to cut legal costs, and apparently setting up one giant warehouse full of paralegals and getting rid of all the staff at your local offices is one way to do that.