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You're A Para-What?
How I Think I Look
How I Actually Look
Being a paralegal is all about providing support to attorneys.
But how do you know if you’d actually enjoy being a paralegal? What exactly does the job entail?
How Do Paralegals Contribute?
Paralegals provide clerical support to lawyers and act as a communication bridge between clients, other lawyers, court systems, or even corporations.
The result? Paralegals organize information and help lawyers look great at their jobs!
The Actual Job
Paralegals are often responsible for:
Assisting with trial preparation. By performing legal research and interviewing witnesses.
Performing secretarial duties. By organizing files, incoming mail and writing correspondence.
Using critical thinking skills. By organizing and analyzing information and editing legal forms.
Acting as a liaison. By coordinating activities between clients, law offices, courts and corporations.
Where Can You Work As A Paralegal?
Law Firms
Courts
Government
Corporations
Non-Profit Organizations
Real Estate
Quiz
Which of these jobs probably hires paralegals?
While some businesses may have in-house legal teams, they're more likely to contract out their legal work to law firms where paralegals assist lawyers on client needs.
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You'll Love It If...
You have great communication skills and are able to collaborate with many different groups of people.
You thrive in a fast-paced, and high-stress environment and can work on many projects at the same time.
You have a strong interest in research and analyzing documents.
Look For Another Career Path If...
You don't like juggling multiple tasks at one time.
If you don't like adhering to strict deadlines and have trouble with attention to detail.
You do not like the idea of sitting behind a desk for most of the day and staring at a computer screen.
But Will It Pay The Bills?
Pick The Future Paralegal
Janie
Very detail oriented, likes to do research in her spare time.
Friends always look to her to organize and plan group activities
Tony
Hates sitting in front of a computer for a long period of time.
Has trouble multi-tasking
Quiz
Who sounds like the best fit for a paralegal career path?
Janie would be a better fit as a paralegal because she is well-organized, likes to plan, and is detail oriented. Paralegals are required to produce highly detailed work. They also need to be comfortable working on multiple tasks at a time, which suits Janie's personality.
Take Action
Does it sound like being a paralegal could be a good career path for you?
If it does...
This Byte has been authored by
Stephanie Euland
Instructional Designer/Educator