What is a Corporate Paralegal?

A corporate paralegal is a trained legal professional who assists a company's legal department with all their legal needs. He/she specializes in corporate law and performs a supportive role to the legal team. They basically help the lawyers to research, gather and prepare information and materials pertaining to different cases or hearings.

A corporate paralegal works very closely with the in-house legal team and professionals in other departments. He/she can decide to specialize in a particular area such as corporate governance, intellectual property, real estate, mergers, and acquisitions, or even regulatory compliance.

A successful corporate paralegal should have relevant legal experience and technical skills, proficiency in computer applications, verbal and written communication skills, analytical skills, and attention to detail. Corporate paralegals have a regular work schedule. They work 40 hours a week Monday to Friday from 9 to 5. From time to time, they may be required to work extra hours in case of tight deadlines.

What Does a Corporate Paralegal Do

There are certain skills that many corporate paralegals have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, computer skills and interpersonal skills.

Learn more about what a Corporate Paralegal does

How To Become a Corporate Paralegal

If you're interested in becoming a corporate paralegal, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 61.1% of corporate paralegals have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 6.9% of corporate paralegals have master's degrees. Even though most corporate paralegals have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Corporate Paralegal

Top Corporate Paralegal Jobs Near You

Career Path For a Corporate Paralegal

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a corporate paralegal can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as senior paralegal, progress to a title such as paralegal/office manager and then eventually end up with the title administrative director.

Corporate Paralegal

Average Salary for a Corporate Paralegal

Corporate Paralegals in America make an average salary of $67,515 per year or $32 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $106,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $42,000 per year.

Average Corporate Paralegal Salary

$67,515 Yearly

$32.46 hourly

$42,00010%

$67,000Median

$106,00090%

See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

Roles and Types of Corporate Paralegal

The role of a corporate paralegal includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general corporate paralegal responsibilities:

Provide support for the legal department
Assist in the production and filing of the proxy statement
Board of directors assist the deputy general counsel

There are several types of corporate paralegal, including:

Paralegal

Role:

A paralegal is in charge of substantive legal work. Typically, they serve lawyers who are so busy building a case that they need help sorting out all of the legal work. That's where you come in.

Paralegals take pride in their responsibilities by administering their knowledge of the law and legal procedures. It can be a great thing to have a paralegal on the case because the law will determine what direction a lawyer may swing a case.

While you definitely need a working knowledge of what the law is, you really only need to obtain an associate's degree for this line of work. Sure, you could probably spend your entire life going through and memorizing every single law out there, but laws change all the time so chances are you're going to have to look it up anyway.

Average Salary: $49,943
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

Law Clerk

Role:

Imagine this. You grab a cup of coffee and head to the court. With enough coffee flowing through your veins, you're now ready to chat with the judge about legal questions, granting orders and even the construction of documents. Who are you? You're a law clerk and this is just the beginning of your day.

The rest of your day may be spent going through complaints, looking at petitions or motions, and even reading through pleadings so you can help develop a case. Then, you need to type up some judicial opinions, decisions, or citations. There's lots of work to do as a law clerk, so you need to be organized so you don't waste a single minute.

As a law clerk, you'll probably spend a lot of time with judges. You're there to provide assistance on legal determinations while also writing up research-based opinions that are relevant to the court. The best part of becoming a law clerk is that you don't have to wait very long to become one. You could be a student by day and a law clerk by night. Unless you have night classes, in which case it might be switched.

Average Salary: $55,916
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

Litigation Paralegal

Role:

Litigation paralegals are the backbone of the trial team. They manage all of the details throughout every phase of the trial, from investigations to pleadings and discovery. The litigation paralegal works closely with attorneys in depositions, witness preparation and research. The paralegal is typically the one who prepares and handles all exhibits.

Litigation paralegals research and analyze law sources such as statutes, recorded judicial decisions, legal articles, treaties, constitutions and legal codes to prepare legal documents such as briefs, pleadings or appeals for use by the attorney. They draft routine legal documents for review and use by attorneys, compile and prepare draft discovery responses, and review and analyze reports, responses and records produced by opening counsel.

Some skills that are necessary to have include excellent verbal and written communication skills, high attention to detail, resourceful research and analytical skills, ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects and tasks, and proficiency in Microsoft Office. The reported average annual salary for an litigation paralegal is approximately $55,340, with job growth in the U.S expected to increase 12% by 2028.

Average Salary: $58,484
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

States With The Most Corporate Paralegal Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active corporate paralegal jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where corporate paralegals earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Corporate Paralegal Jobs By State

Rank	State	Number of Jobs	Average Salary
1	California	1,108	$84,287
2	New York	589	$73,016
3	Texas	516	$56,780
4	Florida	507	$44,507
5	Illinois	355	$71,240
6	Washington	321	$82,682
7	Massachusetts	317	$69,366
8	Georgia	280	$55,816
9	Virginia	251	$60,484
10	Pennsylvania	236	$70,751
11	New Jersey	210	$76,833
12	Colorado	194	$66,901
13	North Carolina	189	$49,147
14	Ohio	175	$56,703
15	Minnesota	144	$65,824
16	Michigan	141	$63,287
17	Arizona	129	$62,856
18	Oregon	115	$80,224
19	Maryland	114	$61,515
20	Tennessee	104	$53,403
21	Wisconsin	95	$56,007
22	Missouri	94	$53,719
23	Utah	90	$69,468
24	Indiana	89	$47,971
25	Nevada	58	$75,404
26	South Carolina	52	$46,479
27	Connecticut	51	$69,013
28	Kentucky	50	$58,601
29	Arkansas	45	$48,714
30	Iowa	42	$57,807
31	Alabama	42	$50,570
32	Delaware	39	$67,488
33	Louisiana	36	$47,389
34	West Virginia	33	$65,077
35	Mississippi	30	$54,471
36	Nebraska	29	$61,593
37	North Dakota	27	$58,731
38	Rhode Island	25	$65,873
39	Kansas	25	$55,018
40	Idaho	22	$67,109
41	Hawaii	21	$62,226
42	Montana	20	$57,333
43	Oklahoma	19	$52,141
44	Maine	18	$59,900
45	New Mexico	17	$59,497
46	Alaska	16	$71,631
47	New Hampshire	15	$76,054
48	Wyoming	15	$53,943
49	Vermont	14	$62,385
50	South Dakota	12	$62,096

Corporate Paralegal Education

Corporate Paralegal Majors

Legal Support Services

26.4 %

Business

14.4 %

Political Science

10.2 %

Corporate Paralegal Degrees

Bachelors

61.1 %

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.4% of corporate paralegals listed litigation on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and computer skills are important as well.

Litigation, 9.4%

Corporate Governance, 7.2%

Legal Research, 6.1%

Mergers, 4.8%

Securities, 4.7%

Other Skills, 67.8%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Corporate Paralegal Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Corporate Paralegal templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Corporate Paralegal resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Corporate Paralegal diversity

Corporate Paralegal Gender Distribution

Female

79%

Male

21%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

Among corporate paralegals, 79.2% of them are women, while 20.8% are men.

The most common race/ethnicity among corporate paralegals is White, which makes up 60.0% of all corporate paralegals.

The most common foreign language among corporate paralegals is Spanish at 36.3%.

Online Courses For Corporate Paralegal That You May Like

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Best States For a Corporate Paralegal

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a corporate paralegal. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, Oregon, and New Jersey. Corporate paralegals make the most in California with an average salary of $84,287. Whereas in Washington and Oregon, they would average $82,682 and $80,224, respectively. While corporate paralegals would only make an average of $76,833 in New Jersey, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Corporate Paralegal Jobs: 321

Highest 10% Earn:

$121,000

Location Quotient:

1.71

$82,682

Avg. Salary

View 321 Corporate Paralegal Jobs In WA

2. California

Total Corporate Paralegal Jobs: 1,108

Highest 10% Earn:

$130,000

Location Quotient:

1.48

$84,287

Avg. Salary

View 1,108 Corporate Paralegal Jobs In CA

3. Oregon

Total Corporate Paralegal Jobs: 115

Highest 10% Earn:

$118,000

Location Quotient:

1.08

$80,224

Avg. Salary

View 115 Corporate Paralegal Jobs In OR

Full List Of Best States For Corporate Paralegals

How Do Corporate Paralegals Rate Their Jobs?

5/5

Based On 1 Ratings

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Corporate Paralegal Reviews

5.0

Sep 2021

Pros

Learning and understanding how the Corporate world operates. I also like the stability of the work on a day to day basis.

Cons

I am not always a fan of the Corporate politics that go on.

Top Corporate Paralegal Employers

Most Common Employers For Corporate Paralegal

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton	$109,287	$52.54	15
2	Ropes & Gray	$101,835	$48.96	12
3	GE Capital	$99,419	$47.80	7
4	Morgan Stanley	$93,031	$44.73	8
5	AIG	$92,759	$44.60	8
6	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	$89,992	$43.27	30
7	DLA Piper	$88,033	$42.32	10
8	Skadden	$85,636	$41.17	18
9	Greenberg Traurig	$78,662	$37.82	16
10	General Electric	$78,423	$37.70	6

Corporate Paralegal Videos

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A Day in the LIfe - Paralegal

The Paralegal Profession: an insider's perspective (career panel discussion)

Updated April 6, 2023

What is a Corporate Paralegal?

What Does a Corporate Paralegal Do

How To Become a Corporate Paralegal

Career Path For a Corporate Paralegal

Average Salary for a Corporate Paralegal

Roles and Types of Corporate Paralegal

Paralegal

Role:

Law Clerk

Role:

Litigation Paralegal

Role:

States With The Most Corporate Paralegal Jobs

Number Of Corporate Paralegal Jobs By State

Corporate Paralegal Education

Corporate Paralegal Majors

Corporate Paralegal Degrees

Top Colleges for Corporate Paralegals

1. University of Pennsylvania

2. Northwestern University

3. Stanford University

4. Texas Wesleyan University

5. Harvard University

6. Boston University

7. University of California - Los Angeles

8. Hamline University

9. University of California, Berkeley

10. Georgetown University

Top Skills For a Corporate Paralegal

Choose From 10+ Customizable Corporate Paralegal Resume templates

Corporate Paralegal diversity

Corporate Paralegal Gender Distribution

Online Courses For Corporate Paralegal That You May Like

Best States For a Corporate Paralegal

How Do Corporate Paralegals Rate Their Jobs?

Corporate Paralegal Reviews

Top Corporate Paralegal Employers

Most Common Employers For Corporate Paralegal

Corporate Paralegal Videos

Corporate Paralegal Related Careers

Corporate Paralegal Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

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