Top 3 Legal Support Careers to Target This Year
Some people are severely misinformed about having a career in legal support. Many people think the job will suck the life out of them, and that they won’t be compensated enough for the pressures they’d have to go through every single day. But there’s more to being a legal aid or worker than going through stacks of paperwork and soaking up legal jargons on a regular basis. Found below are some info that you may not know about the top 3 legal support careers in America right now: 1. Legal Secretary Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data, legal secretaries earn a median annual wage of $44,380.00 with an hourly rate of $21.34. Legal secretaries are basically administrative secretaries, except that they attend specifically to attorneys, paralegals and judges. As a legal secretary, it is expected for him or her to be adept in understanding legal jargons and procedures. Part of their everyday tasks is to prepare legal documents and letters, such as subpoenas, motions, complaints and summons. They may also be expected to perform legal research as deemed necessary by supervisors. By working closely with attorneys as a legal secretary, one can learn the rigors of running a law office, and acquire the traits necessary to be a successful legal professional. 2. Legal Transcriptionist Just like medical transcriptionists, legal transcriptionists are in demand too. Legal transcriptionists transcribe researches and interviews used by paralegals and attorneys for court cases. They also transcribe materials used by claims investigators and insurance professionals. Based on our career profile, legal transcriptionists are needed in law firms, corporate legal departments and government agencies. Transcriptionists may also be employed by outsourcing firms and may work from home. Legal transcriptionists make use of speech recognition software or translate recordings manually with the use of a word processor and audio playback software. Based on Payscale data, legal transcribers earn between $40,000 and $50,000 annually. 3. Paralegal A paralegal or legal assistant, provides lawyers support in terms of file organization, legal research and drafting legal documents. According to our career profile for paralegals on our course page, being a paralegal is perfect for individuals who are keen on legal terminologies, grammar, analyzing data, writing, listening and research. Paralegals earn an average of 46,680 a year, or $22.44 dollars an hour. Currently, there are over 256,000 paralegals across America and this number is expected to grow in the years to come. In fact according to BLS data, paralegals are expected to grow by 18 percent between the year 2010 and 2020. Paralegals are hired by law firms, corporate legal departments and government agencies, although they can work from home too. The job only has a 3.1 percent unemployment rate, according to CareerCast.com. We can’t stress enough how the abovementioned jobs are good for individuals who’d like to take the first step in developing a rewarding career in legal support. The jobs are also useful for people who’d like to test the waters and would like to see if a legal support career may work for them.
