The legal profession is a lot about research and persuasive skills. To be a lawyer you’d have to be quick on your feet, detail oriented, focused, driven, and for the most part, likeable. Now take all those skills and another profession is also being outlined, being a paralegal. The two major differences between the two are that Paralegals can’t give legal advice, and they also aren’t the ones in court arguing out the case. They do however, do a lot of the research for a case and manage the majority of the cases for the lawyer or lawyers that they work for. Paralegals have a lot of major responsibilities. They do the research for the case, they meet with the clients, and they do a lot of opening and closing writings for court hearings.
My personal belief is that Paralegals are the behind the scenes lawyers. They have a lot of knowledge about the legal profession but are not actually able to practice law. Some would say that a Paralegal is someone that wanted to be a lawyer but didn’t want to go to school for the seven years. In my case, that is not true. I want to be a Paralegal because I want to be the one researching the case and putting everything together so it can be presented in court. I am a very good writer and I want my skills to be used to their fullest ability. I am more of a behind the scenes person anyway. It would be extremely gratifying to know that my hard work saved an innocent persons life.
There are three principles that I will live by when I am a paralegal. One is that I will always do my very best to follow any possible lead in the evidence to prove the client’s innocence. If I was accused of something I would want the person representing me to do everything in their power to get me set free. The second would be that I will always put my personal emotions aside to do my very best. Sometimes people are emotionally invested in something and it changes how they do their job. The third would be that I will always stay focused on the job at hand and put all of my very best skills forward to make sure I succeed at proving the cases I’m working on.
There are so many innocent men and women that are in prison at this very moment. Those are the people that were failed. The good thing is that it’s never too late to fix something that was thought to be broken. There is still hope for those people. I want to be a paralegal for a lawyer that is trying to save someone that is wrongfully convicted. Everyone deserves for the truth to come out. I want to be one of those people that do it for them. Being a Paralegal isn’t just about researching a case. It’s potentially having someone’s life in your hands.
Wow! I had no idea that paralegals wrote opening and closing arguments! I think it is really important to understand all of the hard work they put in to make the lawyers look good! It sounds like a really interesting profession!
ReplyDeleteI never knew what exactly a paralegal was. Giving innocent people their lives back would be a very rewarding job.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you emphasized the fact that a paralegal and a lawyer are similar, but also quite different in the jobs that they do.
ReplyDeleteBeing a paralegal, or even defining what one was, was always a little interesting because most people think of lawyers, not paralegals. I never really had researched what the true definition was. Another fact about paralegal's that I didn't know was that they can't give legal advice. I think that's something that's very important, as you said, in defining the difference between a paralegal and a lawyer.
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ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about having to remain unbiased and put your personal feelings aside. As a nurse, I too, must avoid personally attached to or judging my clients. I think that it is great that you are dedicated to helping people that most of society has written off. Often times people assume that if a person is convicted, then that person has to be guilty. In reality, innocent people are wrongly convicted and incarcerated on a daily basis. You might not be pursuing a law degree, but the work you will be doing is just as vital.
ReplyDeleteWhat surprised me about your post was the similiarity between the legal field and the medical field. Much like a nurse would not function as efficiently without his or her PCA, a lawyer wouldn't be as effective in the absence of his or her PCA.