https://www.dummies.com/go/paralegalcareerfd3e/
|
Published:
December 24, 2024

Paralegal Career For Dummies

Overview

The verdict is in: this is the must-have resource for aspiring paralegals everywhere!

Looking for a new, lucrative, and rewarding career in the legal field? Have you considered becoming a paralegal?

In Paralegal Career For Dummies, you'll find everything you need to know about how to begin an exciting new chapter in your professional journey. This hands-on guide walks you choosing what type of law firm you should work in, becoming certified, and networking with others in the field. It's also full of the legal concepts and procedures you need to understand to succeed in this area, including legal drafting, research, interviews, and more. Plus, go online for a treasure trove of complimentary online resources such as forms, templates, and examples of legal memos, summons letters, and special verdict forms. You'll also find:

  • Ways to use AI to assist in preparing legal documents, emails, and case summaries
  • Up-to-date info about common software programs used to manage clients, do legal research, and track deadlines
  • Strategies for creating digital trial notebooks
  • Updated information regarding paralegal associations and their certification exams

Growing at the brisk pace of almost 40,000 new positions every single year, the paralegal field always needs bright, motivated, and effective applicants. Become one of them with Paralegal Career For Dummies!

Read More

About The Author

Lisa Zimmer Hatch, MA, is a career and test prep expert who has taught paralegals and other legal professionals through universities worldwide. She and her late husband, Scott A. Hatch, JD, have coauthored numerous law and standardized test prep texts, including GMAT Prep For Dummies, LSAT Prep For Dummies, and ACT Prep For Dummies.

Sample Chapters

paralegal career for dummies

CHEAT SHEET

If you’re starting a career as a paralegal, the first thing you need to know is how to conduct legal research, which is a significant portion of your legal job. The next thing you need to know is about the legal resources, legal research materials, and law websites that can help you do your job.4 steps to conducting legal researchLegal research is a significant part of your job as a paralegal.

HAVE THIS BOOK?

Articles from
the book

Legal research is a significant part of your job as a paralegal. When you visit a law library (or conduct computerized legal research), use this practical approach to working through a legal researcher assignment. Consult legal dictionaries to compile a comprehensive list of terms relevant to your research project.
How much time you spend engaged in law office management depends on the type and size of firm you work for. Most large firms employ a separate staff to take care of the majority of the daily organization activities. But no matter what size law firm you work for, as a paralegal you’ll probably end up doing some managing and organizing of the law office.
If you’re starting a career as a paralegal, the first thing you need to know is how to conduct legal research, which is a significant portion of your legal job. The next thing you need to know is about the legal resources, legal research materials, and law websites that can help you do your job.4 steps to conducting legal researchLegal research is a significant part of your job as a paralegal.
As a paralegal, you need to familiarize yourself with all the types of documents that are relevant to the practice of law. When you prepare any documents, including the demand letter and the legal complaint, you should first consult your law firm’s formbooks or document files for samples. After you input a document into your office’s form file database, place a copy of that document into the document files for future reference.
The first step of the actual trial process for a jury trial is jury selection. Jury selection whittles down a large pool of potential jurors to 6 or 12 final jurors and alternates through a question-and-answer process called voir dire. Jury selection plays a crucial role in getting a fair and impartial jury for the trial.
Even before you know whether the client’s case is going to trial, your law office should begin to develop a trial notebook (which contains all the information and documents pertinent to a client’s case). Make no mistake about it: The best law firms get the jump on early trial preparation, and the paralegal plays a fundamental role in that process.
These law websites provide a wealth of information to help you prepare for and excel in a paralegal career. Access continuing education, legal forms and precedent, and other legal resources at the following law websites. Hatch Education: This website provides helpful links for legal professions and a wide variety of course offerings through universities nationwide.
Both paralegals and lawyers are legal professionals. The difference is that an attorney must supervise a paralegal’s work, and a paralegal can’t do certain things, like give legal advice and represent clients in court.But there are many things paralegals can do. ©By Kzenon/Shutterstock.com What does a paralegal do?
The area where you live or work as a paralegal largely dictates your access to law library resources. If you live in a rural area, you may not have the same access to the massive collections of law books and legal resources that city slickers have. Even so, as a legal researcher, you can still find most of these pertinent legal resources in your public library’s law section or on law websites: U.
https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6630d85d73068bc09c7c436c/69195ee32d5c606051d9f433_4.%20All%20For%20You.mp3

Frequently Asked Questions

No items found.