1L to Paralegal Forum

[dturnbull87]

I'm a 1L at a TTTT that's woken up to the reality of the job market, however have been unable to find any relevant information about transitioning from the first year of law school to a Paralegal career. My state has two major Paralegal associations, which require either certification to join or current employment as a paralegal and I have been unable to find information online from anyone that has attempted this in the past.

Would anyone know of any resources that explain how employers approach this transition from a computational perspective?

Will employers take a 1L with no prior paralegal certification, assuming exp. in all legal programs and legal research, or is a paralegal certificate needed? Does anyone have any experience with this or know anyone that has experience with this situation?

[Anonymous User]

im not sure how it works in your market but i know biglaw in dc / ny hire paralegals w/ no certificate / training / experience. people get biglaw paralegal jobs as their first job out of undergrad. even v 10.

[Anonymous User]

im not sure how it works in your market but i know biglaw in dc / ny hire paralegals w/ no certificate / training / experience. people get biglaw paralegal jobs as their first job out of undergrad. even v 10.

This is credited. I was a paralegal at a V20 firm in NYC right out of college. No paralegal certificate needed, though I know that other states may vary. You should check websites of law firms in your state to see if they have a staff hiring section or something. The websites may tell you what credentials are needed.

[CanadianWolf]

Also know that NYC & DC biglaw & Manhattan DA hire straight from college. For example, Covington & Burling's DC office starts all new paralegals at the same time to go through their firm training together. Most hired as recent grads from prestigious universities. (Two year committments at Manhattan DA & Covington DC. as well as at most biglaw in NYC.)

[Anonymous User]

the biglaw paralegal market in NYC is totally different than at small firms. I worked at a V10 firm for two years right out of school with no qualifications beyond a humanities degree. My boss would routinely reject resumes of people who had paralegal training/certificates (there was no real reason-- I'm sure they would have done the job just as well/better--beyond the prestige factor of having your paralegals come from reputable undergrad schools).

If you want to be a 'lifer' paralegal, you will probably have to target smaller firms, in smaller markets. The big firms in NY want to hire young guns right out of undergrad so they can 1) work paras to the bone and 2) not have to pay for family healthcare insurance that comes with 'career paralegals' when they inevitably marry/have children. The cost of retraining a new batch of paras is nothing when you think about how the firm can reset support staff salaries every year (rather than giving a career para a raise annually) and how the firm saves on healthcare costs.

hope this helps; good luck!