How technology has changed my paralegal career – virtually that is

I simply typed correspondence (on an electric typewriter), filed and answered the telephone. During periods where work was slow, I began to read the law books my former boss had in his legal library.  I became intrigued with the law and decided to begin college for my Associates in Applied Science and Legal Assistant Certificate at our local community college.  In 2000 I graduated as a Legal Assistant and began work with my first law firm with my new title.   In 2001, a former employer convinced me to continue with my college education.  I decided to take her advice and graduated from Davenport University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science and a major in paralegal studies. For the next couple of years I worked in various law offices in the Traverse City, Michigan area, expanding my experience in legal research and writing, criminal, family, civil, contract and collections.  I also experienced working on the defense team for a local high profile murder case, which allowed me to work directly with forensics, prepare the opening and closing statements, and forensics testimony on PowerPoint for trial.  In the past year I chose to discontinue working in the legal field as a paralegal for attorneys and began working as a paralegal/leasing specialist for a wireless telecommunications project management company.  I found this job to be very rewarding and refreshing.  However, the job did not last long and I found myself unemployed due to lack of work. 

This brings me to where I am today.  A “virtual paralegal”.  After I became unemployed I began looking for work again in the legal field.  There are very few opportunities at this time for a paralegal with my experience in my geographic location.  I began researching on “work at home” opportunities on the Internet and I was amazed at how many individuals were seeking the same, including paralegals.  That is when I decided I wanted to be my own boss and work at home, yet still have the career I love as paralegal.

For several months I began extensive research to find legitimate work at home job search sites and began sending my resume to document preparation services, virtual attorneys, and other virtual assistants, in hope that I would find work.  All the hard work and research paid off when I received a telephone call from a legal document preparation service requesting my paralegal expertise in drafting forms for their clients.  All of which is supervised by attorneys.  I continued to seek work and recently received an opportunity to work with a virtual attorney as an outsourced paralegal in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

What is a virtual paralegal and how does technology play a role?

The evolution of technology and the Internet has made it possible for me to work from home in what is considered a “virtual office”.   I am a highly trained independently contracted business owner versus an employee.   I contract my work with attorneys, document preparation services and other business. All my work is performed virtually by utilizing telephones, fax, email, and other internet established technology instead of the typical on-sight office setting.

Being a virtual paralegal has given me the freedom to own my own business, take time off when I need it and make that time up when I want to, even if I choose to work at midnight, and it has allowed me to spend more time with my family all at the same time enjoying the career I worked so hard for.

Dawn M. Draper
Virtual Paralegal
Email: info@thevirtualparalegal.com
http://www.thevirtualparalegal.com