Legal Assistant – Don’t Bite the Hand that Feeds You
29 October 2009The field of law is a vast arena of rules and regulations but one key player; the paralegal is surprisingly exempt from one rule. Paralegals, after decades of existence are still not required to become “certified”. Clearly, it made sense backs in the 1960s when the profession first evolved out of a need for attorneys to free up their time from doing the “less lawyerly” activities like filling out documents, standard research and other office related paperwork. But you would think over the ensuing years that this would have been “corrected” but for some reason it has not. On the other hand, the marketplace has changed and more and more employers are now requiring that potential employees gain some type of certification before they will be considered for employment.
Key factors to keep in mind when evaluating the quality of any legal assistant program:
1. Top notch legal assistant school curriculum consistently concentrates on teaching doable job skills along with essential supportive legal theory. The curriculum for legal assistant degree programs should also incorporate all things from communication and organizational skills to torts, litigation and ethics. Of course, complete development of the student must a key objective that’s revolves around providing them with real-world experience and cultivating their critical thinking faculties.
2. Unquestioned belief to the value of the legal assistant position within the legal field, from both the program director and the faculty, is essential. Plus, both the legal assistant school “dean” and the teachers need to have the desired scholastic accreditation to run the program and to teach the curriculum. In a perfect world, the “dean” would have a law degree and the teachers would be considered “experts” in their fields with an advanced legal assistant degree and measurable experience.
3. An expanding number of legal assistant schools are now offering online legal assistant training. Although becoming more popular among students due to convenience, cost and flexibility you still have to ask yourself, “Is it right for me?” However, before you can make that decision you should probably find out how much interaction takes place between the instructors and students and how is the instruction presented to the students. Is interactive video used, tele-courses or some other form of delivery system?
Even if long term you have aspirations to become an attorney, beginning your career in law as a legal assistant is a smart first step. Becoming a legal assistant will enable you to get your foot in the door of the legal field, which will open up additional opportunities whether you decided to pursue your law degree or continue to work as a legal assistant. Regardless, a legal assistant career offers countless opportunities.
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