What's needed to work with Attoneys?

[nekiwa07]

I would love to work with Attorneys. Do I have to have a paralegal certificate to do this? What type of training, skills, know-how must I attain in order to effectively be able to work with and or market my services to Attorneys? I currently do not have a paralegal certificate but I do have experience working in a law firm.

[Office Goddess]

I work with attorneys and don't have a paralegal certificate. I, too, have experience working in law firms (as a bookkeeper) and this is what I use for my marketing. I would focus on the skills that you have used for attorneys as your marketing effort and learn more as you can by working with them. Each attorney seems to have a different sense of what types of work they are willing to outsource so don't get discouraged.

[Clerical Advantage]

It depends on what type of services you're going to offer. Are you going to be preparing case documents or dealing with pleadings, etc. In that case I would say that a paralegal certificate is a good idea, although not a requirement if you have a lot of experience with them. If you're simply going to be offering more general services, but drawing on your experience in the law firm you should be just fine without it.

[Cathryn Jones]

Market based on your experience! If your previous experience was doing HR or bookkeeping for a law firm, then I would market my VA business to lawyers who needed either HR or bookkeeping assistance. Your work experience will be what makes your business desirable.

If you want to market your business for paralegal services...then I would attain a paralegal certificate. All depends on what services you are offering.

[PactumServaAssisting]

The company that I work for works with attorneys. This market is tough to crack in our region of the country (MidWest). There are NO jobs here! Law office after law office is just folding up - the economy is killing the law offices. There is a flood of legal professionals; since there are so many legal professionals, the law offices that are left are VERY selective. They want their employees to have BACHELORS degrees from a traditional college. You have to have a relative that works in the law office to put in a good word for you just to be able to get someone to take your phone call. The recession is VERY rough here.

[PeppyM]

What's needed to work with attorneys? A thick skin, lots of self-esteem, a bullet-proof ego, and a "stand your ground" attitude. The rest is all education and/or training. :-)

[lisacduffy]

Hi Nekiwa,

You may want to consider The Center for Legal Studies http://www.legalstudies.com/. A good friend of mine is currently attending for her Paralegal certificate in their online program. Its NOT ABA approved, but its an inexpensive way to get the education and you can select which well-known college you want on your certificate to come from. And if you have a problem getting into the market, at least you won't be out of lots of money, as with the ABA approved schools.

Also, here are the ABA approved schools in case you haven't looked: http://apps.americanbar.org/legalser...lprograms.html

Lisa

[Virtual Legal Resources]

I work with attorneys and paralegals on a daily basis. In my opinion, the number one factor is experience. A certificate is icing on the cake, and shows commitment to go to and finish a program, but if it comes down to either/or, in my personal experience it is definitely experience. This probably differs from region to region. I am not saying that a certificate and/or degree is not a valuable thing because it certainly is.

Manyy law firms, big and small, had been laying lawyers and paralegals off, but in my area, there has been an upturn and things are getting a little better jobwise and dealwise. I think this makes a perfect time for a VA to offer paralegal services to small to medium companies/law firms. They are not willing to make the commitment yet to hire someone directly not knowing if they will always have work to keep the person busy. A VA is a great answer to this.

This also depends on the region of the country you are in and what is typical.

[PactumServaAssisting]

A very, very, very thick skin.

Anne

[Wordpro Wizard]

Yes Anne, they can be very (ahem) different can't they?

Lynne