Paralegal Career Advice

ckissick · 10-26-2009, 08:57 PM

My sister, 52 years old, is finding herself in a bit of a pickle. She has a Bachelor's in Finance from San Jose State, and an MBA, but was out of work for 19 years raising my 2 nephews. Then her wonderful hubby left her for someone else. She needs to find a way to support herself. She lives in Sebastopol, CA, near Santa Rosa.

She's the type who would make a good paralegal. So what level of training should she pursue? The closest college program is in SF. Sonoma State cancelled their program.

Is an on-line or other non-college program viable? Will a law firm hire someone who is starting out in her early 50's? Any other advice?

desertt5 · 10-27-2009, 04:23 AM

My wife recently entered the same field. She was a stay at home mom for 17 years. She completed an online course from Blackstone Institute. Her new boss seemed to care more about that than her degree in Criminal Justice.

Can't help on the other question.

Dueller · 05:53 AM

From the web:

California legislation (AB 1761) makes it unlawful for persons to identify themselves as paralegals unless they possess one of the following four requirements:

1. A certificate of completion from a paralegal program approved by the American Bar Association.

2. A certificate of completion from a paralegal program at, or a degree from, a postsecondary institution that requires the successful completion of a minimum of 24 semester, or equivalent, units in law-related courses and that has been accredited by a national or regional accrediting organization or approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education.

3. A baccalaureate degree or an advanced degree in any subject, a minimum of one year of law-related experience under the supervision of an attorney who has been an active member of the State Bar of California for at least the preceding three years or who has practiced in the federal courts of this state for at least the preceding three years, and a written declaration from this attorney stating that the person is qualified to perform paralegal tasks.

4. A high school diploma or general equivalency diploma, a minimum of three years of law-related experience under the supervision of an attorney who has been an active member of the State Bar of California for at least the preceding three years or who has practiced in the federal courts of this state for at least the preceding three years, and a written declaration from this attorney stating that the person is qualified to perform paralegal tasks. This experience and training shall be completed no later than December 31, 2003.

Option 4 is out. Option 1 and 2 will take her minimum 1-2 years and she'll have to pay for the courses....might as well go to law school for 3 yeaqrs given her educational background. Probably 3 is the best way to go time and money wise...she would need to convince an atty to take her under her wing and train her for a year so she could get certified/licensed. At least she could be earning some money during the process rather than paying for the courses. The reason an atty would want her to become a licensed paralegal is so the atty could bill her time out as a paralegal.

EDIT: She might be able to squeek under option 2 thru if she can point to her courses in undergrad/grad school that were "law related." Business law, federal tax, SEC reg, criminal law courses etc. Dust off the transcripts and see if she has any law related hours. She still would need to be trained as to paralegal work by an atty. One option she might want to look at is to contact big accounting firms that might have a forensic accounting department if she wants to get into a law related field that may relate to her ecxisting degrees doing bank audits, fraud investigation. etc.

Rot 911 · 10-27-2009, 05:39 AM

Good legal secretaries are like gold. Personally I prefer an older secretary as they aren't getting pregnant, and don't have young child issues to deal with. I have hired secretaries with no legal experience in the past and trained them.

LakeCleElum · 10-27-2009, 05:40 AM

My wife thought her company was going out of business in the early '90's. She got her paralegal cert. by taking a class at a community college. She kept working and attended evenings for a year. After she got her cert, her company survived and she kept her Teamster job. Teamster retirement at age 55 and she now takes home more than when she worked.

I think each state may have different requirements for paralegals...