Many people have asked what I am taking at Greenville Technical College and why I chose to pursue a Paralegal Associates Degree. This paper will offer a historical background of what a Paralegal is; the educational steps and financial cost of what it takes to become a Paralegal; a summary of how computers will be used and what computer skills will be required as a Paralegal; an employment overview of a Paralegal; and an explanation about why I have chosen to become a Paralegal. There have been some who have belittled my choice, implying that the courses and course load is nothing, so I started adding that I will be getting a Law Degree (emphasis added) which has been quieting …show more content…
Then in the early 1970’s the American Bar Association (ABA) came up with the phrase Legal Assistant and law firms started hiring people specifically for this newly created position, alleviating the legal secretaries of some of their new responsibilities that had been asked of them. It was not long before an increasing number of educational institutions started offering Legal Assistant programs to train professionals in the proper procedures and processes needed to complete the tasks that would be asked of them in the work place. As the number of educational institutions increased it did not take long before degree courses of study was developed and started being offered across the country by those institutions who were offering training in the Legal Assistant field (The History – and the Future – of the Paralegal Profession; History of the Paralegal …show more content…
These days the electronic filing of forms and papers with many of the court systems and government agencies has started to become the only acceptable way of filing. If someone files a form or document in printed a format these days it is rare that it is not scanned and data entered into the electronic filing system. Today “Paralegals” need to have the “computer skills” to assist them in discovering facts from their computer-based “legal research” and use those “important,” properly stored and maintained “documents” to develop persuading presentations to turn the tide to their side in “litigation support” (Paralegals and Legal