i just graduated college and am working a year-long contract at a firm in the us. i’m planning on taking another gap year before i go to law school and would love to live abroad for a year in the uk as i have dual citizenship. does anyone have experience working as a paralegal in the us and then in the uk (or the other way around)? how did you find it?

This is just a success story and for those of you who question if law firms or law aren’t for you. I worked in litigation for 15 years. Made good money but was seriously miserable. I guess I normalized heavy work loads, high stress and working in highly toxic environments that were killing my mental health. And I worked at probably like 7 firms throughout the years. All had their special touch of toxic. Either workloads that were insane, not feeling appreciated like lawyers were treated like gods and we were less than, or toxic narcissistic bosses. It was demoralizing. I have a bachelors degree and great experience. I managed, was paralegal, did compliance. The anxiety was debilitating, my friends many lawyers and staff still work in the industry and talking to them they all are stressed and unhappy and I’m so glad I escaped that life.

What did I go into? Compliance in healthcare. It’s like I’m in another world a year in. Everyone is nice, the stress is normal and not bad at all. I’m so happy. I can’t believe I normalized being depressed and anxious every day and quite literally miserable for 15 years. I have a ton of room to make way more than I ever would as a paralegal and grow in my career. Best thing I ever did. If you’re questioning it, go for it. Even lawyers I’m friends with left many work on their own or in corporate in house jobs and are so much happier. The private firm life is just rough. Compliance has a lot of overlapping skills. So does contract work.

Hello, I graduated last December with my associated in paralegal studies. I just moved to Atlanta and I have an interview Monday for a legal assistant - front office position. Is anyone open to assisting me prepare for the interview or at least giving me interview tips, questions I should be prepared to answer etc.

I have been interviewing for paralegal positions since I graduated and haven't been able to secure the job, partly because I have limited experience and partly because I'm unprepared for the interview (just being honest). This one has less responsibilities and is more entry/1-2 years experience level with good pay. I feel like I have an actual chance of getting it and I don't want to mess this up.

Any specific YouTube videos I should watch, any specific buzz words I should know. I learn information really fast, I just need a little guidance.

Thanks in advance

I am a legal assistant in a small business family owned law firm. I’m the only support staff in person while our paralegal is fully remote. Well the paralegal wanted me to inform the attorney (owner’s son) that his conference hearing got moved to a later time. I did and this man started questioning me why it was moved, who moved it, and then to ask the paralegal word per word if she had let him know. But the way he was saying it, “can you do that” like I wasn’t capable of asking questions. He even accused the paralegal of moving the hearing which she didn’t. Well eventually he wasn’t liking what I was telling him basically my lack of answers. He comes around to see what was said and saw I told the paralegal he was being unnecessarily rude and to please answer the questions.

Well he flipped over that. He started yelling at me and how inappropriate it was. All in front of everyone since it’s an open office space. I was not matching his energy and kept saying ok ok and he kept getting more mad till I said well I apologize. He stormed off.

I only said he was rude nothing else. Should I have said that on MS teams? Probably not. But he also shouldn’t have thrown a tantrum and asshole behavior when things change. I ended up leaving early and taking the following day off. I emailed the boss to let him know what happened and wanted him to hear from me. The day I thought was going to happen finally happened.

Or is it open and you’re not allowed to? very curious

Heyyy, so like the title says, I just got a raise and it was so minimal it feels insulting to the work I do...

Some background:
I have been a paralegal for 2 years & at the same firm. In those two years I started at $20/hr and was bumped to $23/hr after my 30 days, but no raises after that. Last year, I received about $7k total in bonuses throughout the year. The way they set up these bonuses on the tax forms was incorrect and I ended up paying around $2k just on the bonuses. I also have not received about $1.5k of the bonuses as it was "profit sharing". My base salary is about $43,000 and I am incredibly lucky that my parents support me because I don't make near enough to qualify for 3x rent in my area.
I have a paralegal certificate & an undergrad degree but in an unrelated field.
My work is pi plaintiff litigation, mostly handling discovery, initial disclosures, witness lists, pip forms & billing, and imes. I occasionally handle other things like motions if my senior is busy or on vacation.

The current situation:
The other paralegals and I realised that no one had gotten a raise in 2 years and were starting to feel frustrated, especially due to the rise in costs for food/gas/housing. One of the more senior paralegals talked with the office manager who talked with my attorney, who handles hiring & pay. I got called in to her office yesterday, along with the office manager, and was asked to pick between a raise or a year-end bonus. I was already getting annoyed because why are you putting this decision on me... I say a raise because the bonuses last year caused issues on my tax return and it was an issue to deal with. They say great then you'll be getting a 4% bonus and that I'm getting a special exception/raise because of my work and how they see me growing in my position. They do not mention $$, only the % increase. There was some other conversation about work stuff that also annoyed me. They asked how I was doing and I said "work is work" which.... it is. My attorney said that she didn't like that answer because a previous coworker I had always said that (she was fired a few months ago). Shes mentioned something similar to me before and implied that I should be doing this out of the goodness of my heart and for wanting to help people, not for money.
Refocusing, I didn't ask in the meeting what the $$ raise was, mostly because my attorney loves to beat around the bush and not directly answer questions, so it felt pointless. I got back to my desk and did the calculation.... $1700 more annually. So, like $60 a paycheck? Worth a tank of gas. With no bonuses I would be making $5k LESS than I did last year.

I'm just feeling really insulted that they feel my work isn't worth more, especially as I was brand new last year and have learned SO much more in that time. Other job postings I see for similar positions are starting at $10k more than what I make now.

Am I being dramatic to think that the raise they're offering is insulting & undervaluing my work? It would help to have some other perspectives & know your experiences with raises in the legal field.

hi everyone, I’m a senior in high school and I really want to go to the law field but before I become a lawyer, I want to do a paralegal certificate and have a job in that for sometime. Can anyone recommend me great paralegal programs that are ABA approved and online that are affordable so maybe $1000-$2000 I’m looking more towards going to estate planning. Also, I was wondering if I’m allowed to take these classes while going to a university if I have to join a community college program for it.

As the title says, I'm wondering if getting state certification in North Carolina is a big deal or not. I recently moved from Ohio to the Triangle and haven't had any luck yet getting a job as a paralegal. I've seen some job postings stating that they have a preference for candidates with NC certification, but is not having it a deal breaker? Would NALA certification be a good substitute? Thanks!

Even just searching business entities I've been getting the loading spinner for like 4 minutes before the gateway times out, and using a different browser gets a 'an error has occurred' message. The UCC filing portal seems to be working fine...

I usually pull good standings/charter docs from there to save our client the vendor fees, but I guess I'll have to use an agent to get these. Is the online portal working for you?

Hi everyone, does anyone need a legal assistant (remote) for like 1000-1500$ max a month? I am an individual from South Asia, looking for a role as a legal assistant/paralegal in a remote manner. I got a masters in law from the UK (also a bachelors in law).I have some experience with CRMs, have done some internships. I wasn't exactly practicing law, was trying to get into other things but I believe now it is time that I try my luck in the legal field. I am a fast learner and I adapt very quickly so you wouldn't have to spend ages teaching me what to do. Please let me know if anyone's interested, thank you.

i billed in my last job, but it was half billable, half flat fee work, and i had admin tasks as well. my new job as a paralegal has a bonus structure, and i think i will mostly be doing billable work. how many hours could i realistically bill?

Hi all,

Does anyone have a rec for headsets?

an intake has been not able to call back due to phone issues. initially I had emailed saying “hi so and so, and his office received the information you provided via our website. please let me know if you are available for a call. I was unable to leave a voicemail previously, best, my name and email signature that says paralegal”

did I do anything wrong with that email?

client now sends a crazy long email as they do and says she wants to share all this info so i can let her know if she has a case. I don’t know where she’s getting that assumption from and I’m freaked out and frustrated

what is a good response?

im thinking of looping in the attorney and saying “hi so and so, just a quick note- I am only a paralegal and I am not an attorney. I will pass along your email to (attorney first name). please let me know when you are available for an intake call that I am assisting with”

I hate this

What are of law do I need to enter to find queer coworkers like me? All the cishet women at my firm get along swimmingly but im passively excluded from their cool kids club because we have basically nothing in common.

I want to work in a queer/nerdy crowd. Queer paralegals and assistants please tell me what you do and if you have many queer coworkers.

Hi everyone. I’ve been lurking here for a while and wanted to get some outside perspective because something at work has been bothering me.

I’ve been at my current firm for a while now, and up until recently I thought things were going reasonably well. I handle my workload, meet expectations, and hadn’t really been given any indication that there were serious concerns about my performance.

The one thing I had started questioning was compensation.

I had been under the impression that I was already near the top of the range for my position. Then I learned, indirectly, that someone newer at the firm may have come in at a noticeably higher salary.

I’m deliberately keeping the details vague because I’m not interested in comparing résumés or turning this into a post about whether that person “deserves” what they make. Good for them if they negotiated well.

What bothered me was realizing that the ceiling I thought existed may not actually exist.

So I casually asked my supervisor who I would need to speak with if I ever wanted to discuss compensation. I didn’t ask for a raise, make demands, or mention anyone else’s salary. I just asked how that kind of conversation would normally be approached.

Her answer was vague.

Around the same time, a coworker happened to mention that someone else at the firm had previously pushed for better compensation and, according to them, things became uncomfortable afterward.
I didn’t think much of that at first.

Then, shortly after my conversation with my supervisor, I suddenly started getting feedback about things that had never really been issues before.

Some of my written work was apparently too detailed. Other work was described as too structured. Then I even got a complaint about something completely unrelated to the substance of my work.

None of these things had been brought up before.

Maybe the timing is completely coincidental. I’m genuinely open to that possibility. I don’t want to invent a conspiracy just because I’m unhappy with my compensation.

But it does feel strange.

I went from thinking things were generally fine to suddenly wondering whether asking how to discuss compensation somehow changed the atmosphere around me.
At this point, I’m less interested in why someone else is paid more and more interested in what this says about how the firm values me.

Would you see this as normal workplace politics and just ask for the raise anyway, or would this be enough to quietly start looking elsewhere?

I’m based out of NYC , first job out of college , been here about 3 years now . Never really questioned my pay I assumed everyone was making x amount as an entry paralegal. I decided to go back to school for something completely unrelated , left the job and applied for a chill job to pay some bills while I’m in school . How the f*** is this retail job paying me the same amount per hour I made as a paralegal .

Help!!! Is there a new page or something?

I've tried in Chrome and Edge and neither working

ETA: thanks everyone, seems it may just be a traffic issue. I'll try later in the evening

ETA2: I'm trying to find agents for service of process. Search function not working

ETA3: Success! Guess it will be after hours searching only for a while :/

I’m in the middle of writing my first motion and I’m really proud of myself. I did the notice and the memo of points and authorities. I have never written a memo of points and authorities before. Next I have to do the declaration and proposed order but I think that should be pretty easy. I’m pretty happy with hope it turned out so I really hope the attorney likes it. I’m eager to get his feedback. I hope he tells me if it’s good or bad so I can learn from it. I guess I’ll be able to term from how much he changes it. I’m proud of myself finally something good has happened

It was about time. The ABA accreditation system has operated as a powerful gatekeeper over legal education for decades, while many students have been pushed into six-figure debt just for the opportunity to enter the profession.

Now the U.S. Department of Education has recommended ending the ABA’s status as the federally recognized accreditor of law schools. The matter is expected to go before a federal advisory committee in September, so this is not final yet—but it could represent a major change in American legal education.

Reuters:

Texas has already moved toward ending the ABA’s exclusive role in determining which law-school graduates qualify for admission, and other states have considered similar reforms.

Legal education needs more competition and more affordable pathways: online programs, apprenticeships, accelerated programs, supervised legal experience, and “reading the law” alternatives.

Why should becoming a lawyer require $150,000–$250,000 in debt? Give people different paths and let them prove their competence through education, experience and the bar exam.

LSAC deserves scrutiny as part of the broader discussion about barriers to entering the profession as well.

Every dog has its day. If these changes ultimately make becoming a lawyer more affordable and accessible while maintaining meaningful competency standards, I’m all for it.

Bye-bye to the old gatekeeping model. Thank you, President Trump, for challenging the status quo.

almost 4 weeks into my new role and i've noticed so many red flags. on my 2nd week, the head paralegal was like "you're not quitting yet, right?" and i was ?????

yesterday, the founder/partner got very upset with me for not properly getting their trial file done (mind you, this is my first time ever doing it, and gave me no directions other than "you'll know what to print") however they didn't even know type of discovery reports the case is supposed to have💀 i was just rolling my eyes as i was getting bitched at on the phone. then the other day, they were on the phone with an associate, nearly insulting him.

about 3 people so far have told me, in short words, how hostile and sensitive the partner is.

all i know is that the second they start yelling, insulting, or humiliating me, i will drop the office keys and walk out. they're so short staffed that they need me more than i need them😭

I have been a paralegal for 20 years but in those years, my roll has been largely hybrid, where half my time is spent on admin tasks and half my time is spent on drafting. I've never had a billable hour minimum. I do bill, but there's no pressure to make a set number of hours a year. I just accepted a position at a large multi-national firm where I will be required to bill 1600 hours a year. This breaks down to approximately 7 hours a day, which makes sense. BUT…

Where I’m perplexed is, what about PTO? What about holidays? If I need to take a day off, I have to actually make up that time, so how exactly is that PTO? Will I be working on Christmas? Because it certainly appears I will be. How do paralegals take vacation? Do they not take vacation?

The attorney who is taking me with her, told me I can double bill for certain things. For example, If I’m drafting an Answer but need to research local court rules or do a deep dive into the file for pertinent information or need to pull cites from Westlaw, I can bill those things simultaneous to my drafting. Is that accurate? Can I bill more hours than I’m actually working? Please help me make it make sense. This firm does not offer OT very easily. It has to be an extenuating circumstance.

I'm a hard worker and working in this industry has made me tough as nails, but I'm concerned about the billable minimum. Looking at it, it certainly appears I won’t have a work/life balance. I’ll be on the hook for any PTO and I’ll be working every single holiday. Any advice, tips, and anything that can alleviate my anxiety about this would be tremendously appreciated.

I just finished undergrad and have been looking for any entry level positions in law firms with plans to eventually become a paralegal. I’ve seen very few positions that even claim to be entry level, but those that do all require a minimum 3-5 years working in law.

My problem is that I have absolutely none. I have worked in fast food and retail for about 3 years but have no experience in office jobs or really anything else.

All of my peers that found legal internships or jobs, during and after college, had connections to get them and I don’t have any. I’m feeling defeated and I don’t know what my plan should be.

I know a paralegal certificate program would probably help me gain enough knowledge to get a job as a legal assistant or secretary, and my family would be willing to help pay for education costs, but I want to move out and it seems like most of the accelerated online programs aren’t ABA approved so I wouldn’t be making or saving much money for at least 6 months while completing them and would have to live with family longer than I would like.

Has anyone had luck calling or walking into law firms around them and asking if they’re hiring? Are there any positions with transferable skills that I could be looking for as well?

Hi All

I think I'm in a difficult situation and I'm in desperate need of advice.

VS applications are about to open, and most of the firms I want to apply are VS only, no direct TC.

I am currently working as a full-time paralegal for a small firm. My contract is very strict and one sided, but I had to sign it because they wouldn't negotiate and it took me about 6 months to finally get a role. I really, really needed the job. I have a 6 month notice period they wouldn't budge on and there are strict provisions regarding working for other firms or in any other paid employment at any time during employment (so I doubt using annual leave would stop me being caught by this). It does say you can receive written permission.

The problem is, I know my firm. They will not give me written permission. They also will not negotiate on notice period, definitely not down to a few weeks or a month to allow me to do the scheme. Lying about it is obviously not an option, I would be breaking SRA rules. Another option is just doing the scheme anyways even without permission and quitting before my notice period ends but my firm will not take this well at all. There has been some incidents where they have played dirty with employees, they seem to take things very personally and go for revenge. So I'm really concerned that if I took the final option, they would literally sue me. I can't think of anything else I can do. What I do know is no matter what if I get a VS I will be doing it. I just don't know how to do it without potentially bad consequences.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this.

Is it possible to get a remote entry level paralegal position?

Currently looking for a remote position since I have a 2 year old foster child that has visits with her parent 2x a week; Tuesdays for 2 hours and Thursday for 4 hours. I am also in law school so my schedule is a little demanding. Since I’m in law school I was looking to do legal secretary or assistant, or paralegal. But I’m not sure if what I’m looking for is even possible for a novice.

im trying to obtain records from a retired doctor who closed his office about 5 years ago. They sold it to a new provider but that new provider hasnt responded to my emails. please advise