Do Not Become A Paralegal

It is with the utmost respect for the profession and the professionals that I’ve met along the way as well as with the strictest reservation that I utter the following recommendation: Do not become a paralegal. Even as I write this, I am still a bit wary of actually putting down in words the feelings that I’ve possessed during my final months on the job. It is not from the fear of retribution (though I still have this job and retribution is quite plausible), but rather, it is from the fear that I actually would cause more harm that good by the below piece; after all, how can I even begin to imagine that I can do justice to the paralegal position in such few words. One thing is quite evident though, in the two years that I have spent working full-time in the capacity of a paralegal, I have acquired and developed numerous skills but even after all the accolades I can deliver about the profession, it still is never enough to persuade from me a positive recommendation for a career as a paralegal, even if just for the interim.

I accepted this career, as did a few of my peers, right after completing my undergraduate degree because I was unsure of what was to be my next step after receiving that degree. At the time, I had contemplated submitting an application for matriculation at medical schools but I ultimately decided to hold off on the application and instead chose to pursue other budding interests for a year or two. While working as a paralegal was the furthest job from my mind at the time, somehow between the ineptitude of my undergraduate career center and my hastiness to turn from the field I had spent all my collegiate years preparing for, I ended up accepting a job to work as a corporate paralegal in the legal department of a publicly traded hospitality company. There lies the story that shaped my view of the industry.

Like many new experience, the first few months provided some exciting challenges that kept me entertained. There existed a steep learning curve and the first few months found me trying to adjust to life as a paralegal. So much was unfamiliar that it was quite unimaginable to see how I could possibly accumulate all this working knowledge in time to be able to add some value to the position and the team that surrounded me. Yet, even as tedious as the learning curve was, it all started to fall into place sooner or later. I found myself adjusting to my new role within the company and it was then that I felt exposed to the true nature of the paralegal position. Within months of this revelation, I knew I wanted out, but the more I tried, the harder it became to actually leave. There is a saying that if you ever find yourself in a hole, the first thing you should do is to stop digging. Well, sometimes convincing yourself that it can be quicker to climb out than to continue digging to the other side is harder than it seems. For me, it took almost a year and a half before I threw down the shovel.

I’ve tried to list below four reasons that compelled me to switch out of my current role as a paralegal. While these are by no means the only four reasons that sent me packing, they are four important reasons that stick out in my memory. Before I begin, I would add that I in no means plan to convince anyone to stay clear of the paralegal position. The four reasons below do not have a clear unifying them except that they are sharp rationales I found to turn from the position. Beside, the truly wise will read the following posts and make do of it as they see best.

1. No Transferable Skills: One of the things that I regretted most about the paralegal is the specialization that it requires, but the lack of certification it provides. While working as a paralegal teaches a few soft skills that can be transferred across field, there is actually not a single hard skill that I have come across that can be applied across to a different field. As a paralegal, you are taught to act as a lawyer without actually fulfilling the duties of one. By that, I mean that you are taught to predict the response of a counsel without actually making the decision, or at least seeking the approval of a counsel before making such a decision. This leads to a specialized worker that lacks the legal authority to act without a supervisor and at the end of the day, all a paralegal can do, and do really well, is predict the action of a lawyer. No other job can appreciate such a skill except those that exist within legal field. The problem arises if one seeks to transfer out of the legal field. There is no certification that grants the authority to market these skills that have been honed over time. It is essentially illegal for a paralegal to market their knowledge or their expertise without being associated with a lawyer. Besides, will a employer outside of the legal realm care that I know what a promissory estoppel is?
2. The Proverbial Black hole: Going off a bit from point number one, the very nature of the paralegal position creates a proverbial black hole. Once one starts working as a paralegal, it is quite possible to acquire numerous skills through on the job training that can also be acquired in a formal classroom. Yet, since there is no formal advancement in the paralegal position, once you are a paralegal, you remain perpetually a paralegal. It is not as if one can work a certain number of years and acquire a certain number of skills and knowledge and find that they have suddenly become a lawyer. The paralegal position has no real advancement through the ranks; you are a paralegal the first day you enter the position and a paralegal for as long as you stay in that capacity. The better you become at being a paralegal, the longer the chain that binds you to the position become. Over the years, you find that you have become such a good, if not great, paralegal and can do nothing else but this.
3. Not actually a prerequisite: One familiar tie that binds a lot of my colleagues within this profession is an interest to matriculate at law school at some point in their lives. Many chose to become paralegals first and they willingly put up with the grunt work because they were falsely led into believing that working as a paralegal will either (1) act as a gateway into law school, or (2) assist them in making the decision whether working a lawyer is the right career choice for them. After a few months, even I was able to see the futility of this approach. First, law schools could actually care less whether you worked as a paralegal for a few years or not. There is no work experience pre-requisite for law school and those that work for a few years beforehand find that they gain no relevant advantage except for a few dollars in their pockets. Second, the role of a paralegal does not shed insight into the lives of the lawyers you work under. As a paralegal, you are there to support the lawyers, and all you can really gain insight into is how to support a lawyer rise in their career. There are multiples ways to learn what life as a lawyer, or even learn the experience of law school, but becoming a paralegal is perhaps the hyperbolic worst way of them all.
4. Middle / Back Office: For some who may not understand the nuance of Front/Middle/Back office roles, this fourth point may be a bit unfamiliar. I admit to be clueless to the nuances until a few months into my career as a paralegal. You see, there are really two roles in every company: Front Office and everything else. A front office role is a role that brings in money, meets with client and brings in business. Everything else is classified under roles that support the front office, assist the front office, or fixes the front office’s computers and equipments. Since non-front office roles do not generate the business of the firm, they are treated as second class citizens. If you truly believe prejudice and discrimination has been eradicated from corporate America, wait till you work at a middle to back office position. Well, you’ve probably guessed it, the paralegal position is a back office as it gets.

So there you have four of the reasons I choose to run as far away from the paralegal position. My greatest disappointment during these past two years was that I truly believed that the years I spent working as a paralegal might actually lead to wonderful exit opportunities. Upon learning the truth, I threw down the shovel and realized that the only way for me to ever escape from the hole I found myself was to climb out. Trying to dig my way into better fortunes will only create a bigger hole.