Paralegals: a legitimate long-term career path?

To many, it will be of no surprise to hear that paralegal job roles exploded during and in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Recent research from the recruitment sector revealed that ‘after a quiet 2020, paralegal vacancies, particularly across the regional markets, erupted in 2021’.

The chief reason for this is that firms are continuing their efforts to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and lean on technology more to deliver high-quality legal work. As the years go by, the makeup of law firms is gradually changing, and the rise in paralegal roles is a by-product of this.

The rise comes at a particularly opportune time. The pandemic has encouraged people to look for greater flexibility around where they are based, their hours, and the type of work they do. An IBA survey from earlier this year, for example, which gathered results from 3,000 young lawyers (up to the age of 40) found that 20% are thinking about leaving the profession entirely, 33% want to switch to a different area of the profession, and 54% are either ‘somewhat likely’ or ‘highly likely’ to leave their current job in the next five years. Lack of work-life balance was a concern for more than 60% of young lawyers in the survey.

Paralegal roles are also proving extremely popular against other jobs of a similar level. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, CV-Library revealed that one paralegal role received 4,228 applications, putting it right at the very top of their list of the most popular jobs. All signs indicate that an increased number of people are seeking paralegal roles as a result of the pandemic.

The popularity of paralegal roles is not surprising. They allow individuals access to high-level and important legal work but without having to suffer the long hours, billable-hour-targets and onerous business development responsibilities that are often commonplace in junior lawyer roles. They also allow for a greater variety of work. Gianluca Grafton-Clarke, a real estate and disputes paralegal who has been with us for almost two years, recently told me that even if a paralegal is technically sitting in one team, they are often brought in to help other teams depending on the firm’s needs.

‘Sometimes this even includes other offices,’ he said. ‘I got the opportunity to work on an international disclosure review with the Australia office, and was also able to transfer into the property team even though I started in banking & finance. This sort of variety is really appealing.’

While it is great to see an increased interest in pursuing this kind of legal career, the role is still somewhat stigmatised. Many in law still hold a misperception that paralegal roles are only temporary, and are merely a path into a training contract. This is untrue. The paralegal role splits off into many paths, the ceiling is high, and being a paralegal for a long term is much more of a legitimate career path than one might expect.

So what options are available to a paralegal who wants to advance in their career, but does not want to become a lawyer?

Advancement possibilities

A paralegal can advance by taking on a higher degree of technical responsibility through becoming a senior paralegal. Where a junior paralegal is likely to work across different areas and practices, a senior paralegal often has the opportunity to specialise and use the knowledge they have gained in a particular field or sector. They are often awarded more complex job duties and can work with a greater degree of independence. Senior paralegals also tend to be extremely adept at performing legal research. Also, sometimes senior paralegals can sometimes run their own matters, work as part of wider teams, and can instruct other paralegals on projects.

There is also a management route open to paralegals, such as a ‘Paralegal Team Lead’. These positions are all about taking on increased responsibility for other paralegals, particularly around their own professional development. A particular stigma around the paralegal role is that they are only there to support the lawyers and there is only one level of paralegal within a firm. In reality, paralegals can have all other kinds of managerial responsibilities, for example running performance reviews and giving advice on junior colleagues’ career paths.

Doug Edwards, one of our Paralegal Team Leads, took this route. ‘I’m responsible for managing the capacity of my team, having discussions with fee-earners about resourcing, bringing in work for the paralegals, and acting as a line manager, which includes conducting performance reviews,’ he said. ‘Coming in as a paralegal initially, I wouldn’t have expected to be given these responsibilities. I’m not just working as a paralegal – I’m also gaining valuable management skills quite early on in my career. This wouldn’t be the case had I gone down the traditional legal track.’

While most people we hire through our Paralegal Centre of Excellence (PCOE) tend to have law degrees, this is largely by chance and it is by no means a hard requirement. We offer apprentice roles to those without law degrees, and it is much more important for us to ensure neurodiversity than it is to try and hire as many people as possible with law degrees. STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) graduates can make excellent paralegals, for example, bringing a range of skills to the table that somebody who only qualified in law may not.

With the legal landscape continuing to change and flexible/remote working being here to stay, the role of paralegals will only become more important. It is vital for graduates, paralegals, and the firms they work for to see the role as a legitimate long-term career path that can be just as valid and fulfilling as a career as a ‘fully-fledged’ lawyer. We all take different paths in life – there is no reason for a legal organisation not to put their lawyers and paralegals on even footing and support their career development equally.

Matthew Kay is a partner at Pinsent Masons and managing director of Pinsent Masons Vario