First, let me say Happy New Year! I took a look at the California Labor Market Info today and found that paralegal jobs will increase over the next six years by 6,500, or 26.3% in California. As a paralegal, this is good to hear.

The other interesting tidbit in this research, was that there are over 60,000 employers in California who employ paralegals. Also of interest, is that paralegals earn on average $27.63 an hour, with the top hourly earnings of $33.60. These figures do not take into consideration benefits and employer taxes though.

As a paralegal who was laid off in 2009, I believe that employers are not going to be paying the high wages as California has one of the highest cost of living indexes. For employers to continue to use paralegals, and they must in order to succeed, I believe that contract paralegals or virtual paralegals will be utilized more and more by attorneys.

As many of you know, I began my own virtual paralegal business this year, Virtual Legal Consultants. Marketing and getting this business off the ground has been challenging and fun. I look forward to the new year and the growth and change of our legal arena.