How to Start Off A Career As A Paralegal

Paralegals are commonly known as legal assistants. Although they can carry out the same jobs as lawyers, they are not allowed to perform duties and responsibilities that are within the scope of practice of law. Therefore, they are not authorized to provide legal advice to clients. They are also interdicted to practice law without obtaining a license. Most of the job duties of a paralegal will involve preparing paperwork for trials and hearings, conducting research to assist lawyers they are working with, drafting legal documents and writing reports. This profession requires completing an examination for the Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) or a paralegal certification given by the National Association of Legal Assistants.

Things to Remember on Your FIRST JOB!

Graduation time is around and a lot of my young friends are preparing for their placements and their first foray into the big corporate world! Most of my students wrote to me last week sending their queries on various things like resume, interviews etc. on number of points to make sure that they secure their dream job offer. However some of them surprised me by asking me if I had any advices for their first day at work! And so here I am, with important pointers for your first day at work on your first job. (I wish I had known all of these when I went for mine.)

Paralegal Career Information: Is Certification Needed to Become a Paralegal?

Behind those skillful lawyers are a group of individuals called paralegals or legal assistants. Paralegal is defined as a profession employed by a lawyer, governmental agency, law office or another entity that performs legal work. Although legal assistants may act as a lawyer, they are not allowed to represent as lawyers to the public or to present cases in open courts. Essentially, they work under the supervision of a lawyer, who is the officer of the court. Certification is not mandatory in the US. But, in order to obtain more job opportunities, anyone who wishes to become a paralegal needs to undergo paralegal training or take on further courses.

Finding a Job the Safe Way

With a lot of job centre vacancies available, jobseekers have a lot of opportunities to find employment. There are so many job listings and advertisements found online and it is important to find out if the company behind the listing is legitimate or not. Scam job posts can be found almost everywhere. You can find these ads along with other job centre vacancies online, in the classified ads or on posters put up in the streets mixed up with advertisements for legitimate job openings. One must know the tell-tale signs of an ad that's designed to lure people into losing money instead of earning it.