Criminal law paralegal job responsibilities include legal research, drafting pleadings and other documents, filing court documents, tracking down witnesses, helping prepare people to testify and sometimes working with probation officers. Paralegals who work on a contract basis sometimes enjoy the variety of jobs they get by working for different lawyers. Criminal paralegals have a specific set of skills that require legal acumen and the ability to negotiate and work well with people.
Instructions
1. Contact criminal lawyers. Interview them to learn which paralegal responsibilities they would like to contract out. If you are confident you can meet your client's requirements, write out the details of the job. You may either write up a contract for ongoing work or include the due date when the project will be completed.
2. Know what your time is worth. When you work as a paralegal on a contract basis, you must bill your time. That means you write down what you did and how long it took. These reports are usually submitted for pay at the end of each week. You must draw up a contract with your client that confirms your hourly wage.
3. Anytime you hire yourself out for freelance work, you must state in your contract whether you will have access to your client's office. Some lawyers will want you to use their offices. Know the limits of your home office and what you have access to in your local legal library. Also, a criminal paralegal must be flexible and willing to travel. Criminal paralegals sometimes accompany their bosses to court, and often travel on their own to dig up information.
