Legal Industry Shifting Practices Online

By Joe Cooper
Career Colleges Columnist

Professionals in the legal industry rely on the Internet more than ever for information and communication. If you want to join the bandwagon as a new paralegal, consider earning your degree or certificate through an online degree program. These paralegal programs give students the Internet savvy they need to succeed in today's Web-intensive legal industry. Here are several ways the Internet serves both legal pros and their clients.

The Internet: The Top Legal Resource

Lawyers.com commissioned the research company Harris Interactive to conduct a survey to determine where people get their legal advice. The result? Among the adults surveyed, 27 percent of people went online for legal advice versus the 10 percent who did the same in 2000. Harris Interactive also found that the Internet is the largest source of legal information around.

Online Legal Matching

The State Bar of Texas just approved a California-based matching service based entirely online. Legal matching services help to match clients in need with the appropriate attorneys and paralegals. The Federal Trade Commission also supports online legal matching for its affordability and ease of use.

Online Paralegal Services

A Web-based company called Proxilaw offers online paralegal services regarding intellectual property law, from incorporation and licensing to patents and trademarks. Downloads of legal documents are available, as is an online members area where clients can track their projects and communicate with paralegals.

What it All Means: Online Paralegal School

So, what’s the moral of the story? The Internet has a home in the legal industry, and those who hope to work within it will have to follow suit. Paralegals need a diploma, certificate, or degree to practice. With the legal industry relying so heavily on the Internet, why not use it to earn an online degree? An online degree program from an online paralegal school can also be completed more affordably (and more flexibly) than a conventional on-campus program. If knowledge of the Internet will be a job requirement, using it to qualify you for the job just makes good sense.

Sources
PR Web
Proxilaw
PR Newswire

About the Author
Joe Cooper is a freelance education and technology writer and edits medical literature. He holds a bachelor's in American Literature from UCLA.

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