In recent years general counsel have discovered that paralegals can do more than summarize depositions and Bates stamp documents. Smart GCs are using them in place of junior in-house lawyers–at least that's one way to interpret the results of two recent surveys conducted by Altman Weil.

According to the legal consultancy's 2005 Law Department Management Benchmarks Survey, the ratio of paralegals to attorneys in legal departments has grown over the past four years. In 2002 this ratio was 29 for every 100 attorneys; three years later that number jumped by 6 to 35 for every 100 attorneys. Although that jump may seem small, experts expect it to continue to increase in the coming years.

“More and more, companies are asking themselves whether a paralegal might be able to fill a vacancy as opposed to automatically bringing in a lawyer to fill it,” says James Wilber, principal at Altman Weil. “Companies realize there is not much a properly trained and educated paralegal can't do.”

The driving force behind this shift is cost. According to Altman Weil's 2006 Annual Compensation Survey for Paralegals/Legal Assistants and Managers released June 29, the median salary for paralegals is $50,000, significantly less than the salary of even a junior-level attorney, which is approximately $200,000.

The survey also found the average annual bonus for paralegals is $2,000, with only 62.5 percent of in-house paralegals receiving a bonus. In addition, paralegals who work for legal departments make significantly less than their law firm counterparts, who earn 10.4 percent more in median total cash compensation.

“This shift in hiring more paralegals is just another example of how economic pressures are forcing lawyers to practice in smarter ways,” Wilber says.

Aside from appearing in court to represent a party and giving legal advice, paralegals can complete almost any other legal task, making them increasingly favorable replacements for what typically would be positions designated for in-house counsel.

For legal departments looking to fill such vacancies, especially those with restrictive budgets, Wilber suggests approaching the role of a paralegal with an open mind.

“Legal departments should start with a really broad definition of what a paralegal can do and then narrow it down from there,” he says.