Paralegals work in wide variety if areas - from law firms to government offices, from trade unions to the armed forces, construction companies, accounting and engineering firms – as a matter of fact, anywhere that law-related work is performed, paralegals will almost definitely be employed.

Paralegals operating in the private sector are habitually employed by law firms and corporations. In big commercial law firms, the duties of a paralegal will include assisting lawyers with legal transaction or litigation matters by organizing, copying, interviewing clients, taking depositions and tracking legal documents.

A Paralegal may be employed in specific areas of the law, concerning conveyancing, probate, matrimonial law or family law. A paralegal engaged in commerce may become engrossed in a variety of paralegal fields such as the financial sector, banks, building societies or insurance companies.

In the public sector, paralegals are in a job for non-profit public law firms, government departments, local authorities, health care authorities, and the Police or Social Services. The functions of the paralegal will vary depending on the area of paralegal they work. As an instance, in the public sector, paralegals are more likely to be called upon to give advice to the public or work with clients in some fashion that lessens the workload for an attorney.

A Paralegal deserves seriously both general and specialist training, because no matter where he or she works, more than a few qualities and skills which a good paralegal must have in order to be able to acquit themselves admirably must be demanded.

A paralegal must speak creditably, have organizational and time management skills, with the faculty to work simultaneously on a variety of tasks. A well trained Paralegal ought to work correctly without supervision and possess the endowment to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines.

Tolerable technical expertise is also a must, as the the ability to use of computers, software packages and databases have become central to the storage and organization of legal documents. A Paralegal may be asked to organize information in databases, use software to track time billed to clients, or use software packages to compute financial information. A suitable paralegal will also be respectful, professional, and diplomatic, and have high ethical standards.