How much is a beginner paralegal making in Orange County and Los Angeles County?
Asked by MARIAN L
I am planning to get a part-time job. I have a full time job with the govt. I am not making enough due to all the cuts we are having. Can someone give me some ideas about being a paralegal? The pay for a beginner, and the experienced ones.

Best Answer:
Warning! Jobs in the field of Law are drying up FAST!! This is not a good field to invest time and/or money into. This is a SHRINKING vocational field. Many reasons. THE main reason?......We simply have WAY TOO MANY Legal Professionals - we have an absolute GLUT!! ("Legal Professionals" includes, but is not limited to: Attorneys/Lawyers, Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc) Regarding being a Paralegal: Employers (usually law firms) in the field of Law want employees with BACHELORS degrees. Those "certificates" you see advertised aren't worth the paper they are printed on - they are generally scams. Even IF you finish law school, you won't be able to find a job when you are done. Since this vocational field is shrinking, many new attorneys/lawyers are, themselves, having to work "down" as Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc, to simply try to keep some of THEIR bills paid <THIS would be your competition. And the competition is FIERCE!! Now... the law schools know this, but they won't tell you the truth >that the job market/economy is SATURATED with WAY TOO MANY Legal Professionals. Instead the schools will feed you a fairytale and will LIE to you. AND these schools continue to recruit and churn out even MORE Legal Professionals.............The root of the problem is that we have too many law schools. AND they are fighting for their survival also in this recession - they will tell students ANYTHING to get to the students' money. If you don't believe me, then just do a SEARCH here on Yahoo Answers to see what other posters are saying about the current status of the field of Law. In the book "So You Want to be a Lawyer? by Marianne Calabrese and susanne Calabrese (ISBN 0-88391-136-1): "The United States has more lawyers than any other country in the world. About 38,000 students graduate EACH YEAR from 200 law schools in the United States. The competition is very keen for jobs and clients." If you want a JOB when you are done with your studies, consider and look into the field of HEALTHCARE! <THIS is where the jobs are! and scholarships! Good luck. (This was intended as personal opinion, and not intended to be used as legal advice.)
life been there - done that
Answered by mailaccount63