How to become a paralegal

Legal careers if you don’t want to be a lawyer

If you’re interested in a legal career but discouraged by the prohibitive cost or time commitment of law school, there are many alternatives to consider. The well-paid and interesting jobs listed here keep the legal system running. In some cases, extensive education may be required. For instance, trial or jury consultants often have advanced psychology degrees. For others, such as a legal secretary or compliance specialist, a bachelor’s or even a high school diploma may be sufficient. Where lawyers spend 7 or more years in formal education following high school, you can become a paralegal in just a few months of study. Unlike law school, many training programs for other legal professions are available fully or partially online.

Where lawyers once monopolized the field, other legal support professionals can now provide services previously only open to lawyers.

The structure of legal practice is changing in many parts of the world, including the U.S. Where lawyers once monopolized the field, other legal support professionals can now provide services previously only open to lawyers. Many organizations and groups are also campaigning for equitable access to justice for underserved individuals and communities. Paralegals and other legal support professionals will play an important role in keeping legal costs in check.

Paralegal and legal assistant

Paralegals and legal assistants support lawyers in many ways, depending on the size and practice areas of their employers. Paralegals are no longer simply lawyer’s assistants, but are taking on management, leadership, and entrepreneurial roles. Paralegals are permitted to do almost everything lawyers do except give legal advice, represent clients in court, or perform functions that the law specifically requires be done by an attorney.

Paralegals and legal assistants may:

• conduct legal research
• investigate facts
• work with electronic document filing systems
• draft reports, correspondence, and legal documents
• assist lawyers at trial
• perform administrative tasks

Paralegals and legal assistants may work in law offices of any size, from a sole practitioner to a large corporate firm. Other employment options include corporate and government law departments.

Successful paralegals and legal assistants excel at written and oral communication, interpersonal skills, logical thinking, research, and organization. They can handle the complex formatting required for legal documents and are proficient users of online programs and apps. They are also comfortable with frequent phone and face-to-face contact with clients, attorneys, and court personnel.

The profession is projected to grow 12% in the next decade, which is significantly higher than the average for all professions.

Educational requirements vary by employer, but paralegals and legal assistants typically have either an associate’s degree in paralegal studies or a bachelor’s degree in any major, often combined with paralegal certification. The profession is projected to grow 12% in the next decade, which is significantly higher than the average for all professions.

Litigation support professional

Large and complex lawsuits require vast amounts of information that has to be readily available during the trial. Litigation support professionals help attorneys manage and organize that information so attorneys can use it effectively. Litigation support professionals may work with databases, documents, records, and other trial materials. They may design strategies for managing data, train users in software systems, and work with technology vendors. They often manage IT workers, paralegals, and other professionals involved in trials or in data preparation.

Litigation support professionals usually work for large law firms, corporations, and legal consulting firms.

Successful litigation support professionals are highly organized and detail-oriented. They enjoy working with cutting-edge technology and have excellent communication skills.
Litigation support professionals often have bachelor’s degrees and training or experience using databases and litigation support software. They may also have certified e-discovery specialist (CEDS) certifications, which require credits, references, and passing a multiple-choice certification exam. Another career path to becoming a litigation support professional is to start as a paralegal with an associate’s degree.

The median annual salary for litigation support professionals is $62,239.

Legal secretary

Legal secretaries provide lawyers with secretarial and administrative assistance. They prepare and organize legal documents and correspondence, schedule appointments, make and receive phone calls, and handle a variety of other administrative tasks. Legal secretaries work in law firms of all sizes and in government and corporate law departments.

Successful legal secretaries have excellent organizational and time-management skills. They communicate well, are proficient at using online applications, and have a good knowledge of grammar. They are familiar with or interested in learning legal terminology and procedures. They also enjoy working in a supportive role.

Most legal secretaries have at least some college, but you can get a job as a legal secretary with a high school diploma, especially if you have prior non-legal secretarial experience.

The median annual salary for a legal secretary is $56,563.

Trial consultant

Trial consultant is a newer term for jury consultants. The change in name indicates how the scope of the role has expanded. In addition to using their knowledge of psychology to assist lawyers with jury selection, trial consultants may also:

• conduct mock juries
• make suggestions based on jurors’ reactions during the trial
• work with witnesses and exhibits
• analyze trial strategy

They usually assist with trials, but may also provide help with mediation and arbitration. For example, in a criminal trial, a trial consultant working for a defense attorney might prepare jury questions that will help them identify potential jurors who are likely to be sympathetic to the defendant.

Trial consultants may be self-employed, or work for a trial consulting firm or law firm.
Successful trial consultants are experts at observing and analyzing human behavior. They are excellent judges of character and highly skilled in research, interpersonal communication, and writing.

Trial consultants are usually highly educated, with at least a master’s degree. Many trial consultants have backgrounds in social sciences or law. The most common educational background is a professional degree in clinical or research psychology. Some have both a Ph.D. in psychology or another social science and a law degree. Note that it is also possible to become a trial consultant with a bachelor’s degree and a background in a related field.

The median annual salary for a trial consultant is $83,325 per year.

Compliance specialist

Compliance specialists help ensure their employers are following all relevant federal, state, and local laws and regulations. They may:

• develop and enforce policies
• conduct investigations
• take corrective action to help their companies or organizations remain compliant

Compliance specialists can be self-employed as consultants or work in-house in the regulatory departments of companies and organizations. Industries that often hire compliance specialists include healthcare, insurance, finance, and banking. New technologies are expected to bring new career opportunities for compliance specialists. For example, the expanding need for data privacy and security is likely to provide increasing employment opportunities for compliance specialists.

Successful compliance specialists have excellent people, research, time-management, and critical reasoning skills. They are adaptable and enjoy working in dynamic environments that require continuous learning.

Most compliance specialists have bachelor’s degrees, although some have master’s degrees. There is no specific degree program for compliance specialists, but people in this profession often have college degrees in business, criminal justice, or finance. A small percentage of compliance specialists have a high school diploma as their highest degree.

The median annual salary for compliance specialists is $71,100.

Contract analyst

Contract analysts may research, negotiate, draft, or analyze their employers’ contracts and other agreements and documents. They seek to minimize risk and assure fair and favorable contract terms. For example, a contract analyst may review a contract before their company signs it, analyzing each provision to make sure that all the terms meet their employer’s needs. They may also manage the contract process.

Contract analysts work in government, hospitals, universities, and private industry.

Contract analysts process high volumes of information while working in deadline-driven environments. They are detail-oriented and have good skills in analytical problem solving, writing, and customer service. They enjoy working both independently and with others.

Contract analyst jobs usually require a bachelor’s degree, typically in accounting, business, or a related field.

The median annual salary or a contract analyst is $61,619.

Conclusion

The legal system offers many professional opportunities besides being a lawyer. There are crucial non-lawyer roles that keep the legal system running. These jobs are well-compensated, and the career outlook for all legal occupations is expected to increase 9% from 2020 to 2030, which is faster than the average for all occupations. All of these careers are available without the financial and time commitments of law school. With so many options, you can find the right position to launch a satisfying and lucrative non-lawyer legal career.