Do you know how exciting it is to know that you can work remote paralegal jobs? Oh! yes you know, cos you’ve been asking this question for a long time. Hold on, before you get too excited to focus on the remaining parts of this article, let’s pay a quick visit to the paralegal world to find out what jobs you can do remotely. Ready? Set, Go!
Who is a Paralegal?
Paralegals assist lawyers by preserving, drafting, and organising files, summoning legal witnesses, and managing a legal library, among other tasks. A legal assistant or legal secretary is another name for them. They may work for a family law firm, a corporate legal department, in-house counsel for a company, a personal injury attorney, a real estate attorney, or a variety of other law firms. In 2020, 73 percent of the 385,600 paralegals employed in the United States, were working for law firms and organisations that provide legal services.
Types of Remote Paralegal Jobs
Average annual salary: $52,500
Simply put, a legal assistant is a legal practitioner who works on behalf of a lawyer to execute administrative tasks.
The fact that a legal assistant’s particular function and responsibilities might vary depending on a law firm’s individual demands adds to their value. Legal assistants, on the other hand, are those whose work output includes some administrative and secretarial responsibilities to help an attorney, with some tasks overlapping with those of a paralegal, according to the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA). Legal assistants are mainly concerned with administrative support. This distinction is more significant than it appears at first. Law companies that fail to understand the distinct functions of legal assistants may be missing out on the value legal assistants can offer to a company.
Average annual salary: $62,400
An immigration paralegal works with immigration lawyers to communicate with and help clients while their visa petitions or other matters advance. Gathering and protecting foreign documents, interacting with immigration managers, monitoring and filing material, preparing applications, and administering case systems and other databases are among their responsibilities. Furthermore, as an immigration paralegal, it is critical to keep clients informed about the status of their cases, respond to their questions, and assist them as needed with the procedures.
Average annual salary: $85,400
Intellectual property paralegals serve as highly qualified assistants to skilled lawyers in the legal industry without having a law degree. Although some paralegals go on to become lawyers, the majority of them serve as expert assistants to lawyers and are an important element of the legal team. Paralegals, particularly intellectual property paralegals, have access to sensitive information and are responsible for making decisions that can be worth millions of dollars and, in some cases, a lifetime of preparation. Success in this role necessitates a well-developed sense of ethics and personal responsibility.
Average annual salary: $60,000
Patent paralegal jobs can be quite profitable, but they are also extremely hard. A patent paralegal must be meticulous in their work and adhere to strict deadlines. In this sector, missed deadlines have long-term ramifications for your clients, therefore having the correct skills and temperament for the task is essential. So, what exactly is a patent paralegal’s job?
The difference between a patent paralegal and an intellectual property paralegal (or IP paralegal) isn’t significant. The patent paralegal is more likely to be a specialist in the field of patent law. An IP paralegal may have a more broad background in intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, and associated business and corporate law.
Average annual salary: $53,700
Since an employment law paralegal is not a lawyer, he or she cannot represent clients or provide personalised legal advice. An employment law paralegal is typically responsible for case administration, paperwork, and research. Requesting employment records, studying applicable labour regulations, creating legal paperwork, and conducting administrative activities are all examples of this.
Some employment law paralegals also operate as freelancers or contractors. They cannot, once again, execute attorney functions, but they can provide general counsel, documentation, and instructions on how to handle the administrative side of a legal problem to individuals and corporations.
Working with a lawyer, attorney, law office, or company is common in employment law paralegal jobs. However, certain employment law paralegal work can be found in other places that deal with labor and employment law on a regular basis.
HR departments, for example, may require the services of an employment law paralegal. Insurance firms can also recruit paralegals. A permanent, temporary, or for hire employment law paralegal is hired whenever a person or corporation wants to deal with specific areas of labor regulations.
Average annual salary: $52,700
Litigation paralegals assist attorneys throughout the litigation process and are an important member of the trial team. A litigation paralegal’s function can be critical for a variety of reasons. They are in charge of coordinating the duties that must be completed prior to, during, and following the trial. From inquiry to appeal, the Litigation Paralegal’s main duties and responsibilities are outlined here.
The role of a litigation paralegal
Average annual salary: $70,800
Corporate paralegals operate for a company as a whole rather than for a single client. Contracts are reviewed, regulations are researched, and corporate misconduct is investigated by paralegals that specialise in this field. Corporate paralegals make sure that businesses stay afloat and don’t break any federal, state, or other vital rules.
One of the most distinguishing characteristics of these paralegals is that they rarely deal with clients, courts, or the general public.
A corporate paralegal must have excellent research skills and an eye for detail, so if you have those qualities and appreciate working for the better good of a large group of people, this may be the law specialty for you.
Average annual salary: $69,500
Paralegals can support divorce lawyers with paperwork collection, court filings and legal documents (such as separation and divorce documents), conducting interviews and legal research, and scheduling.
It’s critical for paralegals in this field to keep organised in order to correctly manage all paperwork and plan all appointments. Divorce paralegals must have a high level of client care attention to detail and documentation ability. This is because divorce clients are often in the midst of a stressful and emotional moment.
Average annual salary: $70,600
As a contract paralegal, you’ll work for a law firm for a period of time or on a task. For example, you may work for three months during the summer or throughout the process of negotiating a specific real estate purchase. Contract paralegals assist in the creation and completion of paperwork. They help the investigation of legal issues for attorneys, or evaluation of each client’s qualifications to participate in a case. Attention to detail, communication skills, and the ability to prioritise activities in a deadline-driven atmosphere are required on the job.
Average annual salary: $53,100
Real estate paralegals assist attorneys with property matters ranging from construction to purchase to sale, dealing with the complexities of real estate law.
Considering typical paralegal responsibilities (such as filing documents or creating lease agreements) are generally focused on crucial legal paperwork and contracts, working as a paralegal in this field of law needs remarkable attention to detail and multi-tasking skills. With this in mind, a career as a real estate paralegal will suit those who enjoy working with paperwork.
Skills Needed for Remote Paralegal Jobs
Taking on remote paralegal jobs is not for everyone. Some innate abilities and characteristics can mean the difference between success and burnout.
- Organisational abilities: To manage voluminous files and evidence. They could number in the hundreds for a single case, paralegals must have strong organisational skills.
- Communication skills: Paralegals must engage with clients, experts, court employees, and attorneys on a daily basis.
- Strong research and writing abilities are required for the preparation of pleadings, research memorandums, correspondence, and other documents.
- Steel nerves: Where there is a lot of litigation, the ability to tolerate pressure and looming deadlines is critical.
- Multitasking skills: This is a deadline-driven profession, and numerous cases may require action within the same time frame. You may be required to conduct many duties on multiple case files almost simultaneously. It could be accepting a phone conversation on one matter while looking through trial exhibits on another. Hence, making mistakes due to overwhelm or distraction is not an option.
Lawyers are advised to delegate activities that were previously designated for attorneys due to increased work loads. This results in additional opportunities for paralegals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statists, paralegal jobs would grow 15% faster than the national average from 2016 to 2026. Now that customers are resisting hefty legal fees, attorneys can delegate more work to their paralegals at a cheaper hourly rate than they would charge for their time. Why not hop on the train of remote paralegal jobs?