How Much Does A Paralegal Make?

When it comes to legal firms, paralegals are not just assistants; they hold an important responsibility. The job of a paralegal need not always be the same; there would be variations based on the office size and the kind of law being practiced. In some cases, the paralegal may carry out assistant work for a single attorney, even if he is part of a huge law firm. In some of the other cases, the paralegal professional would be taking care of most of the work that comes under the purview of the law firm.

Some of the primary duties of a paralegal professional are drafting correspondence, pleadings, scheduling mediations and hearings, setting up client meetings, etc. If the paralegal is working in a small firm, then he could be doing the work of a receptionist as well. The paralegal working for a single attorney would be taking care of all the professional and personal schedule of the attorney.

Paralegals are of different types and their salary is primarily based on the nature of their jobs. Litigation paralegals are the ones who make the most in terms of salary when compared to family law or real estate paralegal professionals. Some of the other paralegal types are criminal law, personal injury law, and administrative law.

The paralegals who make the most money out of their profession are the ones who are appropriately educated; it means that they have a college degree behind their name. The college degree is acquired only after the individual completes an associate degree followed by a four-year bachelor degree. Most of the paralegals in the industry have an associate degree. There are some law firms who are not just satisfied with the person’s educational qualifications, but also ask for relevant work experience. Most of these legal firms are big law houses and the years of experience they expect are in the range of five and ten years. If a person does not have relevant work experience, or is just fresh out of college, or just does not have the relevant qualification, then he should be willing to work his way up in the firm and attain a decent position after few years.

There are several things that the paralegal does. The amount of research and administrative work that the paralegal puts in makes it easier for the lawyer to concentrate on some of his other work. A lawyer who does not have a paralegal would find his work hectic and overloading. With experience, the scope of work for a paralegal professional expands. Irrespective of how experienced a paralegal is, he would never be able to argue or present a case in a courtroom, and he cannot also give professional legal advice to people. If needed, the paralegal can pass the instructions of the lawyer to the clients.

After having learned so much about the profession, one would definitely like to know how much does a paralegal make. The amount of money that a paralegal can make is enormous. During the initial years, a paralegal would mostly make between $10,000 and $20,000. Later on as the paralegal gains some experience, he can even touch the $100,000 figure annually. Ultimately, the salary drawn in by the professional depends on internal factors like aptitude, skills, and learning. In comparison to bigger firms, smaller legal firms do not pay much. However, the duties and responsibilities in a smaller firm is more when compared to the larger legal houses.