Legal Assistant

Many people aspire to become lawyers, but there are other valuable jobs in the legal field as well. One of those is a legal assistant. Corporate legal assistants, also known as legal technicians, need to have an extensive awareness of computer programs involving legal research.

Their job entails such tasks as preparing tax returns and employee contracts, organizing and summarizing documents and doing research. They can find jobs in many different areas of society, working in such places as insurance companies, manufacturers and banks. A corporate legal assistant must be a team player, as the job will involve working directly under the supervision of a corporate attorney.

In order to embark upon a career as a legal assistant, a person must usually complete a training program of two or four years that covers such topics as legal procedures, terminology and business law. To enter a four-year program, one must usually have a high school diploma, and passing an entrance examination is usually required as well.

For those hoping to work in the business arena, it’s also a good idea to take courses on subjects related to business, finance and management. They may also want to procure a certificate in paralegal studies. In order to do this, they need to have either a bachelor’s degree and a year of legal experience or a high school diploma along with seven years of experience in the legal field.

Legal assistants generally earn somewhere between $39,000 and $61,000 a year. They usually also receive insurance benefits, along with paid vacations and pension plans. Most legal assistants work in offices, so physical demands are not a major concern.

Legal assistants need to be extremely respectful of the privacy of clients whose paperwork they are handling; confidentiality is very important. Some cases may require a legal assistant to work overtime, but for the most part, this is not a very stressful career path, and it is a good way to break into the legal field without needing to go to law school.