New Delhi: Management & Entrepreneurship and Professional Skills Council (MEPSC), in association with leading legal ed-tech startup LawSikho, is launching an online course titled “Paralegal Associate – Legal documentation” which would be co-certified by Skill India. MEPSC is a sector skill council set up under the aegis of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), set up by the Ministry of Finance through a Public-Private Partnership.
Paralegal as a career option has gained new momentum in light of international remote work, and this upskilling course is classified as a Level 4 course under the National Skill Qualification Framework set up by the Ministry of Finance of Government of India and would be appropriate for learners who have completed at least 12th standard or equivalent education. This program is mapped to the National Occupational Standards of NSDC as well. This would be the first paralegal course from India to receive such recognition.
This program/course is aimed at training candidates on high-demand tasks such as litigation support, legal writing, legal editing and proofreading, knowledge management, compliance-related work, legal blog management, basic financial administration, and other administrative work. This course also provides extensive training on the US legal system so that candidates can assist US lawyers and law firms as paralegals.
The US legal market is $320 billion in size, which is gigantic in comparison to the Indian legal market, which is around 2 billion dollars. Working remotely for foreign lawyers is a huge opportunity for Indian lawyers and graduates interested in a career as law firm administrators and paralegals. Indian remote paralegals are cost-effective, but training and certification have been a huge concern for employers, which the MEPSC has sought to address through this program.
Remote work has already become the norm since the pandemic around the world. The US is predicted to become a freelance majority economy by 2027, which means the number of freelancers is fast overtaking the number of permanent employees in the country. Indian paralegals can tap into the remote work opportunity in the US, UK, EU, and other advanced economies if they have relevant legal training on legal systems of these jurisdictions, good communication skills, and a good internet connection.
Col. Anil Kumar Pokhriyal (Retd.), CEO, MEPSC said, “Paralegals play a crucial role in the legal processes, making them an inseparable part of the legal profession. This job role has varying definitions in the Indian context but MEPSC in association with LawSikho has tried to curate an exclusive course, niche to the budding Paralegals who eventually want to learn about the nitty-gritty of the Indian Judiciary system and become a lawyer in the long run.”
“It is not necessary to earn a law degree to become a paralegal, or to qualify for the bar exam abroad,” said Ramanuj Mukherjee, CEO at LawSikho. Visa requirements do not apply to remote paralegals working from their home country either.
“Paralegal work is also an excellent step for those who are looking to become a lawyer eventually and support their studies or family while they are preparing for their legal career” added CEO, MEPSC.
