Is anyone here a paralegal?

I was recently certified and I accepted a non law firm job. I work for a company as their contracts person. I am not really happy here. Does anyone work at a law firm as a paralegal? Do you recommend I try this?
The problem is that I don't paralegal experience however I do have about 4 years corporate experience.
I am having a hard time finding something else

Thanks for any advice!

Re: Is anyone here a paralegal?

I am a paparlegal and just like you I didnt have any paralegal training. I came here to work for a group of lawyers that dealt with various investment houses in closing distressed loans. I used to work for abig investment house doing just this but on the other side, so this was a good transition for me. Since I was hired, most of the lawyers have left and I have been now doing other paralegal work.

Paralegals...just like Traders assistants...can be a very thanksless, long hours job. You need to decide if you want to work in an enviroment like that.

good Luck!

Re: Is anyone here a paralegal?

i do not have the certification but am described asa paralegal and have done the job for five yrs, i love it

Re: Is anyone here a paralegal?

Hi--I know this is a very old thread. In any event, I am looking to eventually transition out of my current field of social work, but looking to work in something that I can apply my skills/background to without necessarily having to go back to school or take out anymore student loans. Anyone else a paralegal? How do you like it? Pros/cons? Would a Master's level social worker qualify for this job? I also worked in a legal services clinic for one year so that may be a plus for me for this field!

P.S. I don't have any experience preparing legal documents and such per se, however, I am constantly doing all kinds of paperwork/documentation for the clients I work with and know the whole spiel about "treating all client records as if they could be called into court at any time".

Re: Is anyone here a paralegal?

I was a paralegal for a number of years so i can give you some advice. However, I have a certification in paralegal studies and a BA.

The paralegal title is thrown around a lot and used as different things, but in the city you will find their to be legal secretary's and paralegals. In the big law firms the legal secretarys are responsible for the typing, calendar appts, etc. Paralegals do a lot of legal reserach, traveling, managing the case, etc. When i worked for a big NYC firm that is how it was. I also worked for an in-house insurance firms as well.

When i came out to LI, I worked at a smaller firm that had all legal secretaries and named one girl a paralegal, but she was more of a senior secretary to me.

You might have a hard time getting into the parelegal field without certification. More and more people are requiring that you have it. You might have more luck looking for a legal secretary position and working your way up and your company might help you pay for a paralegal certification course which is usually only 4-5 months.

However, be careful. Working as a paralegal is A LOT of grunt work. Most of the one's I worked for either went on to Law School or went into other areas (like I did). YOu work very long hours (if I was home by 8PM I was lucky), are at the attorney's beck and call and make less pay then some legal secretary's do. However, that is at the big firms in the city. When i worked in-house at an insurance defense firm it was much better, but it literally got to the point of "where do I go from here?"

Pros are you can open you eyes to other areas in the legal field available to you.

Hope this helps. FM me if you want more advice.