Average Paralegal Salary – What Is A Paralegal Salary Range ?

What is a paralegal?

 

 The definition of this position changes depending which association defines it. But basically a paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, is a skilled individual in the many facets of the law. Dexterity in this field is either acquired through education (usually a two-year course) or rigorous training and experience.

 He or she is hired by a lawyer or an organization to accomplish tasks that are legal in nature, mostly done under the guidance of a lawyer.

 Several factors affect paralegal salary, like demand of the job, number of applicants who are qualified to be legal assistants and the existing number of paralegals currently employed.

 But the salary scale of this position is still highly dependent on work experience, common for most jobs.

 According to www.payscale.com, here are the statistics:

 EXPERIENCE                SALARY

 Less than 1 year          A $34,707

1-4 years                     B $36,037

5-9 years                     C $43,287

10-19 years                 D $48,069

20 years or more         E $50,459

 

 158 of the respondents in the said survey fall under category A, 1841 fall under B, 1262 fall under C, 1103 in level D while 454 in level E. Even the paralegals in the lowest tier get a higher salary than the minimum wage earners who get $16,800 a year.

 Note that this is just the basic salary of a paralegal. This does not include bonuses, overtime pays, etc, which will most likely happen as the paralegal is usually given the nitty-gritty task of a lawyer which includes research and drafting of legal documents.