Legal Career, going back to school.... (bachelors, skills, degree, cost)

[BarcelonaFan]

OK, I want to go back to school to get a paralegal certificate and work for a good reputable firm. I already know how saturated the market is right now with lawyers and paralegals. But my plan is to go to paralegal school, either work for a law firm or the city or the courts, and then go to school online getting my Masters in Public Administration-Public Finance.

1.) Just how saturated is the market and how hard would it be to get a job?
2.) I already have a bachelors degree from a top university in Government/Economics.
3.) Is there age discrimination? I am 29 and by the time I will be done with the PL cert. I will be 30.
4.) I've only had a years experience working at a law firm, the rest has been with non-profits and public policy tanks at universities. Right now I work for a clinic doing research but I can request to move to the legal dept to get more experience.
5.) Should I get absolutely proficient in all clerical software; excel, word, powerpoint, etc.? Just ace them?

I really want to work for the city but the city I live in, Los Angeles, is just too unstable and imposes cuts all the time. The private sector seems saturated and I would think entertainment law would be extremely competitive with law school grads competing for paralegal and legal assistant jobs.

I am also trilingual in English, Spanish and French but don't know how useful French is.

Does my goal seem realistic?

[Coldjensens]

1.) Just how saturated is the market and how hard would it be to get a job?

Very saturated. Thousands of law school graduates who have passed the bar or who failed are looking for jobs as paralegals. We just hired several lawyers through Kelly Services to do slightly more advanced work than your typical paralegal can handle. We paid $35 an hour for them, so they are probably getting $20 an hour. These are admitted lawyers with 2-4 or more years expereince (but they have bene doing basically advanced paralegal work - document review and coding). When you get into the third and fourth tier of law schools, there are thousands of graduates and they are not going to get jobs. Paralegals have to compete with people who have seven years education.

It gets worse every year. Thousands more law students graduate than there are jobs (I blieve the numbers are 47,000 graduates for 22,000 jobs nationwide). Then you have about 1/3 of the legla secretaris getting their paralegal certificates and hoping to move up. You have dozens of psychology majors who find there is nothing to do with their degree, so they go get paralegal certificates. On top of that you have thousands of kids who do not want to go to four years of college but have heard paralegals can make a lot of money.

Without experience, paralegals are less than worthless. They cannot really do anything and your experienced lawyers have to spend a lot of time teaching them, after which they usually leave to work elsewhere. Further, lots of paralegals are worthless. A few are dedicated, smart, well trained and hard working. They are worth their weight in gold. The rest are deadweight. Recently a client issued an ad for an in house paralegal. They got over a hundred applications. About half of them were lawyers with 3 - 12 years of experience. They ended up hiring one of the lawyers.

2.) I already have a bachelors degree from a top university in Government/Economics.

Well that is a decent start. Paralegals and legal secretaries with a bachelors degree in my expereince tend to be better candidates. If nothing else they have demonstrated willingness to work hard to achieve a goal. further, they usually have some advanced wirting training. You may want to consider a legal secretary position. They are more available less competitive and do not pay all that much less.

In most cases if you discuss your future plans you will not get hired. It is expensive to train people. Most firms want someone who at least might stick around.

3.) Is there age discrimination? I am 29 and by the time I will be done with the PL cert. I will be 30.

No. We just hired a paralegal who is well over 50. We have hired some in their 20s. One of the best ones I have worked with is in his mid 40s. I would hire him in a second flat. 29 is very young, but not so young as to lack maturity. More of a concern are your plans to do something else in a couple of years. It will be at elast a year before you are good at being a paralegal. By then you will be getting ready to leave.

4.) I've only had a years experience working at a law firm, the rest has been with non-profits and public policy tanks at universities. Right now I work for a clinic doing research but I can request to move to the legal dept to get more experience.

It really depends on what kind of work you want to do. Mill lawfirms like workers comp and car accident firms have lots of paralegals who fill out forms all day and do intake. Our paralegals sift through documents set up databases, and do research. IF they are expereinced and good, we may have them assist at trial and write some motions. Others do investigation. Some di everything a lawyer does except go to court. Some only do research or manage documents. You need expereince in the area you want to work. To me as a business litigator, your expereince wiht typical non-profits or think tanks is pretty useless. What i need is people up to date with the newest satabase and document management systems who can help review and code hundreds of thousands of documents so we can find what we need for depositoins and trials. Our corporate department needs people who cna set up corporations and L.L.C.s, draft basic contract documents. Tax and estate groups will need people to draft basic wills, prepare tax documents, and do research. It all varies.

5.) Should I get absolutely proficient in all clerical software; excel, word, powerpoint, etc.? Just ace them?

Absolutely. But do not stop there. Learn the database systems and presentation software. Summation, relativity, Recommind, Trial Pro. There are many others. I rely on paralegals to know what systems are best for a given purpose. I have no time or interest in learning how these systems work. I want to know what they cna do and which one works best at the least net cost to the client.

I really want to work for the city but the city I live in, Los Angeles, is just too unstable and imposes cuts all the time. The private sector seems saturated and I would think entertainment law would be extremely competitive with law school grads competing for paralegal and legal assistant jobs.

That is one of the tightest markets. I see lawyers serving some cities int he Inland Empire on a volunteer basis jsut to get expereince and exposure. I do not think I have encountered volunteer lawyres for the City of LA yet, but lots of them in surrounding cities. Lawyering for the City of LA is very political.

I am also trilingual in English, Spanish and French but don't know how useful French is.

That may help you in getting into the City. It would help more if you are a minority. You might try some of the subdivisions of the city liek public works. Less known disvisions that have their own legal people get fewer applications.

Does my goal seem realistic?

Depends on which goal. just getting a job?

Yes. it is realisitic if you excel and push push push. However it is very competitive. At the same time even though half or more of the legal professionals being generated by schools are unemployed, nearly half are employed. Once you get some experience, skills, references, then it is relatively easy to find jobs. However you have to have experience in what is needed at the time. A paralegal working for the DA's office is not of much use to a civil litigator or a transactional lawyer.

Go to a good paralegal program. Get excellent grades and graudate in the top ten of your class. Use that accomplishment to get some expereince (volunteering if necessary). Focus your experience so you do not waste time.

[Timing2012]

The question is, if you do get a paralegal job, will you be happy?

[JeramySnook]

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