Robert Walner, the general counsel of Grubb & Ellis, explained in 2003 that he had saved his previous employer “hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by hiring experienced paralegals rather than junior lawyers.” (Corp. Legal Times, Vol. 13, July 2003).
He pointed out that paralegals in law firms face boring work and no future; in law departments they can take on responsibility up to their abilities and they can grow their abilities. For significant amounts of law department work, a veteran paralegal will do excellently (See my posts in 2005 of March 18 asking if there are practical limits to what paralegals can do, June 28 about shifting toward paralegals and away from secretaries, and Aug. 26 about delegation to paralegals.).