In this article I will explain exactly why paralegals are paid so little and what paralegal can do to get paid more.
After spending multiple years working as a legal assistant, paralegal, and law clerk, I think I am pretty qualified to answer this question.
I am also a UCLA AATP paralegal program grad (certified paralegal), and what I will tell you is quite different from what educational intuitions usually say to their students.
Paralegals are usually paid little compared to lawyers because in USA paralegal profession does not require licensing or special education. Moreover, paralegals can be trained on the job. Hence the barrier to entry in the trade is low, resulting in supply exceeding demand for paralegals.
Said that lawyers complain that they hard time finding qualified and skilled paralegals. Becoming a truly knowledgeable and experienced paralegal specializing in a specific area of law often allows for commanding a higher than market wage because of economics.
In simple terms, it is just harder to replace such specialists because there are few to none.
But let me go into more details on why paralegals are paid so little. So, what exactly are the reasons for such low paralegal pay? Here they are.
It is easy to become a paralegal.
Paralegals do not require special education or licensing, which is probably the most crucial reason it is easy to become a paralegal. Also, many legal assistants do some of the paralegal work, driving down legal support salaries, including paralegal wages.
A person without even a four-year degree can become a legal assistant or even paralegal in many states. Some states require certification.
But that certification often is just a lawyer writing up a paper stating that this legal assistant has worked for them long enough to become a paralegal.
Did you know that officially there are about 332,000 estimated paralegals and legal assistants in the USA? I think that number is higher. And paralegals and legal assistants, and law clerks often compete for the same open position.
It is easier to learn how to prepare legal paperwork than, for example, how to code in Java or provide architectural calculations.
Essentially, a paralegal job requires good command of the language (English and often Spanish nowadays), reading and writing skills, ability to use the brain and prepare legal paperwork.
But, unfortunately, so many graduates or regular people jump into the paralegal profession without too much trouble. This creates a large pool of candidates and competition, driving down the salaries as employers can negotiate wages.
Advances in technology require fewer workers.
I must mention that even in the legal world, technology is replacing workers. Going paperless and digital removes filing and other tasks, allowing more people to focus on performing legal work.
New software helps lawyers write briefs, do research, and so on. While not huge in the legal industry, this trend overall reduces law firms’ headcount required for operations.
What paralegals do to be paid so little?
I already wrote an extensive article on this blog about the duties of a paralegal. Without reciting everything, I should mention again that a paralegal is a legal support worker.
Paralegals are not calling the shots. They are helping lawyers perform legal work on behalf of the clients.
Even though in most cases that work involves many tasks that attorneys usually do, final review and approval of the completed task is still the duty of the attorney supervising such paralegal.
After all, in the end, under the ABA and state bar rules, it is the attorney who bears responsibility for the quality of the work of their legal support staff member.
How much do paralegals get paid? A little.
Yet, most lawyers would love to shift as much as possible work to paralegals to focus on bigger and better tasks. If a paralegal can help with that – then in the long term, such paralegal will be paid well.
But lawyers and law firms are also cheap. Attorneys are businesspeople. Private law practice is about making money, not making the world better.
Attorneys usually want to pay less and get more out of their support staff to compete with other attorneys and make a profit.
The estimated median paralegal salary in the USA is about $50,000 annually. That figure is derived from official sources of information, including government statistics and job search sites.
But the proper average paralegal salary is probably lower in the $30,000-$40,000 range since many lower-paid paralegal positions are not advertised and go under the radar by being filled through word of mouth or direct contact between a law firm and paralegal candidates.
The median paralegal salary in the USA was about $58,000 in 2021. ZipRecruiter puts this range close to between $34,000-$48,000. The salaries are generally higher in NY, PA, and West Coast and East Coast Trident states overall plus IL and CO. Source.
And from my experience, most paralegal jobs are not advertised and thus go under the radar and are not included in statistics.
The majority of paralegal jobs, especially in small law firms, and paralegals with lesser experience range between $25,000 and $45,000 annually.
Entry-level paralegal hourly salary can be just a few dollars above local minimum wage. This shows just how little paralegals are often paid.
Some paralegals have it better.
Given that legal work is not an easy one, this salary level is not exactly the dream. But again, paralegals can move up the career ladder once they gain solid experience and acquire legal skills to become valuable for employers.
Usually, it is easier to do that in a more prominent firm or organization or by switching between law firms.
As part of the media, US News labels the paralegal profession as number 5 in Best Social Service Jobs. Usual painting of a rosy picture. Let me repeat – law practice is not about social service – it is about making a buck unless paralegals work for non-profits or the government.
Non-profits pay even less. They are worth for experience, though. For example, a government paralegal job pays better with benefits, but good luck landing one without multiple years of top law firm experience.
The best states for a better paralegal salary allegedly are California, Washington DC. Massachusetts, Washington state, and Colorado. and Florida, New York and Texas
Before you jump on that plane to Colorado or sunny Florida, though, think about the size of the local legal market.
Southern CA or Washington DC, or New York are more likely to have a more significant number of paralegal positions overall than Colorado just for purely demographic reasons. But the cost of living is a problem.
Sometimes being a good paralegal in Idaho or Kansas making below the national average salary is better than being an average paralegal making an average salary in NY, CA, or FL. Because of the local cost of living situation.
It is also worth noting that the majority of paralegals are employed in the legal services sector or by federal or state government.
It is business and economics.
The majority of open paralegal positions reveal an overall preference of specific legal work experience over a four-year bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies.
My UCLA AATP program paralegal certification gave me an advantage. It gave me a diploma, an open position lead that landed me an initial legal assistant job, and a bump in salary after graduation and certification. But well, I would not say that it gave me a career.
The good news about paralegal job outlook
The good news is that the job outlook for paralegals and legal assistants looks better than average for the bext 10 years. Source.
And once a paralegal specializes in a specific area of law and becomes good at doing particular legal work, that limits the job search options but increases the paralegal’s salary bargaining power.
Meaning, they can negotiate a salary higher than the middle market for this type of skill.
Choose wisely. Litigation usually performs well, even in an economic downturn. Having good litigation paralegal skills may offer some job security. But it limits you to a particular state.
The highest-paid paralegals are those with specialized skills and some unique experience. For example, nurse paralegals can easily make over $80,000 annually in the medical malpractice law sector.
Skilled corporate paralegals also can make good money since larger companies pay better. But it is not easy to obtain such valuable corporate law experience for a beginner paralegal. As a result, companies usually hire experienced professionals.
Intellectual property paralegals are paid well if they possess solid experience or technical background. But then, it is better to go to law school, pass the bar and become intellectual property attorney.
Real estate, successful personal injury, securities litigation, bankruptcy law firms seem to pay experienced paralegals well.
And government paralegals can make good money and benefits. But those jobs are highly competitive.
Paralegals in big law firms can make seven figures. The caveat is that they must be very experienced, skilled, and knowledgeable even to get an interview.
I saw some big law paralegal job openings that required 15-20 years of corporate or litigation paralegal work experience, for example.
Big law can pay a lot because an attorney who bills $500-$600 an hour to a client can shift most or all of that legal work to an experienced paralegal.
Then they can quickly pay such super-paralegal $50-$100 per hour of billable time and still make a good profit. The price to pay is exceptionally long work hours, up to 80 hours per week during busy times.
So, high competence, skills, strong work ethics, and experience can land a well-paid paralegal job in an established successful law firm that makes lots of money.
The key is to become so good that it would be nearly impossible or tough to replace you. That is the universal law of supply and demand.
