| A paralegal job has many of the same duties that a | | | | Communication Skills |
| lawyer does. Many individuals who are interested in | | | | Great communication skills are a must for successful |
| law, but not interested in going to law school, choose | | | | paralegals. Paralegals will act as a liaison between the |
| to become paralegals. | | | | attorney, clients, vendors, secretaries, judges, and other |
| As a paralegal, an individual will learn a lot about the | | | | parties involved in the judicial process. A paralegal |
| legal system and witness first hand a lot of the behind | | | | must learn to communicate effectively with people |
| the scenes work that is involved to bring cases to the | | | | from all backgrounds and walks of life. In addition, a |
| courtroom. Although a paralegal may do a lot of the | | | | paralegal must follow strict rules that govern their |
| same duties as a lawyer, he or she is not a licensed | | | | communication with clients because paralegals are not |
| attorney therefore is not able to conduct certain tasks | | | | permitted to give legal advice under any |
| reserved for licensed attorneys. | | | | circumstances. |
| While television and movies are able to dramatize the | | | | Writing Skills |
| legal process, there is much more than meets the eye. | | | | A paralegal job will include a lot of legal writing. |
| There is a tremendous amount of work involved prior | | | | Paralegals may be responsible for drafting contracts, |
| to even scheduling the first court appearance and | | | | agreements, wills, trusts, and other types of legal |
| paralegals are right in the thick of things throughout the | | | | documents. He or she must be able to write clearly |
| entire process. | | | | and effectively. A paralegal must be comfortable |
| A paralegal must have a lot of the same skills that a | | | | understanding and drafting legal documents. |
| lawyer has because he or she will be heavily involved | | | | While these are three essential paralegal job skills, |
| in law. Here are some basic paralegal job skills that are | | | | there are plenty more skills that will help any paralegal |
| critical to being successful. | | | | excel. Additional skills include critical thinking abilities, |
| Research Skills | | | | discretion, organization, and other skills that may be |
| One of the most important paralegal job skills to be | | | | inherent or learned. Many paralegal training programs |
| successful is to have excellent research skills. A | | | | will give you a good foundation on which to build your |
| paralegal spends a lot of time doing legal research, | | | | skills. Also, it may be comforting to know that the legal |
| both online and in law libraries. It is imperative that a | | | | field is not a new type of industry, so there is no need |
| paralegal must be able to perform accurate and | | | | to re-invent the wheel and learning to do your |
| effective research. Along with researching, a paralegal | | | | paralegal job duties right the first time and keeping your |
| must be able to analyze and properly cite resources. | | | | skills sharp will keep you competitive. |