Law Clerk/Paralegal

[WCUgirl]

I'm a paralegal...and I'll be going to law school in a few years (after I've paid off some of my undergrad & grad school loans and hubby and I can survive without my salary).

What was your undergraduate major? I majored in Business Admin. & Law, so I knew that law school was my chosen path. However, I chose to not go straight to law school and work for a while (I was tired of being broke all the time and I needed a break). I found my present job as a paralegal, and I love it!!! My business law major gave me a pretty solid foundation of paralegal knowledge. I thought about paralegal school (a similar program to what you've described) but it would have been a waste of my time and money.

Depending on what your major/degree was in, I wouldn't recommend going to paralegal school. Especially if you're going to eventually go on to law school. If you have absolutely NO knowledge of the law, then yeah, go to school, but you'll have to work as a paralegal for a while to make it worthwhile to have gone through that program, and that could be 4 or 5 or more years....is that too long to wait to go to law school?

I don't think employers care what kind of program you go to, really, as long as it's accredited!!!

The thing is that whether or not you go to paralegal school, you'll be trained by your employer in their way of doing things. My sorority little sister is also a paralegal, but she's a worker's comp paralegal, and all she does all day is file forms and contact insurance companies. She hates it!!! I am an affirmative action paralegal, so I analyze data, put together affirmative action plans, employment policies, employment agreements, etc., so I have a lot more freedom in what I do.

You might look into starting out as a legal secretary or legal assistant (a legal assistant is pretty much the same thing as a paralegal, really), and that way you'll get more training and have a better background before becoming a paralegal. Also, the company is more likely to pay you more if you promote to paralegal than if you were hired as a paralegal with no experience.