The differences and similarities between Paralegals and Legal Assistants
To start off, the terms paralegal and legal assistant actually mean different things depending on what part of the country you live in. But from a legal standpoint the courts view them as synonymous. Interestingly enough the same is not true of NALA (The National Association of Legal Assistants) they offer separate certifications and credentialing programs for paralegals and legal assistants respectively. According to the June 2006 issue of Legal Assistant Today 94% of those surveys preferred the title paralegal because it sounded more professional.
Practically, paralegals often assist lawyers when it comes to preparing court filings, researching cases, and even drafting some documents under the lawyer’s supervision. In many cases a paralegal will have some kind of legal background already. A legal assistant can legally do all of the same things a paralegal can, however, many have come out of secretarial or clerical backgrounds and unless they have been working in law they don’t have the knowledge to do much legal work independently. As both gain experience working and assisting lawyers practically, the difference begins to make less and less of a difference. And if someone has the legal aptitude the lawyers are well within their legal rights to have legal assistants and paralegals help on many facets of various cases.
Which is best for you? There really isn’t a best option, and with current statistics available the average income for both is about the same; somewhere between $30-50k a year. If your goal is to become lawyer in the future you may want to go to school first to become a paralegal because generally it will mean that you get to start working on legal writing which will no doubt help you in law school. In any case getting a certification is highly beneficial for both legal assistants and paralegals.
