I've been a paralegal for over 30 years and have worked for a very large international firm, smaller firms, and sole practitioners. Here are my thoughts:
1. I am in California. Here, to work at a major law firm, they still almost always require both a college degree and a certificate from an accredited paralegal program. Smaller firms and, especially, sole practitioners may require only one or possibly neither.
2. I would still be at a big firm had I not been downsized about 15 years ago. It was stressful, you do have to bill your time, there is quite a bit of red tape, but on balance, for me, it was worth it. I have friends who are still paralegals at this firm, their base salaries are over $100,000, their bonuses are $3,000 - $5,000-ish, great benefits, retirement plan, 15 days vacation to start increasing to 20 after 10 years, etc. You do get used to billing your time and you learn how to account for everything you do. I am in estate planning and trusts, so I think our department was treated more tenderly as far as billables - it is much harder to bill your time in corporate or estate planning, you are working on lots of relatively small cases. By contrast, the litigation paralegals could spend all day working on one case, and at the end of the day they could charge all of their billable time to that one case. Still, having billables for me was not that difficult.
3. After leaving the big firm I worked in smaller firms and for sole practitioners and have had 2 layoffs, 1 can't-stand-them situation, 1 I-think-they-hate-me situation, 3 really good jobs for really great lawyers. I now work for a locally famous elderlaw attorney, make a little more than half of what I could be making at a big firm, with no benefits, but I have a flex-time 4-day schedule, work close to home, do not have to bill time, etc. So it balances out.
4. Even after the Great Recession or whatever we just had, I saw paralegal lots of ads and had a few headhunters calling me. At least in California, paralegals are important to attorneys, we do work that they do not do, we keep them organized, we know the court rules and the forms, etc.. While the attorneys do the creative thinking and do things in the larger world we execute the smaller tasks and keep them on track.
5. To be a good paralegal, you need to have a natural love of organizing things, be good with deadlines, good with the computer, enjoy paperwork, be comfortable being behind the scenes, not need too much social interaction during the day. It suits me perfectly but would not be for a go-getter extravert
6. For me, it has been a good career. I do not love my work but it suits me, I like the office environment, it is true some lawyers are obnoxious but an equal number have been kind, gracious, great bosses, supportive, consistent, respectful, etc.
Good luck with whatever you decide
