Legal Assistant Program

Career Opportunities for the Legal Assistant

During legal assistant training, you will have the opportunity to specialize your skills. If you wish, you may become a litigation legal assistant and provide an invaluable service to the lawyers you work with by helping in the litigation process. Before you decide to become specialize in litigation during legal assistant training, though, you need to understand exactly what these legal assistants are and what they do.

What is a Litigation Legal Assistant and What Do They Do?

While there are many types of legal assistants, the litigation legal assistant is perhaps one of the most important. Litigation legal assistants are the backbone of a legal team. They are responsible for obtaining and organizing thousand of items before, during, and after a trial. Without them, a legal team does not run as smoothly or efficiently.

The work a litigation paralegal does save the attorney a massive amount of time, because his main duty is discovery and disclosure. This is typically a time-consuming task because it involves processing and presenting every bit of information a lawyer and the court may need for a trial. If you decide to undergo legal assistant training and specialize in litigation, you will be required to perform these time-consuming tasks. Before you decide that this career is right for you, though, let’s take a look at each type of task you will need to perform. Read the rest of this entry »

Avoiding Mistakes in Your Legal Assistant Career

There are certain common mistakes almost every legal assistant makes during and after legal assistant training. While making these mistakes gives you the option of learning from your past and moving toward the future, there is another strategy you might prefer even more.

Avoiding them altogether.

After all, if you can recognize your mistakes before you make them, won’t you be better off in the long run? You won’t have to waste your time or jeopardize your legal assistant training or career on mistakes you could have avoided in the first place.

Avoiding The 7 Most Common Mistakes During and After Legal Assistant Training

Here are a few of the most common mistakes and the lessons you should learn from each.

• Comparing - So your classmates are catching on to the legal assistant training a little faster than you are. Don’t let this take away from your focus. You have no idea how many hours those individuals spend in the library, sweating over the books. They may not have to take three children to school, fix snacks, work part-time, and somehow find time to study. Focus on your own path and your own progress. Comparing yourself to others just adds stress to your life. Read the rest of this entry »

Continued Legal Assistant Training

When working as a legal assistant, continued legal assistant training can help you prepare for and accomplish almost anything in the office, including your annual review. This yearly event often determines whether you receive a raise, promotion, or even whether you are allowed to continue working with your law firm. It is very important to be ready for these events, so that when an employer takes a look at your work for the past year, you don’t end up packing up your desk.

Legal Assistant Training, Continued Education, and Other Tips For Surviving A Review

You found the job of your dreams after legal assistant training, and you want to keep it. So what can you do to prepare for your annual performance reviews?

• Familiarize Yourself With The Process- The unknown can be very scary. Think back to report card days in elementary and high school. Do you remember that moment, right before the report cards were passed out, when you were so anxious you had a knot in your stomach? Even as adults we can still feel this way, so it is important to gain as much information as possible in order to avoid this fear of the unknown. Consider the reason these reviews are used. They help evaluate your ability to cooperate and communicate with other employees, improve any unsatisfactory performance, and reinforce what you are doing well. Read the rest of this entry »

Life After Legal Assistant Training

You’ve just finished your legal assistant training, and are excited to begin your new career. You imagine now that hundreds of law firms will start beating a path to your door just to have a chance to work with you. Okay, so that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you do hope that at least one or two firms will respond to your resume…but the phone never rings.

So now you are faced with the tough question. After legal assistant training, is your lack of experience keeping you from obtaining the job you want? It very well might be. But there are things you can do.

After Legal Assistant Training – 5 Steps To Employment Without Experience

• Refresh Your Resume- While “one size fits all” may apply to certain items of clothing, it should not describe your resume. Each position you apply for after legal assistant training is unique, and your resume should be just as special. Consider the requirements and tasks each position requires and adjust your resume to fit it. Make sure your resume is limited to one page, printed on white paper, and is free of any flamboyant fonts or colors. Read the rest of this entry »

Legal Assistant Training – Scholarships and Grants

If you are considering starting legal assistant training, you may want to think about how much your education is going to cost. According to the College Board, the average annual tuition for two year colleges is about $2,963. Universities, private colleges, and public four year colleges cost much more, averaging between $8,000 per year and $28,000 per year.

Let me take this moment to remind you to breathe.

While these numbers can be extremely intimidating and may cause you to panic a bit if you don’t have an extra three thousand dollars in your back pocket, you may be able to avoid them altogether.

Avoiding The Big Bill With Your Legal Assistant Training

College is supposed to be the time when you receive a great education, make lifelong friends, and spread your wings. However, if you are trying to juggle your legal assistant training while working full time to afford your tuition, you may be getting the full college experience. If you are worried about paying for your legal assistant training, here are a few steps you can take. Read the rest of this entry »

Do You Have What It Takes To Be a Legal Assistant?

Does watching Law and Order, The Practice, or re-runs of Perry Mason have you excited about starting your legal assistant training? These television hits may make life in the legal world a glamorous, but they may not give you a full picture of what to expect after legal assistant training. Before you start filling out applications for college, make sure you are ready for the real thing.

The Traits of a Successful Legal Assistant

When it comes to your legal assistant career, you need to be sure you are in it for all the right reasons, not just because it looks great on TV. Here are a few tips for determining whether you have what it takes to be a legal assistant or not.

• Research Should Be Your Life- The majority of a legal assistant’s job is research, so it is important that you love finding and learning new information every single day. You need to be comfortable sorting through old files or searching for information on the internet. You should also always be thinking of new and more efficient ways to research information. Read the rest of this entry »

When you have completed your legal assistant training, you will most likely start your job hunt. You will be handing out business cards, networking, and, most importantly, filling out tons of applications. There are many places to find employment, but which one do really want to work for?

Legal Assistant Training and The Social Security Administration

If you have finished your legal assistant training, you may want to consider working for the Social Security Administration (SSA). The SSA provides full time career positions for legal assistants who wish to help analyze and solve problems and work with a team to help advise disabled and retired individuals on their governmental rights.

Individuals who have legal assistant training help the SSA by handling appeals for individuals who have been denied benefits from Social Security, Medicare, or SSI. They work with judges, lawyers, and other professionals. Read the rest of this entry »

Legal assistant training and the certification exam often go hand in hand. But do you really know what is required of you before you can take your exam? While for some, this may be an easy concept, it is not so black and white. If you want to obtain the career of your dreams after legal assistant training, there are a few things you should know.

Why is Certification Important After Legal Assistant Training?

Certification after legal assistant training is essential if you want the greatest career potential. Although it is not required by many employers, obtaining this certification can often help. You can usually become employed more easily and may even be paid more for your services.

The National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) is one of many legal assistant associations that offer certification. The American Alliance of Paralegals, Inc and the National Federation of Paralegal Association (NFPA) also offer certifications. Each have their own standards and eligibility requirements. Read the rest of this entry »

All across the country, individuals with legal assistant training are finding employment working for a legal aid society. Each state has its own legal aid society, and each one usually performs the same tasks. Several states, like Arizona and California have more than one legal aid society, helping several counties at once.

After your legal assistant training, you may want to begin your career with a legal aid society.

After Legal Assistant Training: What is a Legal Aid Society?

Legal aid societies are organizations developed for the purpose of helping low-income individuals find legal help. These organizations offer free or low cost legal representations to those who could not otherwise afford it and are usually sponsored by a local bar association or the government.

Legal aid societies generally help with any kind of legal services needed. They may provide an attorney for a court case, prepare documentation, or provide mediation. Some may offer services for civil, domestic, welfare, and health care legal cases. Criminal assistance is offered by some legal aid societies, but not all of them will provide this type of service because criminals are, by law, allowed free legal representation through the government. Read the rest of this entry »

Legal Assistant Training and the Wave of Online Workers

When your legal assistant training is complete, you will most likely be ready for an exciting career in law. While your first thought may be to work in a brick and mortar law office, have you considered employment online? With a few adjustments to what you’ve learned in your legal assistant training program, this might be just the right fit for you.

After Legal Assistant Training: Working Online

Working online is in some ways the same as working at a regular law firm. You will perform many of the same tasks you were taught to complete during your legal assistant training. However, there are a few differences.

• Communication- Instead of walking to the next office, you will most likely communicate through phone calls, emails, and instant messenger. You should make sure you are able to be reached at all times during work hours. The biggest fear of hiring a virtual legal assistant is lack of dependability.

• Legal Services- While you may work from home, your employer may be located in a different state, or even a different country. In order to provide the best legal services, you may have to undergo additional legal assistant training to learn the state and country laws where your employer and client reside. Read the rest of this entry »