Now that you understand « what a legal assistant is, » you may decide to hire a legal assistant. When hiring a legal assistant for your law firm, there are several factors to consider to ensure you make the best business decision for your firm. Start the process by asking yourself questions like: Simply put, a legal assistant is a lawyer who does the work – usually administrative – on behalf of an attorney. While paralegals certainly have a lot to offer law firms, they fulfill a different role in a law firm. Paralegals focus on substantive legal work on behalf of supervising lawyers. Conversely, although legal assistants also work on behalf of lawyers, they focus more on administrative support tasks. This distinction is more important than it seems at first glance. Law firms that don`t recognize the unique roles of paralegals may miss out on the value paralegals can bring to a law firm. ABC Company is looking for an experienced full-time legal assistant/secretary in the firm`s office (City).

The ideal candidate ensures the smooth running of the office and effective case management by providing legal services under the supervision of lawyers, including one in our (government) office. This person will communicate frequently with clients and has exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, a ability to set priorities and a strong ability to multitask. This position offers a competitive salary, parking and bonus potential. ABC Company, a national law firm with multiple offices, immediately opened a full-time legal assistant position for our office (city, state). A legal assistant increases the efficiency of a law firm by providing office services and other support measures to lawyers. While the work involves a lot of secretarial work, such as answering the phone, scheduling appointments, and filling out paperwork, there are additional tasks, including attending court hearings and researching information for a specific case. From the tasks that paralegals typically take on to the advice for hiring and working with paralegals, this blog post covers the main benefits lawyers can gain from working with paralegals. With a better understanding of what a legal advisor can actually offer, you can make more informed decisions when considering adding legal counsel to your team. If you`ve ever wondered, « What is a legal assistant? » you`re not alone. Although the term may seem explicit, paralegals are not the same as paralegals. Part of the value of a legal assistant is that their exact role and responsibilities can vary depending on the specific needs of a law firm.

However, the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) classifies legal assistants as individuals whose work includes certain administrative and secretarial tasks to assist a lawyer, with some tasks overlapping those of a paralegal. These paralegal duties include legal research if the person has sufficient training and experience. The average remuneration of legal assistants varies – as for lawyers – depending on factors such as field of activity, experience and place of residence. For example, paralegals who work in metropolitan areas (where the cost of living is higher) and some states typically receive higher salaries. If you`re considering hiring an independent legal assistant, there are two general paths you can take: While these statistics give a general idea of the average salary of a legal assistant, it`s important to note that the BLS doesn`t differentiate between the two roles. However, Indeed`s data shows that paralegals tend to earn less per year than paralegals. The average annual salary for a paralegal in the United States is $44,229, compared to $51,239 for a paralegal. Now that we understand « what a legal assistant is, » we understand that most lawyers and law firms can benefit from the assistance of a legal assistant. But hiring full-time legal counsel isn`t always the best solution, especially for small businesses.

In these cases, turning to an independent or virtual legal assistant is an effective solution that allows companies to delegate routine and time-consuming support tasks to a legal assistant when needed. Hiring a paralegal can be an effective solution for law firms that need help with substantive legal work. A paralegal also costs less than another lawyer. If your firm is struggling with lawyers who are overburdened with essential legal tasks, few billable hours, or dissatisfied clients and customer service complaints, you may benefit from working with a paralegal. As described in the previous section, legal assistants perform routine tasks on behalf of lawyers. For law firms where lawyers spend a lot of time on administrative work, hiring a legal assistant can improve the efficiency of the law firm. A legal assistant may remove these administrative tasks from a lawyer`s task list. Lawyers can then spend more time on billable work. Paralegals and paralegals assist lawyers directly and may need to supervise other legal staff, such as legal secretaries or case workers. Paralegals can be trained on the job in some jurisdictions, but are increasingly required to obtain diplomas or certifications through post-secondary paralegal programs.

Paralegals generally do not require formal training beyond a high school diploma or GED. However, many are pursuing additional legal studies (e.g. a legal assistant certificate) or gaining legal training in the workplace. A legal assistant performs the necessary routine tasks on behalf of a lawyer. The work often involves elements of administration, customer service and coordination. While these rules are good general guidelines, specific codes and rules for working with paralegals may vary from province or territory to jurisdiction. With that in mind, it`s important to review your state`s rules and regulations and comply with how lawyers can work with paralegals (and the tasks they can assign). Paralegals and legal assistants should possess computer, technical, analytical, communicative and organizational skills. Typically, a paralegal`s resume includes a partner`s degree or a legal assistant certification. During these programs, one learns legal terminology, the purpose of certain legal documents, law firm practices, word processing, time management and files.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median salary for paralegals and paralegals in 2020 was $52,920 per year, or $25.44 per hour. Our firm is currently seeking a qualified candidate for the position of Legal Assistant. The Legal Assistant is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the law firm, including providing administrative services, assisting the legal team, and ensuring that the firm complies with state legal requirements. The ideal candidate for this position has a strong work ethic, exceptional problem-solving skills and is comfortable in a dynamic and dynamic work environment. If your firm uses Clio Manage, adding additional users such as legal assistants to your practice management workflows (here`s a simple step-by-step guide) makes collaboration on administrative tasks such as invoicing, scheduling, and document management seamless and efficient. Clio Manage allows you to add users as non-lawyers, and you can also customize their permissions. The average salary for a paralegal is $56,300 in the United States. The salary of the position varies depending on experience, education, company size, industry and market. As we discovered, paralegals support law firms by working on behalf of lawyers with other team members – from paralegals to lawyers.