Should you become a paralegal or a lawyer?

In the legal field, being a lawyer or a paralegal, both options are open and both are highly respectable as well, each having its own pros and cons. The key factors to consider are laid down as below:

Training time

Paralegals require quite less training to enter the market of law, with as less as 3 months of training. Certain certifications indeed require two years to complete, as required by certain firms. However, these are offered as Associate degree programs or diplomas. On the other hand, a lawyer must complete atleast three years of traditional law course or a five-year full length integrated BA.LLB or BA.LLB.

Entrance Exam

In a profession of a paralegal, no entrance exam is required to be given, although high shool percentages/CGPAs may be looked at. However, in law school admission, high scores in entrance tests such as CLAT, AILET, LSAT, SET etc is required especially if one in interested in a high tier law school.

Financial requirements

A career as a paralegal does not warrant spending of a huge amount of money or depending on a debt, however, law school debts are more common and can extent to six-figures quite often; repayment of which turns out to be a headache.

Post-Education Exam

In a paralegal’s career, no further examinations are required to start practicing in the field; a certificate suffices in most cases. However, a state bar exam needs to be cleared by lawyers to start practicing on their own.

Career Growth

In case of a paralegal, career growth is limited and the graph remains in a straight line mostly. Lawyers, on the other hand, being highly trained in the particular field, have a lot of career options and thus, ample advancement opportunities.

Supervision

In their careers, paralegals are mostly supervised by lawyers and they cannot practice independently or autonomously.

Salary

In the Indian market, the salary margin for paralegals fall much below than that of a lawyers; wherein lawyers have the potential of unlimited earning.

Job Market

In India, both the professions of a lawyer and a paralegal is highly competitive and with increasing supply than demand. However, the competition in case of lawyers is marginally high as opposed to developed countries.

Job Stress

In the office, paralegals have a limited number of responsibilities, involving minimal brainwork. For lawyers, the responsibility level in intensely high and a high level of stress thus ensues.

Overtime Potential

Paralegals work on timely basis and thus, for any overtime work, they are entitled to extra payments. Wherein lawyers are not entitled to the same as such overtime work furthers their own case and career.

Further education

Once the training is complete, paralegals are not mandated to complete any other educational requirement. A lawyer is required and also has the option to have a masters degree in certain cases.

Learning Curve

Paralegals perform routine and manual tasks which require minimal or no brainwork. Thus, the learning curve is definitely shorter that lawyers, who have a large learning curve as they have to perform intellectually challenging and brain-teasing tasks.

Required Skills

Paralegals require a different set of skills than lawyers, being efficient in organizations and detailing. Whereas, lawyers are required to be extremely proficient in communications and possess legal, analytical and logical knowledge.

Administrative Support

In most cases, paralegals lack such support, wherein lawyers are provided with the same.

Both lawyers and paralegals are integral to the legal system of the country and they both play extremely crucial roles. However, they have different kind of responsibilities and perks attached. Hopefully this will help you have a headstart in choosing either. All the best!