"Mini-Guide" to Paralegal Studies and Court Reporting

In 350 B.C., Aristotle said "the rule of law is better than the rule of any individual."

Two professions designed to support the legal process, such as paralegal professionals, legal secretaries, and court reporters, are vital to the field and well-paid, especially in corporate environments or for the federal government.

Though these jobs require less formal training than that of attorneys, the skills of paralegals are indispensable in a field that continues to shape the economy, politics, and society at large.

The duties of paralegals are wide and various, but mostly they provide direct support to attorneys. This includes helping to prepare legal cases by researching and compiling relevant documents and data, after which paralegals are often asked to write reports analyzing the material they have collected.

At the end of a case, it is the paralegal who organizes all the legal documents for permanent archiving. This is usually done in electronic databases. It is the paralegal's job to make sure that everything on file is available to and accessible by the attorneys.

Though an entry-level paralegal's work may involve a lot of paper-pushing, an experienced and/or talented paralegal may be given more serious responsibilities.

Such responsibilities include tasks such as drafting legal arguments, managing motions to be filed, or even handling plans for estates and trust funds. They may also prepare tax returns.

Seven out of ten paralegals are employed by law firms, with the remaining working mostly in legal departments of corporations or government agencies.

Depending on the size and culture of the office, paralegals may work in an administrative capacity, organizing company events or maintaining the office's financial records. At large law firms and corporations, it is more common for paralegals to do less administrative work, and focus more on specific or specialized tasks.

Salaries and wages for paralegals vary widely and depend mostly on individual experience and level of responsibility. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, paralegals and legal assistants earned any where from $33,920 to $56,080.

The difference in salary depends on many factors, such as:

• Number of years you have worked in the legal field, or as a paralegal
• Area where you live (law firms in larger cities typically pay more because the cost of living is more expensive)
• Size of the law firm or corporation (small practices may not be able to pay as much)
• Your educational attainment level (high school/GED holder,
  associate's degree holder, bachelor's degree holder, master's degree holder)

Most commonly, paralegals hold either an associates degree in paralegal studies or a bachelor's degree with a paralegal certification. About 260 programs are approved by the American Bar Association (ABA). Another kind of certification includes the Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) or Certified Paralegal (CP) credentials, for which a qualifying candidate must pass a two-day exam. Though such certification is not required by some employers, who are often willing to train unlicensed paralegals on the job, it may increase an applicant's job opportunities.

Paralegals are essential members of their organizations. There are certain traits and skills that law firms and legal teams look for when evaluating potential employees and job candidates. Some of these traits and skills may include:

• Grace under pressure and keeping a cool head in a tense situation
• Knowledge of the American legal system
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work with clients
• Strong computer skills and comfortable using specialized legal software
• Self-motivated and able to focus on long-term and short-term projects
• Ability to stay organized and multi-task

For those interested in earning an associate's paralegal degree online, you can expect to earn your degree in 3 to 4 years if you take 1 or 2 courses at a time. Full time students, who take 3 to 4 courses at once, can expect to earn their associate's degree online in about 2 years time.

Not all programs are wholly online. It is important to talk with your college or university and find out if they require you to take any courses in a traditional campus setting. South University, for example, offers an A.S. in Paralegal Studies, but students are required to take 4 legal courses in a campus environment.

The profession of the paralegal (also known as a legal assistant) is expanding rapidly as paralegals take on more responsibilities once reserved for attorneys. In fact, the number of paralegals in the country is expected to increase 22 percent between 2006 and 2016.

For those interested in working in the legal field, there are a variety of professions available. Other careers include legal secretary, lawyer, and court reporter. Law enforcement is a separate field that is related to law. For students interested in law enforcement, they should consider studying topics such as criminal justice, or even homeland security.

Court reporters are responsible for producing word-for-word transcripts of legal proceedings, from court cases to political speeches to special events and meetings. The court reporter's work must be completely accurate, both for what was said by each party and for any proper names or places mentioned. Therefore, the court reporter must have some familiarity with the context of each proceeding in addition to being a fast and accurate worker.

The methods for transcription vary. Stenography is the most common of these and involves typing on a stenograph everything that is spoken aloud, using symbols for sounds rather than a standard keyboard of individual letters.

With the electronic reporting method, the court reporter uses audio recordings to later create a transcription of the event. Another method is voice writing, a system by which the court reporter repeats all testimony into a voice silencer, a mask-like machine which mutes the court reporter to the rest of the room while recording everything he or she says.

For any of these methods, the output must be interpreted and edited by the court reporter for total accuracy and completeness. Another kind of court reporter is the broadcast captioner, who creates closed captioning of broadcasts in real-time for the hearing impaired.

Licensure to become a court reporter varies by state, but The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) has certified about 70 programs nation-wide and general training is available even more widely. The NCRA requires that its court reporters capture 255 words per minute, which is also the minimum requirement for federal employment. Most of the skills that a court reporter will acquire, however, are learned on the job. In 2006, the median annual earnings of court reporters was $45,610.