Paralegal Career For Dummies [Paperback]

Scott Hatch (Author), Lisa Hatch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2006

Apply important legal concepts and skills you need to succeed



Get educated, land a job, and start making money now!

Want a new career as a paralegal but don't know where to start? Relax! Paralegal Career For Dummies is the practical, hands-on guide to all the basics -- from getting certified to landing a job and getting ahead. Inside, you'll find all the tools you need to succeed, including a CD packed with sample memos, forms, letters, and more!

Discover how to
* Secure your ideal paralegal position
* Pick the right area of the law for you
* Prepare documents for litigation
* Conduct legal research
* Manage a typical law office


Sample resumes, letters, forms, legal documents, and links to online legal resources.

Please see the CD-ROM appendix for details and complete system requirements.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Apply important legal concepts and skills you need to succeed

Get educated, land a job, and start making money now!

Want a new career as a paralegal but don't know where to start? Relax! Paralegal Career For Dummies is the practical, hands-on guide to all the basics — from getting certified to landing a job and getting ahead. Inside, you'll find all the tools you need to succeed, including a CD packed with sample memos, forms, letters, and more!

Discover how to

• Secure your ideal paralegal position
• Pick the right area of the law for you
• Prepare documents for litigation
• Conduct legal research
• Manage a typical law office

Sample resumes, letters, forms, legal documents, and links to online legal resources.

Please see the CD-ROM appendix for details and complete system requirements.

About the Author

Scott Hatch, JD, and Lisa Zimmer Hatch, MA, are founders and administrators of The Center for Legal Studies, which offers training and certificate courses, including paralegal certificate courses, to thousands of people through hundreds of colleges and universities every year.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies (July 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471799564
• ISBN-13: 978-0471799566
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Law > Law Practice > Paralegals & Paralegalism
  • #100 in Books > Business & Investing > Job Hunting & Careers > Guides

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource!, November 3, 2006

By 

Margaret J. Kirk "CLAS" (El Paso., Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Paralegal Career For Dummies (Paperback)

This book says it all! I have been instructing paralegal courses for fifteen years, and have seen and used many texts. This one is by far one of the best, if not the best! It clearly and concisely covers pretty much everything a paralegal should know in an easy to understand format. The CD included with the book contains samples of documents and references to many, many important resources. I would highly recommend it for practicing paralegals, as well as anyone interested in the field of paralegalism! While the book is not a substitute for formal education, it goes a long way towards filling in the gaps in education for paralegals trained "in-house," as well as for those who have completed (or plan to complete) a paralegal program.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helped My Career, May 30, 2007

By 

Charles Foster Kane (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paralegal Career For Dummies (Paperback)

As an online paralegal student at the Washington Online Learning Institute, (WOLI) for short, I bought this book towards the end of my certificate program. It was quite useful in putting a lot of information in perspective. I had a course in career preparation at WOLI and this book reinforced and expanded upon that information so the combination of knowledge from WOLI and this book was really powerful. This book is basic, but it is accurate and very useful for someone entering the field. I ended up with a job just two weeks after graduating and this book helped for sure. So I would recommend it. I think it is interesting that Amazon bundles this book with the Statsky paralegal book because we used the Statsky book in three courses at WOLI. So I would recommend both books, actually. This is a good book for a person who is serious about entering the paralegal field, but keep in mind you should really get certified if you want to be truly successful. The days of just learning on the job are pretty much over, especially in terms of advancement in a law firm, which is a valid point made in this book. Recommended.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Paralegal Reference!, August 30, 2006

By 

Brigitte (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paralegal Career For Dummies (Paperback)

This is the first "for Dummies" book that I have purchased and I must say it is great for the beginning paralegal student as well as a paralegal graduate students. This book is a great refresher! When I purchased the book I was able to recap legal research and writing courses that I had completed a couple semesters ago. I was in the process of taking business law and ethics and this book helped me to understand the basics of the two courses I was about to explore as well as refreshed my memory on past courses. I will refer back to this book as a reference. This book really does cover EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW about the paralegal profession!!!

The reason I gave this a 4 star is because the legal documents on the CD are pretty basic, although they provide good information for things to include in these documents, the CD does not provide an in-depth look at the complete documents to file or send, just an idea. The CD is useful when it comes to learning more about the system and I must say this CD does have a pretty good idea of what to include in your resume and cover letter. In conclusion, the book is great but the CD should be referred to as a beginning idea of what goes into legal documents and not a template.