[Question] Should I get paralegal certification?

[Layah]

I haven't actually started my VA business yet, but I was thinking about doing some in person work in law offices before I go completely virtual. I have absolutely no law experience, but I am hopefully about to get a secretary type job with an attorney, and that got me thinking about it. Is paralegal VA work pretty scarce? I sort of got that impression reading the other threads. Do most legal VAs have a degree in law or some kind of certification? Would it be worth it for me to go get some kind of certification just to have access to this niche? What has been your experience?

[dawndmd]

You need a degree or certifiecate of some sort and a few years experience before going virtual. I have been a paralegal for 13-years - 2 of which are virtual and the attorneys who ask about my services most definitely want an experience paralegal in the field they are working in. I have an associates and legal assistant certificate and a bachelors majoring in paralegal studies. Funny I notice I am actually over qualified right now for in-house attorneys in my area, but the attorneys going virtual are very much looking for a paralegal with just that kind of experience and qualifications. Get certified. Check out www.nala.org

[katekindred]

I think you are on the right track by getting some practical experience in a law firm. That will be a big plus when you start marketing your business. While the specialized paralegal education is not mandatory, attorneys value education and the more training you have, the less you have to work in order to sell yourself. Is VA paralegal work scarce? Absolutely not. I have all the attorney clients I want and am turning new ones away so I can keep the ones I have happy.

[periwinkle0818]

I have the same question.

Although I am already a holder of a Law Degree in my country, is it necessary for me to have a paralegal certificate? Btw, I will be taking my Bar examinations this September.

If it is necessary, can I earn the same through online?

The link www.nala.org does not work anymore. I tried to google it and found the entries but the same error appears.

Thanks.

[Time Balancers]

Now working for attorneys in several different areas of the law, it is definitely helpful if you have experience. I found that civil vs estate vs real estate law all have different filings, forms and calendaring deadlines. Education has been very important as well as understanding attorneys!

[Masterspieces]

I would suggest that if you were to plan to get a paralegal certificate, try to get one that is ABA approved. Paralegal certificates have become a dime a dozen, and so many of those graduates expect a lot of money for no experience. Many of those courses are not even taught by attorneys or paralegals, or even JDs, and really cannot answer some of the questions that come up in class. I spent years as a legal secretary with a paralegal certificate, and the attorneys in the office would come to me more often than other secretaries when they had complex work or needed research or didn't have a paralegal who was not working on some other project.

[periwinkle0818]

Is the ABA approved paralegal certificate available online?

[Wordpro Wizard]

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of very experienced paralagels out of work in the USA. You are in the Philippines, so a US paralegal certification is going to be useless to you. Such a certification in your own country might work for you.

Lynne

[periwinkle0818]

Thanks Lynne,

I was just wondering about it since my clients are from the US, I thought it would be handy to have one.

We don't have paralegal certifications here. Most of the paralegals here are Law graduates, like me.

[Wordpro Wizard]

Periwinkle the legal profession in the western world works under certain legislative requirements, document and practice protocols, which change all the time. These vary from US state to state, from Canadian province to province. You may get some diploma or somethng but you can never compete with seasoned professional law clerks/paralegals in the western world so I wouldn't waste your time and money.

Lynne

[periwinkle0818]

alright, thanks for your input.

chel

[HoustonVirtualParalegals]

Here is the link for the ABA's list of approved paralegal education programs. http://apps.americanbar.org/legalser...als/directory/

Absolutely do get a paralegal education. The ABA defines a paralegal or legal assistant as:

"a person, qualified through education, training, or work experience, who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency, or other entity in a capacity or function which involves the performance, under the ultimate direction and supervision of an attorney, of specifically-delegated substantive legal work, which work, for the most part, requires a sufficient knowledge of legal concepts that, absent such assistant, the attorney would perform the task. "

Thus, at this point the education is essential for you to market yourself as a virtual paralegal. Before you become a virtual legal assistant, I agree with Dawn that you really need to get practical law office experience. As a virtual paralegal, you will need to have the skills and experience to jump right in and perform the functions a seasoned paralegal can perform.

There is plenty of work out there. I've just recently started, and will soon be at the point where I will need to turn PCs away, but am looking to subcontract out.

I wish you the best of luck!

[By the "BYTE"]

Hi, here is a link where you can check for ABA accredited online instruction
http://paralegal.edu/ hope it helps. I was fortunate to have an attorney in the family so I had help choosing which school to go to for my paralegal certification. I had currently practicing attorneys for each class and as As Lynne said it above, having practicing instructors provided an excellent foundation.