Law and Paralegal

Career Goals | My Career Goals as a Paralegal | | My Career Goal is to be a paralegal after I finish my two year degree at Kaplan University in 2014. I am looking forward to learning everything I can about being a paralegal. | | | 6/11/2012 | |

My Career goal is to become a paralegal. Unlike, most of the students that are taking these courses to become lawyers or to further their education in law, I am satisfied with just getting my associates in Paralegal. Our jobs are just as important as the attorney who goes to the trial. We are the ones who make the first initial contact with the client until after the attorney-client meets, research and investigate the facts of cases to ensure that all is relevant and the information is considered, prepare the work need for the closing, hearings and trials. All of this is what has attracted me to become a paralegal. First of all, there is no education required to become a paralegal. No certification or degree, only knowledge of the law and court systems. But I think getting your degree will help you get that first step in the door to a new job. We all know that a degree looks better on your resume then one without. It shows that you have started something and have achieved it and are willing to better yourself for your career. However, I am currently taking Eight Skill of the Effective Legal Studies and Paralegal Professional courses for my first term. These courses have helped me with the skills and tools I will need to better understand how the law works and how to address my everyday situations with my career job. I have learned how to space myself with different task and how not to get in over my head with stuff I know I won’t have time for. I have learned how to remember things I have studied by applying different scenarios such as, finding a place outside to study or playing music in a relaxing atmosphere, or lessoning to the chapters on line while I follow along with the voice. I know more now about the ethics of law and the judiciary system that I thought I knew about before. I thought laws are laws and that everyone just has to abide by them, but I never knew there were so many courts and appeals, or the Constitution has this history that dates back from the first English settlers. A paralegal must know the history and how the different court systems work in order to do their jobs. Whereas, I hope my future courses will teach me how to write, give me a better understanding of each of the law fields. I want to be able to learn how to gather case files and the evidence needed correctly. It’s fast paced and it’s never a dull moment. The job may also include assisting with investigations, conducting legal research, writing, digesting transcripts, case management, maintaining databases, etc. Preparing written reports that attorneys use in determining how cases should be handled and preparing legal arguments, drafting pleadings and motions to be filed with the court. I know that all of this is coming in my future courses and I look forward to learning every course with my instructors, and they will guide and help me to find a field that I am passionate about. Whether it is civil or immigration, I know I will choose the right course for me. However, I haven’t really been interested in law my whole life like most of my classmates. Maybe for the past 5 or so years but never knew what I wanted to go into until I spoke with my Kaplan Advisor. As we talked and she asked me about my interest in jobs and why I wanted to go back to school, my advisor talked to me about being a paralegal who does most of things I do now as a retail manager, but with just more responsibilities. But the thing that got me was how I could help people that really needed it, and that is what I have been looking for my whole life. As you watch the news or people talking, all you hear about are the bad things going on in the world and never nothing good. There are children being abused by parents, mothers getting knocked around by husbands, best friend murdered for being in the wrong spot at the wrong time, or parents being deported back to their country because they came over hear illegal and now they are separated and in foster homes waiting to be adopted by someone who doesn’t believe in their religion. I know as a paralegal I have those cases that come in and it will totally against my morals, but I also know that your personal feelings cannot come into your place of work. Every job has its good and bad. Finally, I don’t know what field I want to work in just yet. Small law firms have many benefits, such as, Flexible work schedules, hands on experience since staff is limited, a more relaxing atmosphere where dress codes are not so much forced, their more friendly and everyone is on a first name bases with each other, and not such a competitive atmosphere. But like anything good there are some bad. Small firms pay less than those of a larger company, limited resources, and little support staff, benefits such as health care and other benefits may cost more. New paralegals often choose small law firms because of the variety of experiences they offer; lawyers in such a firm handle matters in several different areas of the law. Of course, I do not wish to work in large cities may find a small law firm is their only choice for employment. So it is just a matter of weighting what I want and what I don’t want when it comes that time. In Conclusion, my career goals of becoming a paralegal are just a degree away. With a lot of hard work and the help of my Kaplan instructors and my advisor I know I can make it. Wherever my decisions take me, I will see this through till the end and be the best paralegal I can be for whatever firm I work for and the clients I come in contact with.

References
http://legalcareers.about.com/

References: http://legalcareers.about.com/