Paralegal work Forum

[furrrman]

This may not be the right forum for this, but wasn't sure where to post. Anyways, I'm looking to get a paralegal job, couple quick Q's:

1) Outside of a BA, is any other kind of certification needed?
2) I've been perusing craigslist mostly, any other places to look for paralegal work?
3) If I have a good lsat, should I put it on my resume?

[PropaneAccessories]

Current Paralegal

1.) If you have not done a paralegal certification program, then you need to be look for "Project Assistant" (usually in BigLaw) and Legal Assistant (usually in all other types of law) positions.

2.) If interested in doing this for BigLaw, you need to monitor the job posting pages of the firms in your market. If you know of ANYONE that can put in a word for you to HR or even better, get you connected with someone from HR, then you get a leg up on everyone else. Recent graduates interested in law school clamor for these positions and, in some ways, it's a great real-life anecdote for how you need to be both smart AND great at networking just to land a PA job. It's simply the first hurdle you have to cross when seeking the job and it's a great way for the firm to easily weed people out.

3.) No. Firms want a bare minimum commitment of a year. Putting your LSAT score on your resume indicates flight risk if you are interviewing while an admission cycle is in progress. It's just better to keep that private and then reveal your score, if you so choose, if the topic comes up in conversation with your team.

I will be applying to law school next cycle after 4 years in the working world and saving money. I can tell you that hands down, being a Para in a BigLaw firm was a great career move. I came to truly understand the day to day operations of a law firm (i.e. there is an army of people behind the scenes that support every attorney), all of the back end admin work that, quite honestly, most attorneys have no clue how to do unless they have been a PA or Para.Additionally, networking opportunities and a chance to figure out if this industry is for you.

[furrrman]

Thanks, that was helpful.

[09042014]

Thanks, that was helpful.

Only a few states require certification.

I also don't think it's good experience for being a lawyer. Paralegals can be a lot of help, but in the biglaw setting, they don't do anything resembling legal work.

[berkeleynick]

It may not be good experience for being a lawyer per se but it is certainly good exposure to understanding what lawyers do daily and in figuring out if it's something you want to to do. At the big firm (2,000+ attorneys worldwide) at which I worked, paralegals assisted with some first year associate work, like document review, trade data analysis, and checking citations for substantive accuracy. Associate work isn't groundbreaking, that's what you'll learn if nothing else when you're a paralegal at a big firm (along with the real-life impact of the unpredictability of hours and scheduling due to client demands) but I think people who have worked in a law firm before going to law school know what they are getting themselves into far more than the vast majority of kids who go straight through.

[berkeleynick]

You might also want to try various legal staffing agencies who place people in big firms (often they are the ones who post on Craigslist and have jobs that are not advertised on firms' websites).

[PropaneAccessories]

.

[middlebear]

Current BigLaw paralegal. Like above said, look through the firms' websites themselves, I can't imagine most places posting on CraigsList. And my top rec would be that if you know anyone working at a firm, get in with them. I helped interview/choose one of our new staff members, and literally the two finalists were friends of other paralegals, and the one that won out was friends with the one that had worked here longest.

As for the "value" of paralegal experience: I think it HIGHLY depends on where you are, the lawyers you work with, and what sort of law you want to go into. Some of the attorneys I work with are great, know that I'm intelligent, and will treat me like I have a functioning brain and can do work requiring higher thought. Others won't make eye contact with you in the hall unless you outrank them on the grand pyramid, so you just avoid them and try to work with the better ones. I knew going in I didn't want to work in BigLaw once I had a JD, but just needed a paycheck, but I've still learned a lot about day-to-day legal practice and where I want to go.

...if that helps.

[anyriotgirl]

just curious, what kind of work do biglaw paralegals do?

[middlebear]

just curious, what kind of work do biglaw paralegals do?

Again, varies highly.

Cite-checking is, I think, pretty universal: essentially, line-editing attorneys' briefs or what-have-you, making sure everything is formatted and cited correctly. Actually is probably great learning experience for law school (or so I'm hoping).

A lot of it is just slogging through documents, either electronic or physical, pulling out whatever the attorney needs. Filing whatever items with the court, which is pretty much all electronic and not so bad. You just focus on billable hours (or at least, HR does--life is more zen if you ignore that pressure.) Just think lots and lots of paper, or PDFs, and all the possibilities they offer.

Some of it can also be highly ridiculous. For instance, a lot of the time I bill is for printing out our electronic database, because our partners refuse to switch 100% to electronic filing (I think they find it annoying?). Sometimes you pinch hit for secretaries; one partner uses me as his substitute secretary. But if you get lucky, you might actually get to do some more substantive work.

[anyriotgirl]

oh huh interesting. I'm a paralegal too, but not in biglaw just mostly curious about how the other half lives.

[Humbert Humbert]

Current Paralegal

1.) If you have not done a paralegal certification program, then you need to be look for "Project Assistant" (usually in BigLaw) and Legal Assistant (usually in all other types of law) positions.

This isn't true. I am a para at one of the big NY firms and I do not have any sort of certificate, nor do any other paralegals in my firm. All are straight out of undergrad.

As for the experience/value, it depends on your practice group and the attorneys you work with. Some are more trusting/willing to give substantive work than others. I've been pretty lucky in that regard (as my group is smaller and I work with the same attorneys regularly), but that hasn't been the case for many of my colleagues who are doing M&A/cap markets/lev fin/etc. Those roles tend to be a bit more clerical. Even still, it is still a positive experience on the whole. You are living in a big city right out of college, making good money (70k is fairly common with OT), learning how to function in a professional setting, and (hopefully) building some solid relationships that will help you down the road.

[Arij.Syed]

I am a paralegal at a small firm and the experience has been great. The attorneys trust me and let me work on a ton of different cases. I have done everything from drafting bankruptcy petitions, immigration petitions(I-130's, finace visas, etc), landlord tenant complaints, Adoption complaints, affidavits, etc., Collections, debt consolidation, civil complaints, even answering interrogatories for a wrongful death case. Its all about how much initiative you take, and how much the attorney you work for trusts you. Yes some paralegals are glorified secretaries, but if you take the initiative to research and learn how to draft legal documents your self, your boss will recognize and reward you with more responsibilities and more substantive work. As someone who is about to start law school, learning how to practice law under real attorneys has been an incredible and enlightening experience. Working as a paralegal will give you the experience you need to start practicing law the right way after you pass the bar.

[banjo]

I am a paralegal at a small firm and the experience has been great. The attorneys trust me and let me work on a ton of different cases. I have done everything from drafting bankruptcy petitions, immigration petitions(I-130's, finace visas, etc), landlord tenant complaints, Adoption complaints, affidavits, etc., Collections, debt consolidation, civil complaints, even answering interrogatories for a wrongful death case. Its all about how much initiative you take, and how much the attorney you work for trusts you. Yes some paralegals are glorified secretaries, but if you take the initiative to research and learn how to draft legal documents your self, your boss will recognize and reward you with more responsibilities and more substantive work. As someone who is about to start law school, learning how to practice law under real attorneys has been an incredible and enlightening experience. Working as a paralegal will give you the experience you need to start practicing law the right way after you pass the bar.

This was my experience too and I think it's the best kind of paralegal job. I've relied more on my paralegal skills than my 1L skills in the first few weeks of my SA.