Why I Choose To Become Paralegals
Why I Have Chosen to Become a Paralegal and an Informational Background.
Many people have asked what I am taking at Greenville Technical College and why I chose to pursue a Paralegal Associates Degree. This paper will offer a historical background of what a Paralegal is; the educational steps and financial cost of what it takes to become a Paralegal; a summary of how computers will be used and what computer skills will be required as a Paralegal; an employment overview of a Paralegal; and an explanation about why I have chosen to become a Paralegal. There have been some who have belittled my choice, implying that the courses and course load is nothing, so I started adding that I will be getting a Law Degree (emphasis added) which has been quieting …show more content…
most negative remarks.
The positions and tasks of the modern-day Paralegal used to be something that an unlicensed lawyer or the actual lawyer would do themselves, though, there are some that still do they are getting harder to find. The following is an overview of how the Paralegal field has grown from the 1960’s until now:
During the 1960’s legal secretaries were asked to take on more responsibilities in the law firms and the term Paralegal was coined.
Then in the early 1970’s the American Bar Association (ABA) came up with the phrase Legal Assistant and law firms started hiring people specifically for this newly created position, alleviating the legal secretaries of some of their new responsibilities that had been asked of them. It was not long before an increasing number of educational institutions started offering Legal Assistant programs to train professionals in the proper procedures and processes needed to complete the tasks that would be asked of them in the work place. As the number of educational institutions increased it did not take long before degree courses of study was developed and started being offered across the country by those institutions who were offering training in the Legal Assistant field (The History – and the Future – of the Paralegal Profession; History of the Paralegal …show more content…
Profession).
In just the last few years the term Paralegal has replaced the phrase Legal Assistant though they are used “interchangeably” many prefer to use Paralegal instead (ABA Model Guidlines for the Utilization of Paralegal Services 1). According to the American Bar Association (ABA) “[a] Paralegal is 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” (ABA Model Guidlines for the Utilization of Paralegal Services 1). Assistant Dean of the Public Service Programs, the Department Head of the Paralegal Department at Greenville Technical College and Professor Elizabeth Mann, Esq. related that she has seen “changes and improvements to the Paralegal program [over the] 24 years” of her teaching career (Mann).
Greenville Technical College offers an Associate degree in the Paralegal field, which is a five semester program. During the fifth semester the student has the option to take a review class in preparation for certification. There are even some educational institutions that offer bachelors and masters degrees in the Paralegal field. The Associate degree I am enrolled in is a sufficient step toward achieving my goal as a Paralegal. Professor Elizabeth Mann, Esq. has also indicated that as long as I maintain A’s and B’s in my classes I will have a greater chance at finding an excellent position at a comparable pay rate (Mann). My biggest challenge is that it has been 22 years since I was last in school and that I am doing this all on my own, therefore I will be stretching out my enrollment to three years instead of the normal two years. The expenses of daily life plus attending school for six semesters will have totaled up to over $46,000.00 by the time I graduate in 2017. I am confident that by extending my enrollment out another semester that my goal of maintaining A’s and B’s will be reached plus relieving some of the stress of not having been in school for so long.
With the recent advancement of information technology, the use of computers have grown exponentially of the past couple of years.
These days the electronic filing of forms and papers with many of the court systems and government agencies has started to become the only acceptable way of filing. If someone files a form or document in printed a format these days it is rare that it is not scanned and data entered into the electronic filing system. Today “Paralegals” need to have the “computer skills” to assist them in discovering facts from their computer-based “legal research” and use those “important,” properly stored and maintained “documents” to develop persuading presentations to turn the tide to their side in “litigation support” (Paralegals and Legal
Assistants).
Paralegals do not just work in law firms anymore, they also work for corporations; real estate agencies; the “federal, state and local government[s]; [financial organizations] and insurance [agencies]” (Paralegals and Legal Assistants). Some of the things that a Lawyer may ask a Paralegal to do during the course day are: draft a memo or letter to a client; take down a client’s story and include one’s own opinion; go out to the scene of the incident - taking measurements, notes and pictures; investigating facts and doing research; and interviewing witnesses. “When [the] older [Paralegals reach retirement age and decide to] retire, there will likely be a demand for new [younger Paralegals]” (Career Coach). The current “median” pay rate for a Paralegal is “$18.32/hr” [sic] in other words, that is about “$38k/yr” [sic] (Career Coach).
Though the pay rate is a nice benefit to getting a Paralegal degree and becoming certified, it is not the thing or purpose that drew me to the decision to become a Paralegal. The primary reasons that exist for me in the choice that I made to become a paralegal is that I enjoy helping people, I have wanted to get back into an office environment, and I have a desire to help people from a certain community base. With that in mind, I started looking into what was available to me and how I could further my education. At first I was looking at the Administrative Office Technician with legal electives, but when I went to Student Services at the Northwest campus I was introduced to the Paralegal field and saw that it was similar enough to what I had looked at I said “Okay, I will do it”. So this is why I chose to get an Associate of Applied Science: Paralegal Degree with a historical overview of the field.
Many people have asked what I am taking at Greenville Technical College and why I chose to pursue a Paralegal Associates Degree. This paper will offer a historical background of what a Paralegal is; the educational steps and financial cost of what it takes to become a Paralegal; a summary of how computers will be used and what computer skills will be required as a Paralegal; an employment overview of a Paralegal; and an explanation about why I have chosen to become a Paralegal. There have been some who have belittled my choice, implying that the courses and course load is nothing, so I started adding that I will be getting a Law Degree (emphasis added) which has been quieting …show more content…
most negative remarks.
The positions and tasks of the modern-day Paralegal used to be something that an unlicensed lawyer or the actual lawyer would do themselves, though, there are some that still do they are getting harder to find. The following is an overview of how the Paralegal field has grown from the 1960’s until now:
During the 1960’s legal secretaries were asked to take on more responsibilities in the law firms and the term Paralegal was coined.
Then in the early 1970’s the American Bar Association (ABA) came up with the phrase Legal Assistant and law firms started hiring people specifically for this newly created position, alleviating the legal secretaries of some of their new responsibilities that had been asked of them. It was not long before an increasing number of educational institutions started offering Legal Assistant programs to train professionals in the proper procedures and processes needed to complete the tasks that would be asked of them in the work place. As the number of educational institutions increased it did not take long before degree courses of study was developed and started being offered across the country by those institutions who were offering training in the Legal Assistant field (The History – and the Future – of the Paralegal Profession; History of the Paralegal …show more content…
Profession).
In just the last few years the term Paralegal has replaced the phrase Legal Assistant though they are used “interchangeably” many prefer to use Paralegal instead (ABA Model Guidlines for the Utilization of Paralegal Services 1). According to the American Bar Association (ABA) “[a] Paralegal is 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” (ABA Model Guidlines for the Utilization of Paralegal Services 1). Assistant Dean of the Public Service Programs, the Department Head of the Paralegal Department at Greenville Technical College and Professor Elizabeth Mann, Esq. related that she has seen “changes and improvements to the Paralegal program [over the] 24 years” of her teaching career (Mann).
Greenville Technical College offers an Associate degree in the Paralegal field, which is a five semester program. During the fifth semester the student has the option to take a review class in preparation for certification. There are even some educational institutions that offer bachelors and masters degrees in the Paralegal field. The Associate degree I am enrolled in is a sufficient step toward achieving my goal as a Paralegal. Professor Elizabeth Mann, Esq. has also indicated that as long as I maintain A’s and B’s in my classes I will have a greater chance at finding an excellent position at a comparable pay rate (Mann). My biggest challenge is that it has been 22 years since I was last in school and that I am doing this all on my own, therefore I will be stretching out my enrollment to three years instead of the normal two years. The expenses of daily life plus attending school for six semesters will have totaled up to over $46,000.00 by the time I graduate in 2017. I am confident that by extending my enrollment out another semester that my goal of maintaining A’s and B’s will be reached plus relieving some of the stress of not having been in school for so long.
With the recent advancement of information technology, the use of computers have grown exponentially of the past couple of years.
These days the electronic filing of forms and papers with many of the court systems and government agencies has started to become the only acceptable way of filing. If someone files a form or document in printed a format these days it is rare that it is not scanned and data entered into the electronic filing system. Today “Paralegals” need to have the “computer skills” to assist them in discovering facts from their computer-based “legal research” and use those “important,” properly stored and maintained “documents” to develop persuading presentations to turn the tide to their side in “litigation support” (Paralegals and Legal
Assistants).
Paralegals do not just work in law firms anymore, they also work for corporations; real estate agencies; the “federal, state and local government[s]; [financial organizations] and insurance [agencies]” (Paralegals and Legal Assistants). Some of the things that a Lawyer may ask a Paralegal to do during the course day are: draft a memo or letter to a client; take down a client’s story and include one’s own opinion; go out to the scene of the incident - taking measurements, notes and pictures; investigating facts and doing research; and interviewing witnesses. “When [the] older [Paralegals reach retirement age and decide to] retire, there will likely be a demand for new [younger Paralegals]” (Career Coach). The current “median” pay rate for a Paralegal is “$18.32/hr” [sic] in other words, that is about “$38k/yr” [sic] (Career Coach).
Though the pay rate is a nice benefit to getting a Paralegal degree and becoming certified, it is not the thing or purpose that drew me to the decision to become a Paralegal. The primary reasons that exist for me in the choice that I made to become a paralegal is that I enjoy helping people, I have wanted to get back into an office environment, and I have a desire to help people from a certain community base. With that in mind, I started looking into what was available to me and how I could further my education. At first I was looking at the Administrative Office Technician with legal electives, but when I went to Student Services at the Northwest campus I was introduced to the Paralegal field and saw that it was similar enough to what I had looked at I said “Okay, I will do it”. So this is why I chose to get an Associate of Applied Science: Paralegal Degree with a historical overview of the field.