Plenty Positions for Paralegals
The good news: employment for paralegals and legal assistants is one of the fastest growing occupations in the next 10 years.
The bad news: competition is expected to be stiff.
The good news: you can beef up your skill set with proper training and experience.
The main reason that more opportunities are expected for paralegals is that companies want to cut costs where they can and many legal services can be done by paralegals instead of lawyers. Also, legal services go hand-in-hand with a growing economy and population. Certain specialties will do better than others. An increasingly aging population means that specialists in health care law and elder issues will be in demand.
The current green revolution necessitates more experts in environmental law, while the boom of Web 2.0 requires people knowledgeable about intellectual property.
Law firms are the largest employers of legal assistants and will continue its role as such. However, companies that use a lot of legal services may be an alternative employer to private firms. So, if you’re a financial nut and love the law, consider working for the legal department of a bank. Other possibilities include insurance companies, corporate legal departments and other financial service firms.
As in most job, salaries for paralegals depend on geographic location, the size of the employer. However the overall distribution of salaries is not very large and the salaries are in the middle income range. Eighty percent of paralegals earn between $25,350 and $61,390, with a median income of $39,130 (including bonuses.)*
Even though the paralegal profession is expected grow, competition is steep. The best opportunities will go to those who are experienced and have formal training. To improve your job prospects within the paralegal profession, click here.
*Source: Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2004.
