Paralegals are professionals who assist or support attorneys in their work (Westwood College). Supporting qualified attorneys includes a variety of tasks. When an attorney's case goes to court, paralegals prepare motions and pleadings, in addition to organizing and cataloging relevant trial documents (Westwood College). Paralegals also locate and interview witnesses; conduct investigations; carry out legal research; and summarizing depositions, interrogatories, and testimony (National Association of Paralegals). Additionally, Business and Professions Code Section 6450(a) states that “tasks performed by a paralegal include, but are not limited to, case planning, development, and management; legal research; interview customers; fact gathering and information retrieval; draft and analyze legal documents; collect, compile and use technical information to make an independent decision and recommendation to the supervising attorney; and represent clients before a state or federal administrative agency if such representation is authorized by law, court order, or administrative rule or regulation” (Business and Professions Code Section 6450(a)). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in California, the estimated average hourly wage for a paralegal is $24.15 and the estimated average annual salary is $50,220 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Paralegal benefits typically include vacation, sick leave, medical, dental, life insurance and retirement plans. Many law firms pay bonuses based on seniority or merit, or a combination of both (State of California Department of Employment Development). The salaries of paralegals who work on their own depend on the type of missions carried out and do not depend on the environment of the document ......f Labor statistics). When less work is delegated to paralegals, a company may downsize and lay off some paralegals or hire new paralegals until the workload increases (Bureau of Labor Statistics). What interested me most about the paralegal profession is that paralegals are not limited. work in a law firm. There are a number of other career opportunities for paralegals. Some opportunities are in areas related to law, and other opportunities are in areas not related to law; however, the opportunities are for jobs in which paralegal training provides useful training. Paralegal skills are closely related to many other professions. Additionally, I think paralegals are underpaid because they have many tasks, responsibilities and pressures. Paralegals are the right hand of lawyers and lawyers rely heavily on their many skills..