Whether you’re interested in a paralegal education or already a paralegal, you may be wondering what jobs are available for paralegals.  What if you are not interested in working as a traditional paralegal?  Are you looking for something different, but don’t know what else you can do with a paralegal certificate or degree?  Here are just a few related jobs that applicants with paralegal training can branch into:

Contracts Administrator  

Do you enjoy reviewing contracts?  A contract administrator makes sure the parties involved practice due diligence and comply with the terms, conditions, rights and obligations of a contract. He or she also coordinates any changes to the agreement that might occur over the course of the contract and performs the closeout process when both parties have met their obligations.  If you loved your Corporate and Business Law class, then this may be an area of interest for you!

Editor for a Law Firm or Business Publisher

Many law firms employ editors to write and edit their firm newsletters or press releases.  Was Intellectual Property one of your favorite classes? If you have an interest in IP and have excellent proofreading skills, you can work as a marketing assistant.  New patent applications, responses prepared by legal staff, and other related documents will be edited and proofread by you.

Litigation Support

If I.T. is your niche, a career in litigation support may be the perfect path for you.  Litigation support professionals assist attorneys in managing large-scale litigation, designing and implementing databases for managing, sorting, indexing, and abstracting large volumes of data produced during the litigation process. Litigation support professionals also develop data management strategies, assist with technology in the courtroom, provide user support training on both off-the-shelf and proprietary software, and coordinate with technology vendors.  Some litigation support professionals are paralegal/I.T. hybrids performing traditional paralegal tasks, while also assuming information technology roles.

Legal Staffing Recruiter

Is sales your strong suit?  If so, you may want to consider a career in legal staffing.  Most legal staffing recruiters are former attorneys, paralegals or firm administrators.  As a legal staffing professional, your primary job is promoting staffing services to attorneys and firm administrators.  Therefore, it is very important that you are well-versed in legal terminology and procedures, as well as familiar with the document management programs utilized by law firms. 

The good news 

According to US News, “The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects 18.3 percent employment growth for paralegals between 2010 and 2020, adding 46,900 positions. The anticipated growth is leaps and bounds above that of lawyers.”  There are many other jobs a paralegal graduate can branch into beyond those listed above.  Do some research and figure out how your current skills plus a paralegal education can propel you into the job you’ve always imagined!