I'm thinking of getting a paralegal certificate. Does anyone know which school is the best one to go to? Also if someone wouldn't mind telling me what the average salary is, how the work is, things like that, I would really appreciate it. Feel free to FM me if you don't want to post here. I really want to get a good idea of what I'm getting into before I drop my masters program.
mlp924
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Re: Paralegal question
Hofstra has a great program. I think it is 9 months if you do it at night and 6 months during the day. Call the School of Continuing Education for more info.
I was working as a paralegal who acted in place of the bank attorney at closings for Citibank. The money is better inthe city but after 2 years your salary goes up dramatically!
Good Luck with your decision!
cluelessbride
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Re: Paralegal question
I know NYU has an excellent program. (I work there, so I'm biased ) but really, I have heard good things about it, especially since you can use NYU's Law library, which is one of the best.
Def. go to a program that is accredited by the ABA.
I ***think**** starting salaries are like 45k. I heard the work and the environment depend on who you work for.
What are you studying now?
Jenn524
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Re: Paralegal question
Right now I am going for my masters in school counseling. But I just found out that I have to do 2 more internships in which I'd basically have to quit my current job to do. So I'm trying to come up with different alternatives and make an educated choice this time around.
I current work in mortgages with a bank and I've always LOVED law, so I think this might be a happy medium for me.
Samanthas Mom
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I took the paralegal program at Nassau community college before going to law school and loved it!! that program was started years before Hofstra's and they have excellent faculty members that teach at law schools and who are judges
Marcela1654
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The paralegal at my firm went to NYU. He gets paid per hour. Just wanted to let you know that I don't think paralegals are making $45k starting anymore (unless you get into a big firm). Many lawyers are starting at less than $45k b/c of the s ucky job market.
HearzBellz
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I second Nassau... I had to do a review of the faculty at Nassau and the papralegal and the marketing departments both scored higher than a lot of four-year colleges.
Jenn524
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Tammy...would you recommend taking a paralegal program before entering law school? I always wanted to become a lawyer, I just don't have the Balls to get out there and do it.
Samanthas Mom
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Re: Paralegal question
jenn- its not necessary to take the program before law school, most of what you learn in paralegal classes is technical, filling out a closing statement , etc.... you do not even do that in law school. I only went for a certificate b/c at the time I enrolled I was not sure if I was going to go to law school then I changed my mind and really wanted to go.
Rob-luvs-me
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Re: Paralegal question
I would not recommend doing it to get into law school - but if you are wondering if you are interested in law - there are 6 week paralegal certificates that you can do to get an idea if you like the idea - then get a job in a firm for a short while to see what you want - but actually there are few people in my class with any paralegal experience (I would say it will make it more comfortable for you when you go to work later on though)
