Legal Limits

• The first step toward becoming a paralegal is enrolling in a paralegal program. While there are under-a-year certificates, two-year associate degrees and four-year bachelor's degrees available in paralegal studies, the most common option is the two-year associate degree. Prospective paralegals choose from the more than 400 American Bar Association-approved programs (unlike some organizations, the American Bar Association "approves" schools rather than "accredits" them) across the country.
  
  

School Studies

• In paralegal programs such as the associate degree at Central Piedmont Community College in North Carolina, students receive an education in topics such as legal research, civil injuries, ethics and professionalism, family law, civil litigation, real property, commercial law, wills and trusts, administrative law, bankruptcy and collections, law office technology and workers' compensation law.
  
  

Extras

• Along with the legal-focused coursework covered in paralegal programs, schools prepare students for the courtroom and workplace through topics such as word processing, introduction to computers, communications, English composition and word processing. Once hired, paralegals will almost certainly receive on-the-job training, in particular to the styles of work required for their law firm or organization.
  
  

Salary

• The country's 246,810 paralegals earned salaries of approximately $46,980 in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Industry of work and location both had an impact on a paralegal's salary, as they varied widely. The District of Columbia was the top spot for paralegal employment in the U.S., it topped the BLS list of highest-paying areas for paralegal salaries at $64,760 and also was the largest per-capita employer in the field. New York earned second place for paralegal salaries, paying $60,140. New York was third for per-capita employment of paralegals, but the second-place state, West Virginia, paid a salary of $36,020, which was significantly lower-than-average. Paralegals working in the petroleum and coal products manufacturing industry earned nearly double the national salary, at $81,150. Medical and diagnostic laboratories paid their paralegals higher-than-average rates at $72,560, as did software publishers, paying $70,680.