Is there a ceiling for paralegals unless you go to law school? I’m senior at my firm but there’s no real next step in my role. I don’t want to be a lawyer, but I do want to grow. I'm just not sure what long-term career growth looks like given where I am right now.

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You hit the ceiling beyond becoming a manager of some type. Build your experience and try to carve out a niche of work you like and excel at that is valued like trial work.

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You can get your MBA in business or HR and become a law office administrator

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There will always be a ceiling for paralegals. You may become a senior paralegal but, as far as the work, there is a limit to the work/duties a paralegal can perform. That doesn't mean you can't move into legal ops or a role managing other paralegals or that your salary/compensation has a limit. You can grow into other areas of law but that depends on your firm and the areas of their practice. There are definitely more opportunities for growth if you're in-house especially if it is a smaller business because you can touch many aspects of the business -- corporate governance, IP, ethics & compliance, litigation, regulatory and contracts to name a few.

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Not sure. You could ask to be assigned more attorney type work short of going to court and taking deps. You could maybe go work for an insurance company in claims where you might have upward mobility.

Lots of high-paying remote jobs and six figures out there, but I have yet to receive a response just yet other than acknowledging my application. I have several years of experience, a bachelors degree and a paralegal certification 15 yrs experience

I want an MJur and a PhD, so that I can teach paralegals how to be the ninjas on a legal team.

Playing devil's advocate, most of my professors in law classes were attorneys had experience in the field they were teaching. Of course, that's 100 years ago now. Find a mentor who teaches paralegal courses and chart your education accordingly. Connecting with someone who is doing the job you want is gold. FWIW, if you're going through the trouble of getting your MJur and PhD, the JD is going to be the more efficient path.

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