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There are a number of benefits associated with a paralegal career. For instance, did you know that the typical paralegal salary is approximately $34,000 a year? And that's just for state and local work. Legal assistants working for the government have the chance to gross twice as much. In addition to the high salary, you may not need a degree in order to qualify for a position. Paralegals are in massive demand at law firms and in government positions. In fact, paralegal job prospects are expected to grow at a much faster rate than the majority of opportunities through the year 2014.

Clearly, it is for these reasons that paralegal careers are turning out to be more prevalent. Want to learn what your job would be like as a paralegal?

To begin with, paralegals are in fact legal assistants. In fact, the words are virtually interchangeable. One thing a paralegal cannot do is offer legal advice. But, they do help attorneys in virtually every other area of their jobs. A paralegal job description can include helping prepare legal papers, performing critical legal studies, and doing a great deal of the prep work for lawyers. Paralegals can gain employment in many different fields; from medical law to patent law. Approximately 70% of all paralegals in the United States are employed in a law firm.

There are not many requirements for working as a paralegal through most of the U.S. While there is no set standard in paralegal education, a paralegal certification is significant and desired by many legal offices. The following are two paralegal certification exams:

Certified Legal Assistant Exam (CLA exam) sponsored by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA).

Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE) which is offered by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA).

In addition to the certifications, you might want to take coursework in paralegal studies. There are numerous paralegal programs to choose from.

It is possible to get a job as a paralegal with no formal training in paralegal studies, but you may earn lower pay. Many law firms are to hire those with formal paralegal education plus experience. It will only make finding employment as a paralegal easier if you gain qualifications before looking for your first job.