帕拉贝尔与法律助理：审查这两项法律职业
You love the law—every night you’re glued to the TV watching re-runs ofLaw & Order, soaking up all the courtroom scenes and admiring the prosecutors. Your friends pick you as the go-to person for legal and ethical advice, and you have been strongly considering a career in law for a while now.
However, you know that law school is long and expensive and committing to three extra years of law school on top of everything else you’ve got going on does not sound appealing. We have good news, though, if this sounds like you—being a lawyer is not your only option for a career in law. There are several rewarding careers in law for those who don’t want to be lawyers. Two common options are working as a paralegal or as a legal assistant.
Before delving into one or the other, it’s important to get all the facts straight. We did the research to compare the careers of a paralegal versus legal assistant, so you can understand what your options are for an exciting career in law.
律师伤害做什么？
律师助理可以被认为是律师的助手;他们从对法律和案件进行研究中进行了研究，以便在法庭上制定法律文件和编制证据。他们帮助律师通过写作报告准备进行审判，并与反对律师展示展品和提交申诉。由于他们对案件进行了广泛的工作，帕拉贝拉人能够为他们的工作达成协议，而法律助手不能。
In addition, paralegals are able tospecializein certain areas such as criminal law, family law, real estate law and immigration law. Depending on the area in which they choose to work, their duties will vary.
What does a legal assistant do?
The term “legal assistant” is sometimes thrown out interchangeably with several titles, including administrative assistant, legal secretary and even paralegal. For a more comprehensive comparison, we will be using the definition of a legal secretary vs. paralegals, as there are more distinct differences between the two.
Legal secretaries perform more administrative tasks than paralegals. They can be found preparing legal documents such as subpoenas, answering phones, using scheduling software to keep track of appointments and other secretarial duties.
Paralegal vs. legal assistant: Skills needed
For a better understanding of what is required for paralegals vs. legal assistants, we used real-time job analysis software to examine job postings from the past 12 months. The data helped us identify some of the top skills employers are seeking from each position. Here’s what we found:
| Top skills for paralegal1 | Top skills for legal assistants2 |
|---|---|
| Litigation | 行政支持 |
| Microsoft Office | Microsoft Office |
| 法律文件 | Scheduling |
| 法律研究 | Legal Support |
| Legal Document Composition | Data entry |
As you can see, there is a slight overlap in skills, but there are different specialized tasks for each position. Paralegals are more involved with the actual technicalities of the law, whereas legal assistants undertake broader tasks. If you are looking for a more hands-on law career, becoming a paralegal may interest you more. However, becoming a legal assistant first could be a great way to find out if you enjoy working in the field before committing to school.
帕拉贝尔与法律助理：经验
大约58％的律师助理职位申请要求三到五年的经验，35％的招聘帖子是进入水平，需要零到两年的经验。1Being a legal secretary is more suitable for those with less experience working in a law firm, with 44 percent of job postings at the entry level (0–2 years of experience).2
“为了得到雇佣律师事务所作为一个paralegal or a legal secretary, often times some type of experience is required,” says Vincent DeLuca ofVillani＆Deluca.， 个人电脑。没有经验？德鲁卡建议在夏季在法律公司营养，因为一些律师事务所将全职聘请实习生。
一旦实习生获得经验，法律领域就更容易导航。德鲁卡说：曾经与公司置于坚定的地方，帕拉卡拉瓦人和法律秘书都有长期的权限，“德鲁卡说。律师依赖于他们的律师助理和秘书，所以一旦他们知道他们所知道的人是可靠和值得信赖的，他们就会犹豫不决。
Paralegal vs. legal assistant: Salary & job outlook
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,legal secretariesreport a median annual wage of $44,180. In comparison, the 2016 median annual wage for帕拉贝尔s是49,500美元。3This salary can increase depending on the employer—for example, paralegals who work in corporate settings can expect to make more than those who work for non-profits that may have limited resources.
Paralegal and legal assistant jobs will see asteady growthas law firms look to cut costs; this is because paralegals bill at a much lower rate than lawyers and can do many of the same tasks as a newly graduated lawyer, but they are a more appealing hire to firms.
“毫无疑问，法律秘书和律师助理将始终处于高需求，”德禄州说。
Paralegal vs. legal assistant: Education requirements
Whether you’re considering a career as a paralegal or as a legal assistant, the first step you’ll need to take for either is determining what education you need. According to the BLS, paralegals need at least aParalegal Associate’s degree.
法律秘书不需要高等教育度ree. Forty-one percent of legal secretary jobs only require a high school diploma. For those looking to get a feel for working in law before committing to extra schooling, a job as a legal secretary could be the perfect starting point.
The bottom line
A career in law can be extremely rewarding for the right person, but with several career options available, it’s important to understand which position you’d enjoy most. Now that you know what the differences are between a paralegal vs. a legal assistant, you have already begun your journey to your dream career in law.
有兴趣进一步追求职业作为律师参吗？了解我们文章中的下一步是什么“I Want to be a Paralegal … Now What?”
RELATED ARTICLES:
1Burning-Glass.com (analysis of 46,426 paralegal job postings, May 1, 2016 - Apr. 30, 2017)
2Burning-Glass.com (analysis of 54,319 legal secretary job postings, May 1, 2016 - Apr. 30, 2017)
3Salary data represents national, averaged earnings for the occupations listed and includes workers at all levels of education and experience. This data does not represent starting salaries and employment conditions in your area may vary.
