Becoming a Paralegal
In the UK, a Paralegal is basically a person who is trained and who has competed all the required courses to assist a Solicitor or Barrister with various legal work. It’s a great start to a career in the legal field. Paralegals are employed in various fields and industry to carry out legal work for a company or for a law office.
Paralegals in the legal arena are highly valued not least of all for putting together case notes, interviewing clients etc but also because they are cheaper to employ. No matter what area they are working in there contribution to the legal processes is very much needed. For the person who is starting a career in law (looking in future to qualify as a Solicitor) this is a perfect stepping stone.The type of work carried out by Paralegals is different in many ways to a Solicitor for example they cannot represent clients in a court of law nor offer legal advice, where they excel is the assistance and preparation of case notes for a Barrister or Solicitor to take a case forward.
This question is answered easily; a Paralegal is one who assists a Solicitor or Barrister in the preparation of a case, collating data, interviewing clients or witnesses and the jobs functions can also be as a fee earner dependant upon where one is employed.. It’s also known as a legal assistant across the UK. Its an exciting job full of challenges and no 2 days are generally the same and its an ideal starting point to a career in law.
Why Become a Paralegal?
If your looking for a career in the legal field, this is the perfect starting point with lots of career prospects where in fact the sky really is the limit. The pay for a Paralegal is very good and can increase as one gets more work experience. You do not have to have lots of high grades in your school education as there are lots of ways one can qualify as a fully trained Paralegal. Its true at this time in the UK there are considerably more Paralegals than Solicitors, this statement alone tells one that this type of work is highly valued.
