Legal Assistant Salary
Before we get into the specifics of what an average legal assistant salary is, let’s look at it’s job description. To put it simply, a legal assistant is someone who helps a lawyer perform his or her legal services. A legal assistant is also often known as a paralegal. He or she cannot give any actual legal advice to a client, but can do all the necessary work up until the point of giving actual legal advice. In most cases, the legal assistant does most of the same work that a lawyer would and is obviously a great way to learn the law profession thoroughly.
The position of a legal assistant came into being in the 1960s when the whole legal industry started to boom. As almost every aspect of life became a legal matter, work pressure increased. As a result, it became almost impossible for a lawyer to handle every aspect of his or her legal service. Thus, the legal assistant position was created.
A legal assistant maintains contact with the client, including conducting interviews. Finding witnesses and necessary evidence is also performed by the legal assistant. The majority share of legal and case research is often done by legal assistants. This job also includes gathering data, summarizing the interviews, depositions, testimony, etc.
Legal Assistant Salary
A legal assistant’s salary varies greatly based on the education, experience, training, the employer and the location. A legal assistant working in a large city or for a big firm will receive considerably more salary when compared to someone working in a rural area or in a small firms. On average, a full time legal assistant can earn between $25,411 to $59,641 yearly. The more experienced and well educated legal assistants can get up to $73,450 per year. In terms of an average legal assistant salary in the United States , you are looking at $48,000. (SOURCE: Indeed.com)
In addition to a normal salary, legal assistants can also get a very good amount of bonuses from their employers from time to time. Furthermore get health insurance, paid leave, dental insurance, sick leave, life insurance and other benefits. Some of them moreover get their fees to continue legal education needed for this position. Sometimes they also get a small share of the fees earned from giving legal services to wealthy clients.
Education Needed To Become A Legal Assistant
One way of becoming a legal assistant is going through a community college legal assistant program which eventually leads to an associate degree. For those who already have a college degree they can complete a legal assistant training program and become certified. In addition to that, some lawyers teach their assistants on the job.
There are many institutes, schools, community college with training programs for legal assistants. The American Bar Association approves almost 260 training programs. Getting into one of these approved programs increases the opportunity to find a good job drastically. The entry requirement may vary from institute to institute. Some may ask for a college degree, some for a bachelor’s degree, while the other may conduct an interview and test. Certification requirements tend to change from state to state so be sure to do some research online.
Job Growth Outlook For A Legal Assistant
The projected growth of legal assistant between 2008 and 2018 is 28 percent, which is very high. The demand will only increase as the ever increasing population will have even more need of legal services. As more and more large corporations are now trying to have their own in-house legal department to cut costs, they will be the biggest employer of legal assistants in the near future. So this job has a very bright future ahead of it.
So jump online and learn about what it takes to become a legal assistant in your specific state!
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