In general, a paralegal is a person trained in subsidiary legal matters but not fully qualified as a lawyer. What this means is, a paralegal has the direct training to act as a subunit for a lawyer and take on the majority of the legal workload that lawyers deal with daily. Often times, lawyers may not have the time to handle all the ground work for a case and that’s where a paralegal comes in.

Paralegals can gain experience in may ways, one being through a certification program. Some certified paralegals obtain their education of the legal field through an ABA certified program, some through work experience and many through both. Certified paralegals who are employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity, perform special delegated sustain legal work.

THE IMPORTANCE

Becoming certified is a voluntary process. You are not required to be certified to gain paralegal employment. The key importance behind a certified paralegal is the educational training. Although most states do not define educational or training requirements for paralegals, may paraprofessionals choose to become certified. Why? for may reasons; gratification, enhancement of knowledge, to move up in their career…..but a major factor is pay. Pay for paralegals that become certified can increase substantially. As you know, an increase in pay can alter a lot of our pockets!

Another important factor is, like many certified professional, some states require that you take CLE’s or continuing legal education courses. The amount of hours required per year may vary by state.