Want to become a Paralegal in Alberta?
If you are looking for a fun and rewarding career working in an office environment, you should become a Paralegal. A Paralegal is a “Non-Lawyer” legal professional that usually works in law firms doing administration and routine legal work for a supervising lawyer. If you want more information on what skills and abilities that you would need to succeed as a Paralegal, or if you are curious about the money you could earn if you become a Paralegal, check out the Alberta Alis Paralegal occupation profile for more information.
There are many schools in Alberta that offer paralegal or legal assistant programs that could open the door for you to become a Paralegal. The Alberta Association of Professional Paralegals (“AAPP”) created a list of post-secondary programs that meet their requirements for a Legal Support Professional or Paralegal Membership. There are also other noteworthy programs such as the Elmar Samuel Paralegal Academy which provides an online format course that allows people to become a Paralegal in 32 weeks or less.
If you want to become a Paralegal in Alberta, formal education is strongly recommended but it is not a mandatory requirement to become a Paralegal in Alberta. Education is optional because there is currently not any provincial legislation regulating the paralegal profession in Alberta. This means that it is possible to be hired as a receptionist in a law firm in Alberta, then to be trained as a legal assistant and to eventually work your way up to a Paralegal role. If you are considering this option, you should be aware that advancement without a formal education can be challenging, and you may be underpaid compared to your colleagues.
If you want to pursue formal education to become a paralegal, there are many options in Alberta for legal assistant or paralegal programs. Students are often led to believe that by completing a program, they will be easily hired out of school to become a Paralegal, and they will be paid well from the start of their career. One school, in particular, bragged to potential candidates that 80% of their students were employed after graduation. What they failed to mention was that their graduate students were not necessarily employed in legal assistant or paralegal positions. The statistics included any form of employment to misrepresent the success of the program. The reality is, it is very hard to find a job fresh out of school and even harder to find an employer that will pay well or treat you well. If this does not scare you away (which we hope that it doesn’t), and you still want to become a Paralegal, we encourage you to attend a post-secondary program and to follow our advice.
Research the school before enrolling
If you want to become a Paralegal, do your research. It is in your best interest to research the school that you are considering attending. Investigate your options. Research skills will be an asset in your career and they are valuable when picking a post-secondary program. Some paralegal or legal assistant diplomas are not respected in the legal field. Many law firms will not accept practicum students from certain schools because of bad experiences with former students that were not knowledgeable at the end of their program. If you do your research in advance, it can help you avoid enrolling into a poorly respected program.
Be prepared for rejection
If you want to become a Paralegal, it is important to keep your expectations realistic. You may have to settle for an entry level “legal assistant” job for the experience before you can land a job as a paralegal. It may also take a long time to find an entry level legal assistant job after graduation. Do not get discouraged. You will need to be resilient and keep applying to many law firms even if you have been unsuccessful in all of your previous interviews.
Follow-up after your interviews
If you land an interview for a legal assistant or paralegal position, the best advice we can give you is to follow up afterwards. Make it a habit to send an email after your interview thanking them for their time and offering to provide them with additional information or whatever. I am confident that I only landed one of my first legal assistant jobs because I followed up multiple times after the interview. The firm did not respond to me within the timeframe I was told they would make their decision. I sent another email a week or so after that letting them know that I was disappointed that they decided to go in another direction, and I asked for their feedback to assist me with my future interviews. I received a response to this email a week later offering me the position. This job offer was made over a month after the interview and probably only because I kept checking in.
Be prepared for a mediocre wage without benefits
It is important to keep your expectations realistic if your goal is to become a Paralegal. It is unlikely that you will be paid the salary that is advertised by your school, or that is listed on the Alberta Alis website or Robert Half website early into your career. In reality, most junior positions that are available are paid hourly rates that are not much more than minimal wage. You may not receive benefits or parking either. Good pay usually requires lots of experience.
Be prepared for mediocre treatment
If you want to become a paralegal, you should be aware that law firms can be extremely toxic work environments. Lawyers are taught how to be lawyers from their law school and articling positions, but they learn how to work with legal assistants and paralegals through trial and error. This means that you could end up working for a supervising lawyer that treats you poorly or has unrealistic expectations for you. You could end up working for a lawyer that does not acknowledge your quality work or your support, but immediately throws you under the bus and uses you as a scapegoat whenever mistakes are made. Many lawyers are awful employers that belittle and abuse their support staff.
Be prepared for abuse from clients
When you become a paralegal, your role will require you to maintain communication with clients. You will likely have to speak with people on the phone and email people who may not like the information you have to share with them. Your client may react by taking their frustration out on you and your client may become extremely abusive towards you. It can be extremely nerve-racking learning how to deal with angry people, but it is a part of the job that gets easier with experience and with the support of a supervising lawyer that has your back.
What should you take from this?
If you want to become a paralegal, you should do your research and keep your expectations realistic while you pursue your career. There is no requirement to have a formal education to become a Paralegal in Alberta because there is no provincial legislation regulating the paralegal profession in Alberta. We recommend obtaining a post-secondary education so that you have a basic understanding of the law, which will help you become a Paralegal. Your ability to become a Paralegal ultimately comes down to your ability to land a job in a law firm and their ability to train you to do the legal work required to advance your career. Paralegal work can be challenging and so can working for lawyers and interacting with difficult clients.
