The majority of the people that work at a law firm in Dallas area pay a fraction of the price of a paralegal. Although paralegals are trained in the law, they can work anywhere within the firm which allows them to provide client service to a wider variety of industries.
Some paralegals also work outside of the office (within a corporation, for example) which is a great way to find out what the client wants done. It allows paralegals to perform many legal tasks without the burden of a high-paying job.
The majority of paralegals pay around $24,000 a year. That’s about 3.5 times more than the average employee in the firm. But here’s the thing. The majority of paralegals are also employed by firms that pay around $20,000 to $30,000.
Of course, paralegals in general don’t have the same career path as other employees. It’s not the same as getting a job and working your way up from there. But if your boss is paying you less than 30,000, you can also try to get a job in a firm that is paying less than 25,000.
If you want to work in a firm where you can actually get paid more, you have to work overtime. So if you want to work in a firm that pays the same rate as other firms, you need to get a job that pays more than 60 hours a week. Which means you need to work 15 hours a day in the summer and 15 hours a day in the winter. Thats quite a lot of overtime if you work for that firm for 20 years.
Paralegal salaries vary quite a lot by firm or location, so it’s unlikely you’ll be able to find a firm that pays you more than 30,000, or even 40,000. If you have to work overtime, you’ll have to work even more overtime than that to make that much.