A paralegal is a person qualified by education, training or work experience who performs substantive legal work that a supervising lawyer specifically delegates and remains responsible for.
The American Bar Association's House of Delegates adopted its current definition of a paralegal at its February 2020 Midyear Meeting.
This guide explains what paralegals do day to day, where they work, the types of paralegal roles, how to become one, what paralegals earn, and whether the career is a good fit.
What is a paralegal?
The American Bar Association (ABA) publishes a definition of the paralegal.
Its House of Delegates adopted the current wording at the February 2020 Midyear Meeting, and it reads: "A paralegal is a person, qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible."
Two details in that sentence do the heavy lifting.
Paralegals qualify by education, training or work experience — the definition names three routes, not one gatekeeping credential.
And the work is specifically delegated, with responsibility staying with the lawyer: the paralegal does substantive legal work, and the lawyer who delegates it answers for it.
NALA's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility says the same thing from the profession's side — Canon 3 provides that a paralegal may perform any task properly delegated and supervised by an attorney, as long as the attorney stays responsible to the client, keeps a direct relationship with the client and takes professional responsibility for the work product.
The terminology question comes up immediately in this field, so it is worth settling here.
The 2020 definition replaced the version the House of Delegates adopted in 1997 and dropped the term "legal assistant" to reflect the substantive work paralegals perform.
NALA treats "legal assistant" and "paralegal" as synonymous and says state supreme court rules, statutes, ethics opinions and bar guidelines define the terms that way.
Usage still varies by employer — some firms use "legal assistant" for a secretarial role instead of a substantive one — so read a posting for its duties, not just its title.
What a paralegal may not do
What does a paralegal do day to day?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) lists the occupation's typical duties in its Occupational Outlook Handbook, and the list is a good map of where the job's center of gravity sits:
- Investigating case facts
- Researching laws and regulations
- Gathering and organizing documents
- Drafting correspondence and documents such as contracts
- Obtaining affidavits
- Helping at trial with exhibits and notes
- Filing documents with courts and agencies
- Scheduling interviews, meetings and depositions
How much of that list one paralegal owns depends largely on firm size.
BLS notes that in small firms, paralegals may work on all aspects of a case, while in larger firms they may work on one phase, such as preparing witnesses for deposition or trial.
BLS also names the qualities it flags as important in the occupation: communication, detail orientation, interpersonal skills, organizational skills and research skills.
Notice what the list does not include: anything that puts the paralegal in the lawyer's place.
The work is substantive — research, drafting, filings, trial preparation — but it reaches the client through a delegating lawyer who remains responsible for it, which is exactly how the ABA definition draws the line.
Where do paralegals work: law firms, in-house teams and government
Law firms are the center of gravity.
In 2025, 75% of paralegal and legal assistant jobs were in legal services — the BLS industry category that covers law firms.
No other setting came close: local government accounted for 5%, the federal government 4%, state government 3% and finance and insurance 3%.
The ABA definition names the employer range in one sentence — a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity — and the BLS shares show where those employers actually sit: overwhelmingly in law firms, with meaningful government employment at the local, state and federal levels and a slice in finance and insurance.
The industry you choose shows up in pay too — the by-industry breakdown is in the pay section below.
What types of paralegals are there?
It helps to map the role along a few axes.
By employer setting.
Law firm, government and corporate work — the ABA definition names all three as employers, and the BLS employment shares above put numbers on the legal services (law firm) and government settings.
By practice area.
Some paralegal roles are tied to a single practice area, such as litigation.
The day-to-day mix shifts with the practice, and the honest source for a given specialty's duties is the employer's own job description — specialty duty lists vary too much between offices to generalize responsibly.
By scope.
In small firms, paralegals may cover all aspects of a case; in larger firms, they may own a single phase, such as preparing witnesses for deposition or trial.
A litigation paralegal at a small firm and one at a large firm can share a title and work very different jobs.
How do you become a paralegal, and how long does it take?
BLS lists the typical entry-level education for paralegals and legal assistants as an associate's degree.
Around that typical path, the employer range is wide: BLS reports that some employers prefer a bachelor's degree, that others consider candidates with a high school diploma and experience, and that some hire people with no legal education and train them on the job.
Certification is a separate question from education.
BLS states that paralegal certification is not required, but that some employers prefer or require it — and that certification typically means passing an exam plus ongoing continuing education.
As for timing: the sources behind this guide describe the type of education employers look for, not how long programs take to complete, and program length varies with the credential and the format.
Ask the programs on your shortlist directly for their current length, cost and admission requirements.
Check the norms where you want to work
How much do paralegals make?
The median annual wage for paralegals and legal assistants (SOC 23-2011) was $62,890 in May 2025 — $30.24 per hour — according to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
The spread around that midpoint is wide: in May 2025, the lowest 10 percent earned less than $44,740 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $101,500.
Industry moves the number.
BLS's median annual wages for paralegals and legal assistants by industry, May 2025:
| Industry | Median annual wage, May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Federal government | $81,470 |
| Finance and insurance | $80,120 |
| Local government | $63,370 |
| Legal services | $61,770 |
| State government | $59,320 |
Read that table alongside the employment shares: legal services is where 75% of the jobs are, and it pays below the occupation median, while the federal government and finance and insurance pay the most among the industries BLS lists.
These are occupational medians for the combined paralegals-and-legal-assistants category — not offers for a specific title, city or firm — so treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.
Is being a paralegal a good career?
The honest numbers first.
Paralegals and legal assistants held 404,900 jobs in 2025, and BLS projects 403,800 in 2035 — a change of -1,100 that BLS characterizes as little or no change (0%) for 2025–35.
Within that flat total, BLS projects 40,800 openings each year on average over the decade, mostly to replace workers who change occupations or leave the labor force.
BLS also names the headwind directly: it expects demand for paralegals to be limited by technology, including artificial intelligence, which may make paralegals more efficient at research and document preparation and reduce demand.
That is BLS's own framing — a limit on demand, not a disappearance of the role — and it sits alongside those 40,800 annual openings.
The working conditions have a shape too.
BLS says most paralegals work full time and that the work can be stressful because it is fast paced, with multiple projects under tight deadlines; occasional travel to depositions or trials may be required.
So is it a good career?
The sourced picture: a large occupation (404,900 jobs) with steady replacement demand (40,800 openings a year), a median wage of $62,890 with a wide spread, entry routes that run from degrees to on-the-job training, and work that is substantive but deadline-driven, delivered under a lawyer's responsibility.
Whether that trade suits you depends on what you want from the work — and now you know the numbers behind it.
Find paralegal jobs at law firms
LawFirmHires is a job board built only for legal jobs — the attorneys, paralegals and legal staff who work in them, and the firms hiring them.
When you are ready to look, browse current paralegal jobs at law firms, and check back as firms post new openings.
Career information, not legal advice. Pay and outlook figures are BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook data for paralegals and legal assistants (SOC 23-2011), May 2025 wages and 2025–35 projections; the definition and ethics statements reflect the ABA's published definition and the NALA Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility. Confirm anything you rely on with the bodies named.