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Many people are enjoying a career as a legal assistant ... and many more will follow them in the future. Case in point, did you realize that the average paralegal salary is around $34,000 annually? And that's just for local and state jobs. Legal assistants working for the government can be paid up to double. In addition to the awesome pay, you may not choose to pursue a paralegal degree to qualify for a position. If you possess experience as a paralegal, you will be well suited to work at a law office. If you have experience as a paralegal, you should have a higher rate of job opportunities than most.

Clearly, it is for these reasons that paralegal careers are becoming more prevalent. Want to learn what a paralegal job is like?

For starters, paralegals are legal assistants. In fact, the words are virtually interchangeable. Legal assistants help lawyers with many of their day-to-day tasks, they may not offer legal advice. A paralegal job might consist of preparing legal documents, performing research, and doing much of the prepatory jobs for lawyers. Legal assistants can work in many different fields; from medical law to criminal law. Approximately 70% of all legal assistants in the United States gain employment within a law firm.

There are not many requirements for working as a legal assistant through much of the U.S. While there is no set standard in paralegal education, a paralegal certification is critical and desired by most law offices. The following are a couple of paralegal certification tests:

CLA Exam (or Certified Legal Assistant Exam) sponsored by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA).

PACE (or Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam) which is offered by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA).

Since the certification exams require you to meet certain specifications in order to take them, you may want to think about an education in paralegal studies. There are a number of options for those desiring to gain a formal education in paralegal studies.

It is possible to get a position as a paralegal even without a certification or education, but you may have a more difficult time getting a job and it will likely be for lower pay. Many law firms tend to hire people with a formal education in paralegal studies. It will only make finding employment as a paralegal easier if you gain qualifications before looking for your first job.