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Job description
The work spans investigating the facts and law behind a case, searching public records and other sources to build a defense or initiate action, and preparing or reviewing documents like briefs, pleadings, contracts, and wills. Paralegals also organize exhibits ahead of trial, meet directly with clients, and keep both paper and electronic filing systems in order. The pace is fast and deadline-driven, requiring real precision and independent judgment within a structured legal process.
Pros
- Wide-open field with 39,300 jobs nationwide, one of the larger pools in this catalog
- Relatively low barrier to entry through vocational training or an associate's degree, not law school
- Pay can reach over $100k at the senior end without a law degree
Cons
- Slower than average projected growth, only 0.2% over the next decade
- Fast-paced work with real deadline pressure built into the role
- Precision is essential, since document errors can carry real legal consequences
A typical day
The litigation team's filing is due at 5pm, so the paralegal's morning is the brief's backbone: cite-checking every case reference, confirming each quotation against the source, and assembling the exhibit appendix with tabs the judge's clerk will silently appreciate. Mid-morning brings discovery work — a document database queried and coded, a privilege log updated, and three hot documents flagged for the attorney with a note explaining why they matter. Lunch is eaten while calendaring: every deadline from a new scheduling order entered twice, because a missed date in litigation is a career event. The afternoon includes a client call to gather medical records, a draft subpoena, and witness-file prep for next month's trial — binders built so the attorney can find any document in four seconds of oral argument pressure. The filing goes in at 4:41. The lawyer argues the case; the paralegal makes the case arguable.
Tasks at the job
- Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing system.
- Prepare, edit, or review legal documents, including legislation, briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing statements.
- Investigate facts and law of cases and search pertinent sources, such as public records and internet sources, to determine causes of action and to prepare cases.
- Prepare for trial by performing tasks such as organizing exhibits.
- Meet with clients and other professionals to discuss details of case.
- Gather and analyze research data, such as statutes, decisions, and legal articles, codes, and documents.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting, and most of the day is spent sitting at a desk.
The pace is often fast, with real time pressure to meet deadlines, and you're expected to exercise significant independent judgment day to day. Precision and accuracy are essential to the work, and the work is highly structured, following set procedures.
Education necessary or common
Vocational training, apprenticeship, or associate's degree
Common college majors
Licenses & certifications
- Certified Paralegal (CP, NALA)
- Registered Paralegal (RP, NFPA)
- E-discovery software certifications (valuable in litigation)
Career path
Related fields
Courses to take
- AP English Language and Composition — precise reading and writing are the profession's core
- AP US Government — the legal system's structure and logic
- Business Law electives — contracts and legal vocabulary
- Computer Applications — document management and e-discovery tools
- AP US History — case law lives in historical context
Clubs, activities & competitions
- Mock Trial — the legal process from the inside
- Debate — argument construction and research under pressure
- Model UN or student government — procedure and documentation
- Office volunteering at a legal aid clinic or courthouse program
First steps you can take now
- Join Mock Trial this year and take the evidence-handling roles seriously
- Watch a real trial or motion hearing — most courtrooms are public and fascinating
- Look up ABA-approved paralegal programs (associate's and certificate options) near you
- Interview a paralegal about which practice areas — litigation, corporate, immigration — feel most alive
