To be or not to be a paralegal, that is the question. If that’s the question you’ve been asking yourself then continue reading and your decision will become clear.
The National Federation of Paralegal Associations estimates that over 80 percent of current paralegals have gone through some type of formal paralegal education.
In today’s paralegal market, the NFPA recommends as a bare minimum that wanna-be paralegals have a two-year degree with an emphasis in paralegal studies. However, a bachelor's degree is recommended.
As a paralegal, your responsibilities will vary widely based upon what type of business or organization you end up working for.
Becoming a paralegal professional is an exciting and growing field that requires a plethora of knowledge and skills and becoming a paralegal professional isn't for everyone but if have a knack for research and you can work under a deadline and you have good writing and organizational skills and if you yearn for a career, not a job this field is ripe for the picking.
If you would like to learn more of the details behind this exciting career opportunity
then check out our home page where
you'll find a complete Paralegal
Career Overview section but if
you're ready to apply at one of the top schools in the country then take a look
at best paralegal school resources in the country at the top of this page.
Paralegal Organizations
There are hundreds of professional organizations that provide resources and support to their paralegal members but the field is really dominated by a handful that have the clout and membership to influence rules and make changes within the industry. A few of those top professional organizations include: the American Alliance of Paralegals (AAPI), the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) and the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) which combined have an estimated 35,000 plus members all across the United States. While the AAPI primary purpose is providing the best paralegal training and educational programs possible the NFPA and NALA work to influence and guide the language and it's used within the profession.
Important aspects to keep in mind when analyzing a paralegal program:
Teaching practical, usable job skills in combination with fundamental legal principals are an essential part of any quality paralegal schools curriculum. In addition, paralegal degree programs should also cover topics like contract law, legal research, business organizations and legal writing.
A quality paralegal school will focus their courses towards the development of an overall higher quality, well-rounded student.
This would be done by designing courses that develop students' hypercritical thinking abilities, organizational skills and their emotional and mental capacity to handle delicate ethical issues.
Unquestioned belief to the value of the paralegal position within the legal field, from both the program director and the faculty, is essential. Plus, both the paralegal school "dean" and the teachers need to have the desired scholastic accreditation to run the program and to teach the curriculum. In a perfect world, the "dean" would have a law degree and the teachers would be considered "experts" in their fields with an advanced paralegal degree and measurable experience.
A broadening number of paralegal schools and universities have made their entire paralegal degree training programs available online. However, it's recommended that before any wanna-be student signs up they find answers to a few important points. First, how will the material be delivered? Will all lectures be live interactive video or DVD tele-courses, or text-based with access via the web or a combination thereof? Also, because of the nature of the learning it takes much more self motivation and discipline to compete the work. Do you have what it takes to learn online?
Fine, your goal is to become a lawyer, but rather than take the so-called "traditional route" of going directly to law school, why not get your paralegal degree first. The benefits are many; like making contacts within the industry, getting a feel and an understanding for the field of law before you plunk down big bucks and 4 years of life and who knows; you may like being a paralegal so much that you'll never want to leave. Think about it!
