Jumpstart Your Career as a Paralegal: Free Online Resources to Start Your Career

Considering a career as a Paralegal? Paralegal is a dynamic job that will experience fast growth over the next decade..Paralegals earn on average $44,000 per year and can work in a variety of settings such as private law firms, courts or even own their own business. Although paralegals do not give legal advice or represent clients directly, they are an important part of the legal profession.

Considering a career as a Paralegal? Paralegal is a dynamic and interesting job that will experience fast growth over the next decade. The demand for paralegals is growing rapidly and it is expected that 21% more paralegals will be needed through 2016, creating 84,000 jobs. Paralegals earn on average $44,000 per year and can work in a variety of settings such as private law firms, courts or even own their own business. Although paralegals do not give legal advice or represent clients directly, they are an important part of the legal profession.

Paralegal work requires strong attention to detail, critical thinking, writing and researching skills and the ability to work well with clients. When you first start your paralegal classes expect an intense workload that requires lots of reading and new terminology. It's normal to feel overwhelmed at first by all the new concepts and legal terminology. It is a great idea to start preparing before class starts. Free online law dictionaries are a great resource because you can pick up terminology before you start class which will give you an edge on your reading.

There are many vocational schools that offer questionable paralegal programs but employers prefer to hire job seekers who attend a regionally accredited college or an ABA (American Bar Association) approved program. Lawyers highly value education and are extremely selective of prospective employees by attending an ABA program; your chances of obtaining a job are greatly increased.

Fortunately, there are 260 ABA approved paralegal programs that are offered through community colleges, which are inexpensive compared to private colleges. For example, a typical community college in California class costs about $115.00 compared to $650.00 at a private college. There are several community colleges which offer low cost online paralegal programs. When you have completed your program, you can certify your skills through the NALA, the National Association of Legal Assistants. http://www.nala.org/

American Bar Association Approved Programs

The American Bar Association lists all of the schools which it accredits on the ABA Paralegal Directory: http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/paralegals/directory/

Santa Ana College:http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/paralegals/directory/

Santa Ana College really stands out as a great school because they are ABA accredited and one of the few schools that also offers online paralegal classes. Online classes are great because they allow you to better manage your time, avoid commutes, childcare and save thousands of dollars over the semester.

California Colleges Offering Non-ABA Approved Programs online:

Cerro Coso Community College:http://academic.cerrocoso.edu/paralegal.htm

Cerro Coso is a regionally accredited, low cost community college that offers a completely online Associate of Science in Paralegal Studies and Paralegal Certificate. One of the unique factors of this online program is that it emphasizes instructor and student interaction which is one of the things you miss when going to college online.

Terminology and Introductory Topics:

Lexis Nexis: http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/study/outlines/

Lexis Nexis offers law school outlines for free on the major topics of law. Although as a paralegal, you won't need to study the law in the same depth that a lawyer does but using a law school outline will introduce you to the major concepts of the law and build your understanding of how the legal system works, terminology and key cases. By reading the resources on Lexis Nexis, you can get an overview of the field and the level of difficulty of reading legal material. Lexis Nexis has a complete library of legal cases, briefs and litigation tools, however you must subscribe to use those features.

Nolo's Online Law Dictionary:http://www.nolo.com/glossary.cfm

Nolo's has a free online law dictionary with terms presented in a tongue in cheek manner, which makes learning new legal terms easy to remember.

Law.com: http://dictionary.law.com/

Law.com has an excellent dictionary and other legal resources such as legal news, paralegal job listings and a directory of law career recruiters.

References:

Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos114.htm

O*Net Online: http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/23-2011.00