If you are fascinated by the law and its finer aspects, but do not have the inclination to become a lawyer, there are various options open to you. Two common choices are to train as paralegals and legal secretaries.

While paralegals or legal assistants are almost lawyers in most aspects – they perform legal research, conduct client interviews, draft legal documents, prepare for mediation, etc. – they are not allowed to give out legal advice. As a paralegal, you can find employment in government organizations, in the legal departments of large corporations, and in law firms. Alternatively, you can work as a freelancer or under a lawyer who owns a solo law practice.

Legal secretaries are responsible for the preparation and process of various legal documents such as summons, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, pretrial agreements and motions. They also do most of a lawyer’s legwork including gathering information for ongoing cases, performing research to ferret out laws and rulings in cases that relate to pending cases, and submitting the details gathered for approval from the attorneys concerned. Besides this, legal secretaries are expected to take care of routine secretarial tasks in a legal firm including taking care of the correspondence and taking minutes of legal meetings.

Follow this link to find a few online courses relating to law.