Docket jockeys: would paralegal be worth it?

[DontSayBanana]

Long story short, the state is trying to talk me into training as a paralegal, and I'm just trying to put some feelers out to see if the employment at the end of the training would be worth the trouble, money-wise and satisfaction-wise.

[Barrister]

Long story short, the state is trying to talk me into training as a paralegal, and I'm just trying to put some feelers out to see if the employment at the end of the training would be worth the trouble, money-wise and satisfaction-wise.

Very difficult to say as the term "paralegal" gets thrown around a lot to mean some very different duties.  I've run a full trial up against a paralegal who was quite senior with a firm and I think well compensated.  However I've heard of legal assistants being called paralegals as well.

[DontSayBanana]

Very difficult to say as the term "paralegal" gets thrown around a lot to mean some very different duties.  I've run a full trial up against a paralegal who was quite senior with a firm and I think well compensated.  However I've heard of legal assistants being called paralegals as well.

I'm running into that everywhere I'm asked to choose something by title. Bureau of Labor Statistics is careful to segregate legal assistants from corporate paralegals, who are simply more economical since they don't represent the company at hearings.

In this case, the state's carrot is an associate's degree in paralegal studies. As BLS mentions a bachelor's coupled with a certificate in paralegal studies, I believe this is more closely pertaining to legal assistant.

Description from the file I was handed this morning:

The Paralegal Studies program offers a combination of general education and paralegal courses that prepares graduates to meet the growing demand for trained paralegals in law offices, casinos, real estate offices, probation departments, prosecutors' offices, insurance companies and private businesses. The program is approved by the American Bar Association.

[Scipio]

Paralegal is a good way to make money, if you are competent, organized, and efficient.  If you lack any one of the three, please do not try to be a paralegal.

[DontSayBanana]

Paralegal is a good way to make money, if you are competent, organized, and efficient.  If you lack any one of the three, please do not try to be a paralegal.

Thanks, Skip, nice and straightforward.

Also looking to see if any of my classes from my "lost year" are covered, as a factor in deciding; so far, it looks like only two, maybe three are. I really don't know what I was thinking when I decided to go for music, since I burnt out so easily.

[DontSayBanana]

Decided. Gonna be going with paralegal studies, as it's the most realistic field for me. Getting an outline together for my counselor as I type this... now my next step is to decide between PS 201 - American Federal Government and PS 203 - State & Local Government.

[alfred russel]

Why not go for law school? It seems as though you are a reasonably intelligent guy: why would you want to work as a paralegal where you will always be a notch below the lawyers you work with, even if you are smarter than many of them?

[Martinus]

Why not go for law school? It seems as though you are a reasonably intelligent guy: why would you want to work as a paralegal where you will always be a notch below the lawyers you work with, even if you are smarter than many of them?

Well I'd assume paralegals have much more sensible working hours than lawyers, for one.

Also, a paralegal's job is much less stressful and usually does not involve working with clients or other people like that.

[alfred russel]

Well I'd assume paralegals have much more sensible working hours than lawyers, for one.

Also, a paralegal's job is much less stressful and usually does not involve working with clients or other people like that.

There are some lawyers outside of BIG LAW that have sensible hours.

[ulmont]

Well I'd assume paralegals have much more sensible working hours than lawyers, for one.

Also, a paralegal's job is much less stressful and usually does not involve working with clients or other people like that.

Wrongo on both counts.

[Barrister]

Why not go for law school? It seems as though you are a reasonably intelligent guy: why would you want to work as a paralegal where you will always be a notch below the lawyers you work with, even if you are smarter than many of them?

Presumably because a paralegal program takes 1-2 years, whereas law school typically takes 7 (undergrad plus law school).

[alfred russel]

Why not go for law school? It seems as though you are a reasonably intelligent guy: why would you want to work as a paralegal where you will always be a notch below the lawyers you work with, even if you are smarter than many of them?

Presumably because a paralegal program takes 1-2 years, whereas law school typically takes 7 (undergrad plus law school).

In that case why not go for a degree that can get you into the workplace immediately: engineering, business, computer science, or something else I'm not thinking of. That is an extra couple of years of school though.

[DontSayBanana]

Well, a little bit of explanation is in order, I guess. I love law, researching, and moderated debate, but I kind of tanked school on personal problems around 2004-5 (senior, one year of college). I jumped into the workplace as a relay operator for 711 and while the job was somewhat satisfying, I got pretty depressed about having tanked school and mostly looked at going back to school as a pipe dream.

Serendipity paid a little visit in March- NJ's department of labor steps in during mass layoffs to try to prevent a ripple effect on the local unemployment offices, and one of the steps they take is offering additional financial assistance towards pursuing your first undergraduate degree.

I figured I could take the opportunity to edge in on the field, and submitted a claim towards pursuing court reporting, but training for court reporting is expensive. Off the books, that proposal was rejected on Friday; my counselor's supervisor wasn't there, but she's 99% sure that they won't approve the program, so she looked at my qualifications/testing and recommended a course as a "Plan B" that I had actually discounted: paralegal.

This stuff should actually start solidifying tomorrow, and while it's not a free ride into law school, it's baby steps into a field that's interested me since I learned to read, and I learned to read early.

Basically, there's a long trail of debris behind me when it comes to being ambitious, so I'm going to hedge my bets to massively decrease the possibility of another backslide.

[Admiral Yi]

Interesting, I was going to chime in with the advice that you go for court reporter.

[PDH]

I would think that the jump training would always be worth it.