Incisive Legal Intelligence, in partnership with the International Paralegal Management Association (IPMA), released their 2009 Compensation Survey for Paralegals/Legal Assistants and Managers, tracking compensation, billing rates and billable hours for paralegals. More than 250 organizations participated in the survey (180 law firms and 72 law departments), representing a total of 10,613 paralegal positions.

Survey results showed:

• Decreases in paralegal billable hours and overtime, but small increases in base salary for the survey period.
• The overall compensation of paralegals in U.S. law firms and corporate law departments decreased slightly when compared to last year’s survey data.
• Paralegals working in law firms received somewhat higher base compensation increases than their law department peers.
• Within law firms, the highest paid paralegals continued to be litigation support/technology managers at a median annual base compensation of $121,012 nationally.
• The average billing rate for most paralegals positions exceeded $175 per hour.

These survey results contrast slightly with Legal Assistant Today's 2009 Salary Survey which found a small increase in average law firm and corporate salaries compared to last year. That survey reported average law firm paralegal salaries at $53,937, corporate salaries at $62,336 and government salaries at $56,615.

One of the most exciting jobs in law enforcement is with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the nation’s most elite law enforcement agency. Headquartered in Washington D.C., the FBI’s core investigative and intelligence work is accomplished in its 56 field offices and 400 satellite offices across the nation. FBI Agents - known as Special Agents - use intelligence to protect the nation from threats and bring to justice those who violate the law. Serving as an FBI Agent is a demanding job with strict entry requirements. To learn more about careers with the FBI, review these articles:

• Special Agent Career Profile
• Jobs with the FBI

The legal marketplace is quite different than it was a decade ago. Today’s attorneys are no longer just competing against other local practitioners, they are competing against a global pool of legal talent.

A growing number of legal services are offered by non-lawyers such as paralegals and legal technicians. The Internet has opened the door to a host of online legal providers and services ranging from downloadable self-help legal guides and do-it-yourself kits to fill-in-the-blank legal forms and other legal aids. Virtual law firms and virtual legal assistants are growing in number. Many clients are finding it easier (and less costly) to seek legal help from the Internet than their local law office.

In addition, the advent of legal process outsourcing has spawned a host of legal vendors across the globe. Attorneys and paralegals in India, China, Australia and other countries offer legal services at a fraction of the cost of domestic law firms. From legal research and document management to patent, contract and immigration work, more U.S. clients are sending their legal work to offshore providers.

Lawyers no longer have a monopoly on the law. Your true competition is not just the law office down the street. Therefore, it’s important to think outside the box in delivering legal services, setting fees and meeting client needs.

Times are changing, even in the traditional halls of legal academia. Historically, law students could not sit for the bar exam unless they graduated from an American Bar Association-accredited law school. ABA-approved schools only allow graduates to take up to 12 credit hours of classes online.

However, reflecting a national demand for distance learning, law schools are beginning to offer more online courses. And, for the first time in the nation’s history, a lawyer who received his entire legal education online is now licensed to practice law, The National Law Journal reports. This Spring, Ross E. Mitchell graduated from Concord Law School, a non-ABA-approved law school that offers an exclusively online legal education.

Last November, Mitchell won his case against the state's Board of Bar Examiners, which denied his bid to bypass a requirement that U.S.-trained applicants be graduates of an American Bar Association-accredited law school. The court allowed Mitchell to sit for the bar because the ABA is mulling changes to its accreditation standards.

Distance learning programs are one of the fastest-growing components of higher education. However, if you are considering a law degree, think twice about obtaining your degree exclusively online. Although Mitchell paved the way for allowing online law school graduates to sit for the bar, online grads will face an uphill battle in finding gainful employment in today's competitive job market.