Why I want to be a Paralegal and Work in Litigation Law Imagine a young woman who was born and raised in one of the Soviet countries. In this world,life is very different and human rights are virtually nonexistent. She had to carefully consider everything she did, whether that was going to a rally, making a speech, or simply deciding to celebrate a religious holiday. Stop imagining because this was no dream, it was a way of life, it was my life and I did not know any other way to live. When you do not know any other way of living, it becomes a norm. It was customary to have a single candidate on your ballot whether it was for local government, or the highest office of presidency. Standing in long lines to buy groceries, clothes, or any other necessities too became a regular occurrence. The level of corruption ran rampant to the point where anyone could bribe a public official to achieve personal gain. It was a norm to have a teacher who would discriminate against minorities at school and you were not able to voice your opinion. All this changed for me in 1992. I was twenty-eight, married and had a four year old daughter when we had an opportunity to move to America as refugees. Fast forwarding,imagine a young family that was foreign to a new country, a family that barely spoke English and had very little money. This new immigrant family had a big desire to start anew and set the stage for a better life on the road to success. We not only had to learn a foreign language, but we had to learn to drive, learn how to manage a checking account, how to build credit history, and many other commonalities that are taken for granted. It was an amazing experience but most of all, it was an eye-opener into a new way of life. We realized that living in a democratic country could change an individual’s views. Such a thing as small as ‘freedom of speech’ granted in our nation’s Constitution brought a new breath of life that upgraded everyday thinking. One of my best experiences was becoming an American citizen. I am very proud of what I have learned and what I continue to learn. Today, I am proud to be an American. Americans have an amazing way of life because you can voice your opinion, have a right to vote and have more than one candidate to vote for on the ballot. Here, everybody has a right to be protected by law enforcement, can raise children without fear, and be outspoken. These rights are not only for American citizens but also for immigrants from any country in the world as long as they live here legally. The level of expression one has seems limitless in comparison to the environment in which I was raised. The opportunities are not preset for you but are in arm’s reach as long as you are driven and motivated to work towards a goal. My very first experience studying law was a little over a year ago when I was laid off and made a career decision to pursue the role of a Real Estate agent. One of the many things I learned that interests me the most is the rights of the homeowner that are protected under the law. I came to realization that every area of law whether it is real estate, employee’s rights, right to defend yourself or to file a suit if you have been wronged; they are all designed to protect the nation’s people instead of the nation’s government. Litigation is a very interesting field of law and the more I study it, the more interested and engrossed in the material I become. To come to a country and learn that a single individual can go so far as to press charges against the government rattled me to my core. “Who would think to do this” I thought, this is unheard of in the countries of the former Soviet Union. “Do you mean that I, a person who was wronged by a corporation, can find justice?” The ideology behind being a shareholder in a company has also intrigued me. You can hold money in a bank and have FDIC insurance? You mean a person can fall in a store and have the store help him/her pay the medical bills? This introduction to a revelation of freedom blew me off my feet at the amount of liberties and equality a single individual holds at their fingertips. Currently, I am enrolled in school as a full time student. Out of my six classes, three of them are LEX classes and I am learning extensive amounts of legal information pushing me towards my goal of leading a successful life as a paralegal. The litigation process is there to protect citizens’ rights and the fact that the same laws from hundreds of years ago can be applied today is very unique. Of course, as we change as a society, the laws are interpreted differently. Just thinking about the fact that our nation’s fathers created law that binds citizens together, it also gives rights to citizens regardless of their education, job skills, talents, religion, race or place of origin. I envision myself asa part of this field, to help people find justice and to help people live a better life because of what I will be able to do. Technically speaking, a paralegal can do anything (other than give legal advice) that an attorney can do. A litigation paralegal can do research that can make a big difference in the outcome of a case. There are endless opportunities to learn and I attempt to take advantage of as many as possible to broaden my horizons further. I enjoy challenges and I would like to be able to make a difference in an individual’s life. It can be very rewarding to help win a case for a single mom and protect her child, it must feel great to help a person get back on their feet after losing everything they have worked for, and it must be very satisfying to find justice for children cases. By nature, people are very different from one another due to a different upbringing, various living conditions, and many ways of thinking, different backgrounds, and different goals in life. Thus, disagreements among individuals are inevitable. Despite this, people know that they can come to an attorney and their interests will be protected. A paralegal can make a difference and make these services more affordable for people who might otherwise not be able to afford such services. By doing part of the attorney’s work, a paralegal can successfully complete tasks in the same manner as an attorney does with the same outcome of the case while saving money for the client and the firm. Also, there is an opportunity to do Pro Bono work to help people. This is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in a person’s life, even though most people look at it as obligated charity. Being part of a professional team is very gratifying and rewarding. When I become a paralegal, my goal is to be as knowledgeable as an attorney is and to assist them in any legal case asked of me. I love to work independently and be successful in the projects that I undertake. I see my future as a paralegal highlighting these aspects and I will only be able to better fine my skills in this profession. In conclusion, I want to say that it is my ambition to succeed and become a knowledgeable paralegal that will make me an asset to the clients and lawyer I will assist. It will be a grand accomplishment and great honor to work in the American judicial system and become immersed in the legal environment. I can bring a different perspective on issues by having lived in a vastly different judicial system. Furthermore, I have the ability to bring more appreciation to the American way of life, people’s rights and democracy overall. |