How To Become A Contractor-Paralegal: What It Is and Career Path

What is a contractor-paralegal and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Emily Allen-Hornblower

Are you an inquisitive person who likes investigating every detail of a claim? If you think you would enjoy doing this but would also love to maintain a degree of flexibility, then becoming a contractor paralegal could just be the perfect job for you! As a contractor paralegal, you'll act as a sort of private investigator for an attorney. But, what's best of all, contractor paralegals are freelancers, who offer their services to attorneys on a contract basis. What that means is that you will be retained for a fixed period of time - possibly a few days or a number of months - to provide services for law firms on an "as needed" basis. This will give you a greater level of freedom and earning potential serving a variety of clients.

As a freelance paralegal, some of the tasks you may be asked to perform include conducting legal and factual research, drafting court documents and correspondence, reviewing and summarizing records, as well as filing documents with the court. Although there are no specific requirements to become a freelance paralegal, having a two- or four-year degree in paralegal studies is usually preferred.

What general advice would you give to a contractor-paralegal?

Emily Allen-Hornblower

Associate Professor of Classics, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

"I would say, think broadly. Your CV gives you an edge - you chose a course of study that is somewhat atypical, original (and a great conversation starter!) that gave you widely applicable skills.

I mean, who studies Classics? Who willingly subjects themselves to the rigors of Latin or Greek - or both? Who commits to navigating the intricacies of an interdisciplinary path that combines some of the most vital areas of inquiry for our time: social and cultural history, political science, philosophy, psychology, literary studies, material culture?

A go-getter. Someone who is passionate. And is Driven.

And you know what? Employers know that. They see that on your CV, and they think, wow - here is someone interesting and hard-working and who thinks out of the box. And they are right. Xerox saw that. Macy's saw that. The Air Force Intelligence Officer who hired one of our (female!) undergraduates as an officer saw that. The software engineer who hired another one of our grads to join his team as a full-time software engineer saw that. Oxford University Press in New York City saw that - and hired another recent grad as a full-time intern in their Higher Education Editorial Development department. SO: Classics majors, think big and broad. There is no restricted path for what is next.

So - Graduating seniors in Classics (and other Liberal Arts degrees), as you prepare to go forward into the world, you have good reason to go forth with pride, and enter the world after college, with all its question marks and inevitable bumps in the road, with confidence.
A Classics major is excellent preparation for the pursuit of a wide range of careers in a large number of fields, including, but not limited to, government, law, education, business, journalism, library science, publishing, foreign service, finance, the entertainment industry, museum, and preservation work, pharmaceutical sciences, music, and the arts, foundations, technology, web design, and labor relations. So think broadly. You've got this. "

ScoreContractor-ParalegalUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $60,686

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 14%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 5.82%

Black or African American 9.48%

Hispanic or Latino 19.08%

Unknown 4.85%

White 60.36%

Gender

female 73.18%

male 26.82%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a contractor-paralegal

Explore contractor-paralegal education requirements

Most common contractor-paralegal degrees

Bachelor's

52.6 %

Associate

22.9 %

Certificate

8.8 %

Start to develop specific contractor-paralegal skills

Skills	Percentages
Litigation	11.55%
Legal Research	9.29%
Discovery Responses	6.81%
PowerPoint	6.55%
In-House Counsel	5.26%

Complete relevant contractor-paralegal training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New contractor-paralegals learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a contractor-paralegal based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real contractor-paralegal resumes.

Research contractor-paralegal duties and responsibilities

Manage client expenses and prepare billing and financial statements using PClaw and reconcile attorney's escrow and general accounts using QuickBooks.
Assist staff counsels in all aspects of litigation management including factual investigation, document preparation, trial preparation and support.
Research using Lexis Nexis and online resources.
Summarize medical records, check blue-book cites, retrieve statutory and case law on LEXIS ,

Prepare your contractor-paralegal resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your contractor-paralegal resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a contractor-paralegal resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable contractor-paralegal resume templates

Build a professional contractor-paralegal resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your contractor-paralegal resume.