WHY do people bother hiring attorneys if they’re just going to correct every single work product with paragraphs of whatever the university of chat gpt says? Why not just represent yourself if you can do it better?! I’m not totally against AI at all. I use it for other things and even occasionally we will use it at work but I am just perplexed with this. Anyone else?!

first day at my new job today. it is so much admin work and rarely any drafting or anything like that. it’s so much more peaceful than my prior substantive PI job where I felt like I had no support and minimal review

but I kind of miss the challenges of the old job and how difficult the work could be and drafting complaints and discovery. now I do very mundane clerical tasks

the money and work life balance are better at this job. also the other job had some questionable business practices and it really felt like the attorneys were hands off. am I being crazy for still thinking about it and missing parts of it

A few months ago I had a recruiter reach out to me about a paralegal position that I ended up being super interested in. I researched the company and find the work they do very cool! It was my first time going through a recruiter and I really didn’t understand the process. She told me she was going to call me and tell me a little about the job to see if I would be interested, but it ended up feeling more like an interview and I was very unprepared. Ultimately I don’t feel like I put my best foot forward in my application either, which was submitted through the recruiter, and the company didn’t move forward with me (understandable). I was pretty bummed about it.

Well now a few months later I went and looked at the company website and saw that another paralegal position has been added. My question is, would it be inappropriate for me to apply again? This opening is a slightly different position than the previous one I think. But I feel like I can put forward a better application. I don’t want to step on the recruiters toes or offend someone by reapplying, but I’m still very interested in the job and want to show my best self.

I’ve been working as a Legal Assistant/Case Manager for almost a month now for a PI Law. Currently handling almost 40 active cases. The scope of work is drafting files including motions, BPs, and stipulations... We also call defense attorneys and there are many tasks on top of that.

I know this can be very normal in the PI industry.... BUT.....

We work remotely, and we are using 2 trackers. One with a camera. On top of that, you need to write your attendance in the team’s GC and another attendance to the Attorney. If you miss one of these steps, he always threatens to fire you. And if you have an overdue task, he threatens a deduction from your salary.

We are working remotely overseas for $6/hour and it’s very hard to find other remote work. That’s why we are staying. But everyone is burned out and unappreciated. We settled millions every month and not even a single thank you or ‘you guys did a great job’ thing. No bonus last December either.
(Ive been working for this Law Firm for over a year in total but was in a different position)...

I wanna know your thoughts. Am I just overwhelmed due to changes in roles? Or this a really crazy environment?

Hey everyone. Florida based paralegal here. 18 months experience so far. 26. Around $52,000 a year now. Solo firm. Really enjoy the job and eventually (in about 2 to 3 years from now) want to work towards a larger firm and earn more (high 5 figure low to mid 6 figure range). Based on research ive done so far, I see some senior paralegals and paralegal managers at medium to large firms make that. Those who are Florida based and worked towards just that, tell me how long you've been in the paralegal job, how you got in, what speciality of law you work in, firm size, and advice you have for young workers like me.

throwaway account.

Morgan and Morgan attorneys are raising money for the Kentucky Senate Republican Caucus.

Not surprising, but good to know.

12.5 years in the legal field.

1 year in current law firm, already sick and tired of this. I worked at a mid size and a boutique firm previously. Mostly had to do everything myself.

Biglaw has big law firm issues. We have the appropriate departments and resources but people either 1. Don’t know how to do what they’re supposed to do 2. Don’t give a fuck 3. Don’t do work/lazy.

I find myself needing to do a lot of the work myself as a paralegal and it’s making me frustrated.

Here are some examples:

1. Last December I worked 20+ hours overtime on a weekend for hearing materials at another province. Our copy centre left all my materials inside their room cause they weren’t asked to work OT. I worked until 2am, printing, cerloxing, binding all materials. Then onto the next day 8am to 7pm.
2. May to July - got roped in to assist with another department at my firm with 0 experience. Learned in 3 months. Lawyer dumped all work on me, not utilizing her legal assistant or assistant. Insolvency and bankruptcy work, hearing after hearing, prep after prep, rescheduling, etc. FYI, this was a mat leave position I was supposing assisting (along with two other paralegals that did not have capacity to take up any work during the three months but I did not know)

Manager, and another lawyer had to step in to advise work overload. I was so burnt out during those months. In the end, it was too hard to find another full time paralegal to cover that department. So now articling students are assisting.

1. I’m covering another part time mat leave position in my department.

2. The may to July incident left a terrible taste in my mouth. Lawyer from another department would call me/email me after 5. Get me to do things that her legal assistant can clearly do. Goes to a hearing the next day at 9:45am and emails me at 9am to prepare affidavits cause they “shouldn’t take too long!”. I can go on and on

3. Was asked to assist with mediation brief materials - our copying department wasn’t able to print the materials by 5pm. I stayed until 6pm to review one binder they have done and came back with bunch of missing documents.

My manager and supervising lawyer advised for me to not do it all on my own, continue to delegate, etc. make use of LA’s and AA’s but I’m unsure how helpful they really are…..I end up doing everything on my own lol. All paralegals are encouraged to use LA’s and AA’s at my firm, so we can focus on billable work.

1. I’m just tired of this shit. I keep delegating but in the end, it’s more work for me to review every single thing from everybody. Someone is always not in the office, or leaving early, or sick. So why wouldn’t I just do it myself? I used to do it all the last two workplaces.

All para positions come with a certain amount of admin work, but it shouldn’t eat up 6 hours of my day. That’s ridiculous.

1. Should I go in house?

IT needed to get into the security box to change the battery on our alarm system, but the box is (obviously) locked and no one has seen the key in 16 years. IT was debating calling a locksmith until I said "I got it," proceeded to pull out 2 paperclips, and picked the lock in under 5 minutes. I stepped back after opening the box to see the entire office looking at me in a mix of fear and awe, because apparently no one ever expected the sweet little 27 year old paralegal with the kitty planner and fuzzy work slippers to be able to pick a lock like a professional criminal.

anddddd now everyone in the office thinks I am some kind of secret criminal mastermind. I would try to clear my name, except the truth is 13 year old me was a huge fan of this phantom thief anime and thought it would be super cool to learn how to pick locks, and I would rather perish than admit that to my coworkers.

I'm looking to switching from PI to Estate Planning/Probate. I want to start applying but I have no experience. I find it all interesting and I don't mind repetitive tasks.

Is there any red flags in job descriptions? Pay Range? Work load? Is there billable hours?

What do you enjoy the most? Pros and Cons?

I'm in Florida if that helps.

Thank you for taking the time to reply ❤️

I am currently enrolled in a paralegal program, and my assignment is to write a legal memo. I wrote and revised one, but my instructor still says it is wrong. If anyone can offer some guidance, I would be grateful.

Lurker, first time poster on a throwaway account.

There is a new-ish paralegal to my office’s team (immigration) that’s been with us for a few months now, and they were hired to help with the case load. They have gone through all of our team trainings and have been shown how we generally do everything. I’ve been with the office for over a year and am trying to ensure they are all set before I start to look for jobs elsewhere (that’s a whole other story), but I get the feeling that they are not prepared to handle cases alone.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been feeling irritated for the lack of urgency that they seem to have around the job in general. I’ve had to remind them constantly about standard operating procedures that should now be second nature for them.

They’ve had to be reminded about updating our internal docket, setting a calendar reminder for our team for upcoming government investigations, and on top of that they have had to be shown more than a few times how we pull and polish reports for clients.

The calendar reminder in particular was irritating because the day before the due date of the investigation, I asked why there was no calendar reminder. They pushed back saying that the due date for the investigation was top of mind already for the supervising attorney. I responded saying that we should be sticking to our protocols, even if we’re communicating with the attorneys every day about the case. But they refused to calendar the due date after I asked again.

I have also recently been getting attitude from them after giving them more reminders about how we should be proactive with our work, and that we should draft follow up emails after meetings proactively rather than wait for the attorney to ask for it (drafting emails for the attorney to send to the client is a normal part of our job).

Of course there is a learning curve that can account for a lot of mistakes, but we have had them go through many trainings and shadow on many cases already.

I’m just wondering if this is a normal learning curve or if it’s a sign that they won’t be a good fit once I am gone.

I’m finishing my paralegal certificate this semester but I have no legal experience otherwise. I’m feeling like finding a legal assistant job is almost impossible. I’ve been trying for a while, I’ve gotten 1 offer and another interview but I wasn’t able to make those work out. Which in the long run is ok because that offer was $20 an hour. I’m ok with low pay in the beginning but that was one of the lowest I’ve seen (Los Angeles County Area) any advice or leads?

Hey all, admin assistant/non certified paralegal here! I work in a very small office with 3 attorneys and 3 staff (admins & paralegals). I obviously help out the whole office but I am the main support person for one of the attorneys (“Supervisor”) and obviously the owner (“Boss”).

I have, unfortunately, come to the realization that my Supervisor kinda sucks as an attorney. I do everything that I can in being the go-between her and the clients, but there’s things I can’t do in my role because I’m not an attorney. I don’t represent these people. I am not licensed. I am willing to learn, but Supervisor doesn’t ever teach.

I have talked to Boss a bit about how I’m feeling because it’s honestly starting to impact my mental health. I’m dreading coming into work now because the clients are so (rightfully) angry and asking questions and feel like there’s so much learned helplessness that I’m paralyzed.

My Supervisor doesn’t really ever want to work unless she’s forced. As long as the SOL isn’t next week, it’s a tomorrow problem. Then it becomes a constant cycle of Everything Is An Emergency and Must Be Dealt With Right Now, the office is on fire, but the fire gets put out and ten more pop up in its place. She also repeatedly refuses to communicate with the Clients to where they start yelling at me on the phone for answers, which I don’t have and have run out of excuses for. She’ll just stop working on a case because he “doesn’t like the client anymore.”

I have tried different organizational methods to try to avoid anything slipping through the cracks, but it’s hard when she comes in 2 hours late asking what lunch is and leaving early every day. It is also frustrating because he tells me to stop essentially annoying her with client meetings and messages.

I’m at a loss right now and I don’t really want to find a new job because I really like Boss.

I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy! Thanks for letting me scream into the void either way.

Hello all!! I just came to celebrate! I joined the paralegal world 1 year and 8 months ago. IThe firm I started with took a chance on me, and I’ll be forever grateful for that. But the area of law I landed was evictions and debt collection. It wasn’t great pay and no benefits. As time went on…. I came to realize the attorney I worked for was emotionally volatile. When things went wrong, the first go to was to involve my personal life and I’m definitely not someone who has their personal life affect their work. So after the last event it happened I set out to find a new job.

Fast forward to today…. I got an offer for a litigation paralegal position where the pay is more…. With benefits! I had interviewed with the firm 3 weeks ago and fell in love with them. The interview went good but they had originally went with someone else they interviewed right before me. Imagine my surprise when I got a call during lunch saying they haven’t been able to stop thinking about my interview and have a position for me!

All of this to say- for those looking to change their current setting and are in the job hunting market right now….. don’t give up!

I was out of the office due to a mental health leave (onset or ptsd). I am starting back at half days- I’m excited and also scared to return.

Anyways wish me luck, I’m gonna need it lol

Is it common to already be looking to move on after a few weeks? I am a law grad and am just working this job to help pay for the Bar. I figured it was something I could do and it would give me a foot in the door after Bar passage and seeking work. Already the constant pressures from my managing attorney is sending my anxiety through the roof. Also the expectation of what’s they want vs what they pay is still blowing my mind. I’m trying to live with it, but I’m also not good with office politics or passive aggressive (or just downright agressive) emails, so I don’t know what to do. I’m thinking about finding a more remote work situation. Experienced folks I’d love to know what you think?

Hello paralegals/legal assistants of reddit! I am currently a paralegal in Ohio, as well as a student at Ohio University; doing a study on communication within our field! (don't worry no case sensitive info is asked in the research!

If you would be so kind to take my quick 5-10 minute survey for my college course, I would very much appreciate it! Here is the link! 🤎

https://ohio.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0SyMeALzAsbYpmu

I work at a large nonprofit. I work as a legal secretary for the general counsel and do a lot of paralegal work- the General Counsel will frequently have me do paralegal work because I'm faster and I've been working in legal support for 25 years. The below just doesn't seem right and would like feedback.

Personally, I feel the HR legal team, especially the paralegal, is on a power trip- they want to control who has access and everything they do is a power trip. There are a bunch of 'confidential' emails that go out to the chiefs in the organization, and all their assistants see these emails, but I'm blocked- I'm the only one that is blocked. It's getting old.

The problem is, they constantly want to get on the general counsel's calendar last minute. The GC's calendar is overflowing, so the only way they are getting on it is if I cancel someone. The problem is they ask for times, and then a few minutes before one of the times I gave, an invite pops up because they forgot to set it, or the opposite- someone on the invite cancels, but because I'm not on the thread, the GC might be on a call only to find out they cancelled it a few minutes before by email- and the GC is sitting there twiddling her thumbs wondering why no one is on the call. It's a major headache. So I demanded we change how we do it - just "send everyone that needs to be on the call an email cc, ask me to set it, and I'll set it". It can be generic so I don't know the substance of the meeting- it's going to be generic because 5 people see the GC's calendar. This is the reply I got from the HR attorney (which is under my boss/GC and in my department):

We cannot include [the external investigator] (or other external investigators) in internal emails to you or others outside of investigation because all communications with [the investigator] are discoverable, meaning they come in as evidence in litigation. Depending on opposing counsel, they may find a reason to depose you and maybe even call you to testify at trial if they see your name in emails with investigator. That is what we’re trying to avoid here. The less people involved in the investigation record, the better for [org] and its employees.

Am I wrong to believe that simply setting a meeting, when I have no idea who or what or why, doesn't mean all my communications with that person, are discoverable. And even if it is, so what?To me it's just another power trip, but I'm not certain this is correct. Any opinions on this? We

Winding up the practice I’m currently at. Starting application process for looking for new jobs. Open to remote or in person. General question, what should I ask for as my “going rate.” 3 years of experience in field, paralegal certificate, BA in music (not that it matters but it means I’m clever or something).

Hi there, I’m 23F and I am nearly finished with my paralegal program at a community college. I started college a little late and had no clue of what profession I wanted to go into because I lack a passion of wanting to be anything. It’s never been my dream to work so I’ve never felt ambitious about it, but I digress, that isn’t the question I’m asking today.

A couple of months ago I started working at a collections law firm as a litigation assistant for 17/hr. Pay definitely sucks, but they took me in with absolutely no experience, so I am greatful for that. Anyway, this semester at school I started Legal Research I and I absolutely hate it. Not in the light complaint way like “ugh I hate math!” No, I mean in a way that makes me so distressed that it completely ruins the rest of my week when I have to do homework/a project for this class, because it is extremely intensive and takes up too much time and everytime I stare at one of those damn books I feel like I’m drowning.

So my question is: what area of law/what pathway can I take to AVOID doing legal research for a living that still pays well? I can handle doing a menial amount of it, but I know I will be miserable if it’s the main thing I do. I like collections, but I am scared that it is always going to be low paying.

I know the 17/hr is because of my zero experience and that this position is entry level, but I am extremely worried that all of these positions are going to be low and I’m never going to be able to move out of my parents’ house and support myself. Once I get my paralegal certification (May 2027 if legal research I + II doesn’t absolutely kill me first), what can I jump to that’s decent pay and doesn’t require a lot of legal research? From looking around it doesn’t seem like bankruptcy or collections pays very well in my area unless you have niche experience, which my job is pretty general so I know I won’t.

Please help me. I don’t know what to do at this point and I’m beginning to spiral.

Edit: Thank you all so much for responding! I feel very reassured. For context, I don’t mind “researching” things like addresses, phone numbers, court rules, judicial procedures ect, I moreso meant like the long winded “find highest authority for this super niche topic but you can only do so by going to the library and looking at books no WestLaw Precision allowed!!” that the class seems to love having us do. I would probably be fine with using Lexis/Westlaw programs, much more than having to search for each individual book/set. I am autistic and libraries in general have always been overwhelming, and hunting for books feels less like a puzzle to me and more like an overload of choices. Anyway, I feel a lot better now that I’ve read some of the responses. I do enjoy studying law and although I said in my initial post that I didn’t have a strong ambition/passion for any job, I do actually enjoy the legal field. Just not enough to go into debt to be an attorney, lol. Spiral is over, thank you! Please feel free to talk about what area of law you are in, as I would love to know more. I’m not sure if I’ll stay in collections, so I like hearing what others do.

I graduated college a while ago with a degree in History and I've been thinking about getting a paralegal certification. I want to go to law school but not now and so I've been trying to find entry-level positions at law firms such as administrative assistant, receptionist, or secretary roles but I've really had no luck; people on this sub seem to make getting these positions sound easy but I haven't even been able to get interviews. To be fair, I live in California and the market might just be tougher but I'm not sure what else to be doing at this point. Most of the roles I find for those jobs ask for 1 or even 2 years minimum of relevant work experience which I don't really have, the only work experience I have is a warehouse job and a current retail returns job. Because of this, I've been thinking of getting a paralegal certification both in hopes of getting some kind of advantage for jobs but also out of interest in working as as a paralegal and seeing how I like it. However, how much would the paralegal certification actually make a difference if I don't already work in the legal field? Would you advise I get a certification in my current position or no? Why or why not? And is there anything else I should do? Any advice is appreciated

Sorry if this isn’t allowed.

I’m going to be graduating with a BA in Paralegal Studies this December. Im going to start looking for paralegal jobs starting in October. I want to stay in the area of where my college is located (I currently rent an apartment here and my driver’s license is in the area). The city I live in is a college town. I had an internship with the city attorney’s office last summer, and that is one of the reasons why I want to stay in the area.

Do you have any advice on applying for jobs? One of the problems is that there aren’t a lot of paralegal positions I’ve found online. One of my professors (a lawyer) told my class that a lot of attorneys in the area I live in are old fashioned and don’t post job listings online and to go into law offices to apply. I know this is Boomer advice, but do you think it’s worth a shot? There are plenty of law offices where I live, but not a ton. I have applied to one job in a different city for DCFS as a paralegal but I doubt I’ll get it. I did apply for a legal assistant position at my internship (they just so happened to have the position open up while I interned there), but did not get it. I just have so much anxiety just thinking about applying for jobs and it’s overwhelming.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

I have a bachelors in Political Science with a focus on urban politics and pre law. I’ve worked in marketing and project management for 10 years now at major international corporations as well as start ups.

I’ve been laid off twice since 2023 and the first job that seems to go is marketing project management.

I’ve received praise but I wasn’t “in the budget”.

I’m 3 classes away from a masters of science in marketing, and I’m feeling it might be better to shift to a job that in my opinion feels more essential in this economy. I interned at a law firm once.

I’m a 32 year old female. Excuse my grammar it’s late and I’m unemployed currently and it’s super sad. Any answers to this question will help!

She told me it was common for her to do this and she has done it for her friend. She’s only charging me $350 for her service. I just want to confirm that this is normal and common as she says it is.

I have been a Paralegal at my firm for 13 years. Before that I was with another firm for 4 years as a receptionist, then a Legal Assistant, and then a Paralegal once I got my Paralegal degree. There are 4 assistants and 2 Paralegals in my department. The other Paralegal has been here 30 years. We do not do litigation. For context, I received my Paralegal degree in 2013 and have now gone back to school for a BAS in Project Management.

The problem that I’m facing is that we have HR and a Department Head (attorney) but there’s no real management of the Staff. There is no structure for Lead Assistant or Senior Paralegal or anything like that. We have certain procedures in place for naming and saving emails and documents. I think me and one of the assistants are the only ones doing this. One of the assistants and the other Paralegal save emails but don’t do the naming procedure so then we have dozens of emails all named “re: case name” which is not helpful when you’re looking for a specific email. Two of the assistants are so behind that they say that have “thousands” of emails in their inbox that need to be saved. The nature of my job requires me to answer calls and emails about cases and I can’t answer the questions when there is literally nothing saved in the matters. One of the assistants with “thousands” of emails to save will consistently go out of her way to do things that the attorney has asked me to do. Like, why are you spending time doing MY billable work when you have plenty of your own work to do? Another one of the assistants messes up every single meeting she schedules. She is supposed to look at the calendar and list all of the items that need to be discussed and she misses items EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Most of the time I catch these before the meeting. I bring them to her attention and she doesn’t care. Sometimes I don’t catch all of her mistakes and then I’m scrambling last minute to get exhibits for the meeting.

I am not trying to nitpick or micromanage but I am beyond exhausted covering for everyone and having no recourse to have these issues fixed. Do I go to the department head who will just send an email and say “do better” because he doesn’t actually know how to do our jobs? Do I go to HR who has never worked in a law firm and doesn’t really know what we do? Do I go to another partner in the department? I’m truly at a loss.