Does legal assistant/paralegal experience really help? Forum

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dassale1

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Does legal assistant/paralegal experience really help?

Post by dassale1 » Mon Jan 14, 2019 12:00 pm

I currently work as a petroleum engineer but I don't really like my job and it is really hard to study for the LSAT when working 12+ hours a day. I read that firms and law school admissions ( especially HYS CCN) really like to see some prior law related experience in your resume. Is it true? Though the pay cut from engineer to paralegal is a lot, if being a paralegal is a very important soft, I think I gonna go for it. What do you think?

Kaziende

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Re: Does legal assistant/paralegal experience really help?

Post by Kaziende » Mon Jan 14, 2019 12:44 pm

dassale1 wrote:I currently work as a petroleum engineer but I don't really like my job and it is really hard to study for the LSAT when working 12+ hours a day. I read that firms and law school admissions ( especially HYS CCN) really like to see some prior law related experience in your resume. Is it true? Though the pay cut from engineer to paralegal is a lot, if being a paralegal is a very important soft, I think I gonna go for it. What do you think?
Paralegal work is definitely not the kind of soft that makes a law school applicant stand out. It's totally cookie cutter for an HYSCCN applicant to have paralegal experience, but that doesn't mean it helps with admissions.

Your LSAT / GPA combo is pretty much all that matters in your admission to HCCN, and YS will not look any more favorably on paralegal experience than any other kind of work experience (especially not engineering, which is a relatively unusual soft that might actually play in your favor).

As for making time for LSAT prep, you likely won't have any more free time than you have now if you're paralegaling for a big firm. If time is your concern, then aim for a reliably 9-5 job in the public sector like a local DA's office or legal aid.

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blerggggg

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Re: Does legal assistant/paralegal experience really help?

Post by blerggggg » Mon Jan 14, 2019 4:22 pm

Being a paralegal won't marginally improve your applications, but it will give you a more realistic idea about what lawyers do and what practicing the law actually entails.

For instance, I was completely dead set on attending law school until I worked as a paralegal. Legal practice, unveiled, is probably completely different than what you may be imagining. In retrospect it may have saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition and a lot of stress (I'm still on the fence).

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LSATWiz.com

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Re: Does legal assistant/paralegal experience really help?

Post by LSATWiz.com » Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:39 pm

I wouldn’t do it. Engineering at a place that pays six figures or close to it is far more impressive. I think law firms like it because it shows you probably won’t hate firm life, but they’d be more impressed by your engineering background.

Still, interviewing can give you some insight into the culture. It may not be necessary to quit, and interviewing doesn’t mean you have to quit your present job.

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