If you’re a paralegal, you must take pride in the fact that your job is supposed to be among the top 20 best jobs in the USA. Your job is supposed to be relatively stress-free and with all the litigation cases that Americans are filing, you’re not likely to be out of a job anytime soon. Another cool advantage of being a paralegal is that you can work from home, an option that is becoming increasingly attractive in these tough economic times. You don’t have to spend money on commuting to and from work and by freelancing, you can more than you would at a regular job and be assured of work (because you have many employers) if you’re skilled and efficient at your job. If you’re a paralegal who wants to try working from home, here’s how you can boost your chances of success:

Spread the word that you’re available: The most important aspect of being a freelancer is to let people know that your services are available. One way to do this is to advertise and post your profile on job sites. Or if you’ve worked at a few law offices, you could use your colleagues to generate some work for you. The best way to build your work-from-home business is to do quality work and ask people who are satisfied with your services to recommend you to their friends and fellow lawyers. When your work speaks for itself, you won’t have any trouble finding assignments.

Specialize: Paralegals who specialize in one or two areas of the law are more sought after because of their knowledge and expertise in these fields. So broaden your knowledge with a certificate course that gives you in-depth and extensive knowledge in a certain specialty of the law and seek assignments related to cases in this field.

Charge reasonably: Lawyers bill their clients by the hour and if they’re considering hiring you, it’s because they are looking to cut costs or because they don’t have the space and budget for an in-house paralegal. So charge reasonably and according to the complexity of the work you’re expected to do and watch the demand for your services grow.

Stay current: It’s important that you keep up to date with all the happenings in the legal world, more so because you’re sort of removed from where it’s all happening and sort of secluded at home. Continue to learn and research cases even when you don’t have any work at the moment so that you don’t lose out to paralegals who are more current and skilled than you.

Be flexible: Some lawyers may ask you to come in to their offices for discussions or for work that requires collaboration. Be willing to go the extra mile or take on additional work, especially if you’re just starting out or if it is a valued client who’s asking. When you’re flexible and willing to do what it takes to make your business grow, you know you’re on the road to success.

Thanks so much for the post Donna!

I should have pointed the friend to a great blog that often profiles paralegals as a resource for learning more about her potential career path. Lynne DeVenny offers tons of helpful information and news items relating to the paralegal world, but my favorite posts on her blog are the paralegal profiles. It’s a great way to show the various choices within the profession that are available to someone who thinks that this is the career for them! Hmmm, think I better go shoot off a follow up email!!

Last week though I was lucky enough to spend some time chatting with Andrea Cannavina of Legal Typist. Andrea has a very successful virtual assistant business which also primarily targets the legal industry. Andrea was kind enough to give a semi-newbie to the virtual world a little advice and I was more than glad to quickly take action on her suggestion to get a proper EthicsCheck certification from the International Virtual Assistants Association.

So this week I paid my fee and took the ethics check exam. It is a fairly lengthy and in-depth examination, and that was a good thing in my opinion. A designation is worthless if you don’t have to have in-depth knowledge to obtain it. Today, I received my confirmation that I passed the exam!

Here is the seal I am now able to display on my site!

Laurie Mapp, Verification Number 09-02-20113

I’m proud to now be able to offer this assurance to my clients and hope that other virtual assistants who want to be taken seriously recognize the value of such a certification and pursue it themselves.

And now, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m going to go have a little fun! Have a great weekend!

Of course, since the article came out I’ve already had a couple of contacts from people who want to become a virtual legal assistant or virtual paralegal. I know there are a ton of people out there, just like I once was, who love what they do but want more flexibility in their scheduling, or who want to get away from the cubicle world and work with their trusty laptops in a coffee-shop, a tropical paradise or (like me!) just want to work in their comfy home offices. While I don’t mind answering the occasional email about becoming a virtual legal assistant, I generally just refer people to the places I got all of my starting info. Check out the VAnetworking Forum or the Virtual Assistant Forums. Both of these places have tons of really helpful information and both are free, so they make the best starting points.

Take care!

It reminded me of when I first decided to go to school to become a paralegal. I took a couple of years off after high school (in my family it was a big deal simply to have graduated high school, there was no expectation to do anything more). I knew that I wanted more out of my life than minimum wage jobs and I’d always had a keen interest in the legal field. I did consider going to university and then law school, but I was well aware that it was going to cost me a LOT of money. I decided paralegal school would be a good option since the program was much shorter, the overall tuition more reasonable and i would still have decent earning potential.

It also reminded me a job I had at a law firm about 3 years after getting my paralegal diploma. I’d worked for a sole practitioner for those three years and gained invaluable experience. Then I went to work for a mid-size law firm. It was a very different experience and my first time working with articling students. They were paid barely more than I was (I made about $30,000 a year at the time). They often seemed ill-prepared for the real work of a law firm. Don’t get me wrong, they were smart and I really enjoyed working with them. It just made it clear to me that law school didn’t bother with practical matters, teaching a lot about theory and research and not much else. These are important things, but my opinion is that all schools should combine theory with practical work. An articling year helps, but it would, in my opinion, probably be worthwhile to incorporate some on the job time in every year of study. Why wait until all the studying part is over?

Thankfully for me, my paralegal program did prepare me quite well for my career in the legal field. The ten years I spent working for lawfirms further enhanced my skills, leaving me feeling particularly prepared for my current career as a self-employed paralegal. I love the work I do and I love helping lawyers meet their business goals. Being a virtual paralegal is a perfect choice for me!