Max Krinke

Professor Wanda Synstelien

English 1108

9 October 2019

Paralegals: The Create Your Own Adventure Career

According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor Stats. the job outlook from 2018-2024 for paralegals is up

to 12% which is much faster than average, and the average pay is up to $50,940. A paralegal or legal

assistant is a lawyer’s right-hand man, and the paralegal does all the work the lawyer does not

want to do. With this set of duties and limitations there are many problems for paralegals. One

of the main problems facing the paralegal profession is the lack of a career path, because of the

job limitations and requirements, and the small amount of schooling needed, and the types of

jobs related to becoming a paralegal.

The job requirements of a paralegal are very specific and have many limitations. The

National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) defines paralegals as “a person qualified by

education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office,

corporation, governmental agency or other entity who performs specifically delegated

substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible” (NALA, 4). This means that the duties

of the paralegal are heavily monitored, and the lawyer is responsible for all the actions of the

paralegal. Due to this limited freedom, the paralegal must always report to the lawyer. The

American Bar Association (ABA) states that paralegals cannot give unauthorized law advice or
practice law under any circumstances (ABA pg. 10). The NALA has a list of “typical duties” for a

paralegal which include “conduct client interviews, conduct legal research, draft legal

documents, and summarize depositions” (NALA “What Do Paralegals Do?”). Long hours and

high stress are common among paralegal workers due to strict deadlines and no room for

mistakes (CertifiedParalegal.net). All these duties are specialized and don’t transfer to many

other jobs outside of law practice jobs. Experience is the most important thing in the paralegal

field, because it allows for a larger salary, more freedom, and the ability to manage other

paralegals. The only way to get out of the assistant style of work that a paralegal does is to

become a lawyer, which requires a long commitment to law school, lots of money to spend on

tuition, as well as learning a whole new set of skills.

The only other jobs that paralegal skills could translate well to are a law clerk or an

actual lawyer, and a law clerk job is more of a downgrade due to the lower pay and job duties.

Law school requires a bachelor’s degree to even be able to apply for the three-year program,

which adds up to about 7 years depending on the student’s pace (LawyerEDU.org “How Long is

Law School?”). The following quote means that all a person would need is a high school diploma

and a resume to get a job as a paralegal “Currently there is no jurisdiction in the United States

that requires licensing of paralegals” (Julia M. Dunlap Esq., 8). In a survey conducted by NALA

they polled paralegals across the U.S. and asked them 38 questions ranging from total

education, to specific job requirements. In the first portion the survey asked about the highest

education completed, and 45% of the 1,839 people surveyed had an Associate’s degree or high

school diploma. 17% of the people surveyed did not even have a form of paralegal certification,

and this shows that this career is available to a lot of people and has few requirements for
getting a job. At Inver Hills Community College, there is a paralegal certificate program which

consists of ten classes which equals thirty credits, but compared to the Associate of Arts degree

which covers the general studies classes for many universities and state colleges is a sixty-credit

course. The shorter and cheaper option of the paralegal certification limits career opportunities

since the classes are paralegal specific. The paralegal certification requires half as many credits

but is usually paired with Inver’s Associate of Science degree. The ten classes that are offered

cover many of the different types of law to prepare the student for whichever firm or lawyer

they work under, but this also translates to a general understanding of many topics instead of

being focused in one or two forms of law.

The other jobs that are available in a law firm that could help gain knowledge or skills

that could translate to a paralegal are few and far between. Since there aren’t many jobs that

develop the skills for becoming a paralegal, the people interested in the career are forced to go

to a college or university, and spend lots of time and money on the program. One of the jobs

that provide the skills for being a paralegal is a legal secretary, who “answer phones, take

messages, transcribe correspondence and legal documents, organize and file documents, open

and sort mail, schedule new and existing client meetings” (ParalegalEDU.org “Entry-Level

Paralegal Jobs”). These job duties are the easier forms of what paralegals do but offer some

preparation for the more complex duties of paralegals. Another job that can help with

developing skills for the paralegal career is an administrative assistant for the municipal court.

The duties of the administrative assistant are to “coordinate and respond to requests by judges,

the judicial staff, and court reporters” (ParalegalEDU.org “Entry-Level Paralegal Jobs”). Since

this job requires meeting with judges and staff at the courthouse, there isn’t a way to meet
with clients or lawyers which is a big part of being a paralegal. On the NALA website they have a

career center page that has a job listings section and many of the available jobs are those listed

as the entry level paralegal jobs by ParalegalEDU.org. This shows that the career path of

paralegals requires changing job titles and duties to advance or to switch up workloads.

The small number of classes needed to become a certified paralegal, as well as the

limited job requirements, make the career path for paralegals a complicated one. The job is

heavily monitored, and all the work is delegated from the lawyer to the paralegal, but for a job

that requires only a high school diploma to get, it pays a decent salary. Some of the other jobs

that are related to paralegals are set up to only focus on one piece of the paralegal career

puzzle. The paralegal career for those who are willing to completely change jobs and duties

because of the lackluster career path. Is it worth it to get a paralegal job that will end up

needing to be abandoned to further a career in the law field?

Dunlap, Julia M. “Paralegal Education in the e-World.” Paralegal Education in the e-World, Apr.
2017, pp. 8–9.

1. The author of this article is Julia Dunlap who is an attorney in California and is the
current president for AAfPE (American Association for Paralegal Education). She is also
the director of legal education at UC San Diego Extension since 2004.
2. This article talks about the changing education for the paralegal program and how she
and other educators must constantly stay ahead of the ever-changing world.
3. The intended audience is lawyers and other professors teaching a paralegal program to
warn them of the changing program
4. This article is useful to me because it can explain how “easy” it can be to enter the
program or to pass the classes.

National Association of Legal Assistants, NALA. “Model Standards and Guidelines for Utilization
of Paralegals.” NALA: The Paralegal Association, Dec. 2018,
https://www.nala.org/sites/default/files/files/banner/Model%20Standards.pdf

1. The author is the National Association of Legal Assistants who provide continuing
education for paralegals, and they are trusted by the American Bar Association.
2. The article is a revised and simplified version of the ABA guidelines.
3. The intended audience is lawyers and paralegals wanting to know the limits of the job or
the employee.
4. This article is useful to me because it lets me show how limited the job of a paralegal is.

U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. “Paralegals and Legal Assistants : Occupational Outlook
Handbook:” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 Sept. 2019,
www.bls.gov/ooh/legal/paralegals-and-legal-assistants.htm#tab-5.

1. The author is the U.S. Dept. of Labor Stats. who provide information on almost every job
there is, and they are a government agency.
2. The website gives information on job outlook as well as average pay, and much more.
3. The intended audience is average people wanting to know more about a certain career
or job they are interested in.
4. This website is useful to me because it lets me see all the information people care about
like salary, so it helps make an introduction.
American Bar Association, ABA. “ABA Model Guidelines for the Utilization of Paralegal
Services.” American Bar Association Standing Committee on Paralegals, 2018,
www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/paralegals/ls_prlgs_modelguidel
ines.pdf

1. The author is the American Bar Association who are the national representation of the
legal profession, they have made the guidelines for all things law related.
2. The article goes very in depth into what a paralegal can and cannot do.
3. The intended audience are well educated lawyers and paralegals wanting to better
understand the limitations of the paralegal profession.
4. This article is useful to me because it shows the limitations of paralegals in great detail.

National Association of Legal Assistants, NALA. “What Do Paralegals Do?” Nala.org, 2019,
www.nala.org/about-paralegals/what-do-paralegals-do

1. The author is the National Association of Legal Assistants who provide continuing
education for paralegals, and they are trusted by the American Bar Association.
2. The website talks about the job duties of the average paralegal.
3. The intended audience are people interested in becoming a paralegal and want to know
more about the day-to-day work.
4. This article is useful to me because it shows me all the work a paralegal does and I can
use that to show how specialized the work is and how stressful it can be.

LawyerEDU.org, State By State Requirements to Become a Lawyer. “How Long Is Law School?”
How Long Is Law School? | Law Colleges, 2014, www.lawyeredu.org/how-long-is-law-
school.html

1. The author is LawyerEDU.org who are a group of lawyers wanting to encourage people
to consider a career in law.
2. The website talks about how long law school is and the many requirements and
provides some resources on how to start law school.
3. The intended audience are people interested in becoming lawyers but don’t know
where to start or want to learn more.
4. This article was useful to me to prove that law school takes a long time and is a big
commitment.
National Association of Legal Assistants, NALA, and PSI Services. “2016 Job Analysis NALA
Certified Paralegal Certification Examination.” 2016 Job Analysis NALA Certified Paralegal
Certification Examination, 13 Dec. 2016, pp. 1–14.

1. The author is the National Association of Legal Assistants who provide continuing
education for paralegals, and they are trusted by the American Bar Association.
2. The article is a survey conducted by NALA to understand the modern job duties and
requirements of paralegals.
3. The intended audience are people interested in the career and want to know what
paralegals do.
4. This article was useful to me because in the first portion of the survey it asked what
education level each person had, and if they were certified or not. I used the
information to show that many paralegals have little law-based education.

National Association of Legal Assistants, NALA. “Career Center.” Nala.org, Sept. 2019,
www.nala.org/career-center.

1. The author is the National Association of Legal Assistants who provide continuing
education for paralegals, and they are trusted by the American Bar Association.
2. The webpage shows a bunch of job listings across the U.S. for paralegal based jobs.
3. The intended audience is paralegals or those interested in paralegal type jobs.
4. This webpage was useful to me to show that there are a lot of paralegal type jobs that
are similar but only focus on one aspect of the job.

ParalegalEDU.org. “Entry-Level Paralegal Jobs.” What Is a Paralegal What Does a Paralegal Do,
2019, www.paralegaledu.org/entry-level-paralegal-jobs/

1. The author is ParalegalEDU.org which is a group of professional paralegals wanting to

help people interested in a paralegal or legal assistant job.
2. The webpage lists and describes many jobs relating to paralegals.
3. The intended audience are people wanting to become a paralegal or wanting a job in
the law field but don’t know where to start.
4. The webpage was useful to me because I could see the jobs relating to paralegals and
how they all were not perfect fits for the skills needed to be a paralegal.