If you’re considering launching a career in the legal field, two popular roles include paralegal and lawyer. Both options allow you to help individuals during some of the most exciting or most difficult times in their lives. You could assist clients in a variety of situations, from seeking estate plans or business startup assistance to divorce representation or criminal defense.
In this article, we’ll address paralegal vs. lawyer careers so you can decide which is the best option for you.
Responsibilities of a Paralegal vs. Lawyer
Paralegals and lawyers both perform important work for their clients, and there is often an overlap of duties between the two roles. Below we explore paralegals’ and lawyers’ key responsibilities.
What Does a Paralegal Do?
Paralegals work under the supervision of attorneys to assist with day-to-day legal tasks. Paralegals may work in law firms or on legal teams in corporate offices, banks, healthcare organizations and insurance companies.
Typical duties for a paralegal may include:
- Conducting research and investigations
- Drafting legal documents
- Interviewing witnesses
- Interviewing and communicating with clients
- Summarizing depositions and testimonies
- Accompanying attorneys to hearings, depositions and trials
What Does a Lawyer Do?
Lawyers provide a variety of legal services to their clients. Their responsibilities typically include:
- Advising clients in legal matters
- Conducting research
- Analyzing and interpreting laws, regulations and other legal information
- Arguing in court for their clients
- Preparing and filing wills, lawsuits, contracts and other legal documents
How Are They Similar or Different?
Paralegals often do the legwork to create legal documents and prepare for cases. Lawyers may also do these things, but they often use information prepared by paralegals as they work on cases or other client work.
When comparing paralegals vs. lawyers, the key difference is that paralegals cannot give legal advice or represent clients in court. Only licensed attorneys can perform these tasks. There are also different educational and licensing requirements for paralegals and lawyers.
How to Become a Paralegal
Each state determines its own education and certification requirements for paralegals, so you should find out what your state’s requirements are. If you’d like to know the basics about how to become a paralegal, we explore the typical requirements below.
Certification
Paralegals are not usually required to earn certification or licensure, but paralegal certifications do exist. Though not mandatory, earning a voluntary paralegal certification can make you more competitive in the job market, validate your skills and even lead to a higher earning potential.
Unlike other states, California requires its paralegals to meet specific experiential and educational qualifications. California paralegals must meet continuing education requirements as well.
Most paralegal certifications are state-based. In Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, Indiana and Florida, paralegals can earn certification through their state bar associations. In California, Arizona and Washington, paralegals are permitted to work independently (without the supervision of a lawyer) to provide services like legal document preparation—but they must be registered, certified or licensed to do so.
If your state doesn’t offer a paralegal certification program, you may be able to earn certification through the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) or the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA). Both of these organizations offer voluntary certification for paralegals.
NALA confers the Certified Paralegal (CP) designation. NFPA administers the Core Registered Paralegal (CRP)™ certification for entry-level professionals and the Registered Paralegal (RP)® credential for experienced paralegals.
Education
Each state sets its own educational requirements for paralegals, and there are no nationally recognized educational requirements. It’s common for paralegals to have an associate degree, and many have bachelor’s degrees.
Certifying bodies for paralegals may set their own educational requirements as well. For example, if you aim to earn certification through NALA or NFPA, you must first complete some type of paralegal education.
NALA requires paralegals to complete at least one of the following educational experiences to qualify for its Certified Paralegal designation:
- An American Bar Association (ABA)-approved paralegal program
- An associate degree in paralegal studies
- A graduate certificate in paralegal studies
- A bachelor’s in paralegal studies
- A paralegal program comprising at least 60 semester hours, 15 of which are “substantive legal courses”
As for NFPA, the CRP credential requires candidates to have at least a high school diploma or GRE certificate plus five years of substantive paralegal experience. NFPA reduces these experience requirements for CRP candidates with more advanced degrees.
The RP certification requires candidates to have at least an associate degree plus seven years of substantive paralegal experience. With a bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies, however, candidates need only two years of paralegal experience.
How to Become a Lawyer
Becoming a lawyer involves several steps, which can take at least six to seven years to complete. Each state sets its own requirements for lawyer education and licensing, so check with your state if you’re wondering exactly how to become a lawyer.
Earn a Bachelor’s Degree
If you want to become a lawyer, start by completing a bachelor’s degree. Lawyers are not required to have pre-law majors, so you may choose a major that reflects your interests and is relevant to your future legal career. For instance, if you plan to work in tax law, you could earn a degree in finance.
Pass the LSAT or GRE
The typical path to becoming a lawyer is to pass the LSAT, which is the traditional standardized exam for prospective law school students. Over the past few years, however, many universities have begun accepting GRE scores in lieu of LSAT scores. If you’ve already taken the GRE and you choose one of these universities, you won’t be required to take the LSAT.
Attend Law School
Plan to attend law school and earn your juris doctor (JD) degree at an ABA-accredited university. Earning this degree helps you prepare to take the bar exam by teaching you the fundamentals of law.
Earning your JD is the most common educational route to becoming a lawyer, but some states offer other options. California, Vermont, Virginia and Washington allow aspiring lawyers to skip law school and become law readers. Law readers study under the supervision and mentorship of an attorney or judge.
Maine, New York and Wyoming also do not require lawyers to hold a JD, but these states do require some law school coursework. Wisconsin allows JDs to become lawyers without taking the bar exam.
If your state does not require lawyers to earn their JD, you might wonder: Is law school worth it? Bear in mind that it’s very uncommon for lawyers to skip this step in their careers.
Licensure
Lawyers must become licensed to practice law. Below, we discuss the typical requirements for licensing. Keep in mind, however, that each state determines its specific licensure requirements.
Pass the Bar Exam
The bar exam assesses a lawyer’s ability to practice law in the U.S., and most states require lawyers to pass this exam before they can practice. Passing the bar exam demonstrates that you have the knowledge required to become a licensed attorney.
Each state can choose its own bar exam, but most states have adopted the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Uniform Bar Exam (UBE). The UBE is administered in the same manner in every state where it’s available, meaning your scores can transfer to other states that use the exam.
Possess Good Character and Mental Fitness
Bar examiners interview you to find out about your academic integrity, criminal history, history of substance use and mental health conditions, among other details about your background. Examiners then use this information to determine whether your character and mental fitness are sufficient for practicing law.
Take Your Oath
After meeting all other requirements, you must take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, faithfully fulfill your responsibilities as an attorney and maintain a high level of integrity. Each state determines the language in its oath.
Paralegals vs. Lawyers: Salary and Job Outlook
Lawyers and paralegals work together closely in law firms. Lawyers rely heavily on paralegals to help them with their work, but paralegals earn significantly lower salaries than lawyers. That said, paralegals are in particularly high demand due to their high-level legal knowledge and lower pay rates.
Paralegals
Paralegals and legal assistants earned a median annual salary of $56,230 as of May 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Employment for paralegals and legal assistants is expected to grow by 14% from 2021 to 2031, which is much faster than the average projected growth rate of 5% for all occupations nationwide. This growth is due in part to law firms trying to cut expenses by relying more on paralegals to complete work that lawyers would normally complete.
Lawyers
Lawyers earned a median annual salary of $127,990 as of May 2021. The BLS projects employment for lawyers to increase by 10% from 2021 to 2031. This strong growth is attributed to expected retirements and the need to replace lawyers who transfer to other occupations.
As you look into paralegal vs. lawyer careers, consider the education and certification requirements, job duties, salaries and outlooks for both occupations. If you want to work with clients to help them deal with complex legal issues, then a career as a paralegal or lawyer may be the right move for you.
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