Paralegals and Legal Assistants

High Risk
77%
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Vote Comments (8)
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AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
90%
(Imminent Risk)
POLLING
64%
(High Risk)
Average: 77%
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
1.2%
by year 2033
WAGES
$60,970
or $29.31 per hour
Volume
354,890
as of 2023
SUMMARY
JOB SCORE
3.3/10

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Calculated automation risk

90% (Imminent Risk)

Imminent Risk (81-100%): Occupations in this level have an extremely high likelihood of being automated in the near future. These jobs consist primarily of repetitive, predictable tasks with little need for human judgment.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

We haven't found any important qualities of this job that can't be easily automated

User poll

64% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted that it's probable this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 90% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Paralegals and Legal Assistants will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?






Sentiment

The following graph is included wherever there is a substantial amount of votes to render meaningful data. These visual representations display user poll results over time, providing a significant indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Paralegals and Legal Assistants' job openings is expected to rise 1.2% by 2033

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2021 and 2031
Updated projections are due 09-2024.

Wages

Moderately paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Paralegals and Legal Assistants' was $60,970, or $29 per hour

'Paralegals and Legal Assistants' were paid 26.9% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $48,060

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 354,890 people employed as 'Paralegals and Legal Assistants' within the United States.

This represents around 0.23% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 427 people are employed as 'Paralegals and Legal Assistants'.

Job description

Assist lawyers by investigating facts, preparing legal documents, or researching legal precedent. Conduct research to support a legal proceeding, to formulate a defense, or to initiate legal action.

SOC Code: 23-2011.00

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Comments

Marty (Moderate) 12 days ago
There certainly will be fewer supporting staff required in law firms. However, I'm skeptical that AI will replace more than 50% of people in this field; a human person is always more versatile in the office environment.
0 0 Reply
Logan (No chance) 2 months ago
No robot can ever interview people and make them feel comfortable like a human can.
1 0 Reply
Stephen Watkins (Highly likely) 9 months ago
Considering how lawyers and law firms want to maximize profits, they will do whatever they can to minimize costs--including human wages--and enhance profits, and that will include removing workers and replacing them with tools which can do their jobs more effectively.
1 0 Reply
Amanda (Low) 1 year ago
Where I work in family law I have to take into account all scenarios of someone’s life and add everything up. There is so much critical thinking that needs to be done and no two cases are the same as no two people are the same. You cannot automate my job. You can make it easier with technology but you cannot plan for the crazy things that come up in people’s lives.

A robot cannot tell when a client or opposing counsel is lying to it. Also a lot of times we have to poke and prod into people’s lives and ask them questions they don’t want to answer or tell anyone. This type of questioning I don’t believe a robot would be able to know to poke deeper into someone’s life or question why. If someone said no to a question a robot would take that at face value and not pry deeper to get the truth. So I think that my job will be safe as long as there are still attorneys practicing law.
2 0 Reply
Ivan (Moderate) 1 year ago
AI could do a resume of a caselaw faster and more efficient than any paralegal. It could probably do a complete legal research, given the right parameters, in a matters of seconds.
0 0 Reply
Anella Harmeyer (Low) 2 years ago
The ability to analyze laws and precedents and apply them to court cases takes a high level of critical thinking skills.
0 0 Reply
Gean M (Highly likely) 2 years ago
With the launch of the GPT3 chat, it will no longer be necessary to have an army of paralegals to analyze the text of legal cases.
1 0 Reply
Kris (Highly likely) 2 years ago
I work in this field and have already witnessed automation taking over with e-filing. I agree it is being replaced by automation. There will always be a niche or exception in the work that will require human oversight. It's not a growing field! Risky and underpaid!
1 0 Reply

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