Episode 1: From Legal Assistant to Alberta Paralegal - My Journey

Transcript

Tara Edwards 0:01

Hello and welcome to Sister-in-Law, the Paralegal Journey. For this first episode, I wanted to start with my own story, not because it's the most important one, but because it explains why this podcast exists. I've spent 20 years in the legal field, and during that time I've seen just how many different paths can lead to a meaningful legal career. If you're listening to this and you feel like your career hasn't followed a straight line, or that you don't always see your own path reflected in legal conversations, this episode is for you. This episode is about how I got here, but it's also about setting the tone for this podcast. Honest conversations about professional growth, mentorship, and the realities of working in legal support and paralegal roles and to do that, it makes sense to start at the beginning. Truth be told, I started this field because of a friend. I was living in Ontario and had just graduated with my human resources diploma, and I could not get a job. I was interviewing, but all I kept hearing was, you need experience. Which of course I didn't have. A friend of mine had just graduated from the legal office administration program at Centennial College in Ontario, and she suggested I speak with the program coordinator. I did, and that conversation changed everything. Like many people entering the legal field, I didn't have a long-term plan. I knew I needed a job. I'd always been interested in law. Funny story, I was always told I should be a lawyer. And I wanted to build a professional career. I ended up working for a senior partner at a national law firm in the Labor and Employment Department. That role aligned well with my HR background and gave me real exposure to how law operates day to day. I learned early on just how important accuracy organization and professionalism are, and very quickly I realized something. That would shape my entire career. Learning in this field never stops. I realized early on that being hired wasn't the finish line. It was actually the starting point. As my career progressed, I continued my education through law clerk courses in night school and later through paralegal studies all while working in the field. That combination of hands-on experience and formal education helped me understand not just legal theory, but how legal work functions in practice. Looking back now, I can see that my career didn't move in a straight line, and that's something I really wanna emphasize. Every role and every course added value, even when it didn't feel like a clear step forward at the time. If you're listening and your career feels messy or non-linear, I want you to hear this clearly. That doesn't mean it isn't meaningful. Eventually, that non-linear path led me to somewhere new, meeting my husband, and moving provinces. My career didn't stay one place. Geographically. Working in both Ontario and Alberta gave me a broader perspective on the legal profession and how legal roles, especially legal support and paralegal roles can differ depending on jurisdiction. Moving provinces required me to adapt both professionally and personally. And if I'm being completely honest, there was a point where I was extremely depressed. I remember thinking, oh my goodness, what have I done? I have to start my career over again. It's like day one. That experience forced me to reflect deeply on my professional identity. Who I was in the field and who I wanted to become. It also played a role in the next major transition in my journey, being determined to move into a paralegal role and figuring out what that looked like without always having management or peer support to guide me. One of the biggest misconceptions I see in the legal field is that becoming a paralegal is simply the next step after being a legal assistant. It really isn't. It's a shift in responsibility. Mindset and professional identity. While my experience as a legal assistant gave me a strong foundation, stepping into a paralegal role required a deeper level of accountability, independent judgment, and ownership of my work. I remember being in Ontario and interviewing with recruiter who told me that while I was doing a hybrid legal assistant in law clerk role at the time, I couldn't move into a formal law clerk position because I didn't have a law clerk diploma. Law firms, she said, would want to see that credential. And while in some cases she was absolutely right. I've also witnessed people in this industry move into law clerk roles without that diploma, simply because they learned one area of law extremely well and found a workplace willing to support that growth. I started my paralegal diploma in Ontario but left before completing my practicum and becoming licensed. After the death of my grandfather in 2024, someone who I was very close to, I made a decision I was going to complete my paralegal education for me. I was going to craft my career on my own terms, and I would find an employer who valued growth, mentorship, and development. Completing my paralegal professional diploma in Alberta last September was an important milestone, not just academically, but as confirmation that I was moving in the right direction. Over the years, I've worked in labor and employment law as well as civil enforcement, along with brief, experiences in areas like medical malpractice, corporate, and a small touch of real estate. I now work in corporate and commercial litigation with a strong emphasis on civil enforcement. Civil enforcement in particular, show me how directly legal procedures affect people's lives. It reinforced how important accuracy, ethics, and professionalism are because real people are impacted by the work we do. These experiences help clarify the work I want to continue doing and the roles paralegals can play in providing meaningful, practical support, whether within law firms or beyond. And as I move further into this work, one theme kept coming up for me. Mentorship has become central to both my career and this podcast. Mentorship plays a huge role in my development. Sometimes through formal guidance and sometimes through informal support from colleagues, friends, or employers who are willing to answer questions and share what they've learned. This value is an abstract for me. It comes directly from my own experience, and it's a big part of why I wanted to create this podcast. I created Sister-in-law, the paralegal journey to create space for conversations that don't always happen openly in the legal profession. This podcast will include solo episodes like this one, as well as conversations with legal assistants, paralegals, lawyers and professionals working in roles that intersect with the legal system. The goal is to share real experiences, lessons learned, and honest insight. Especially for those navigating their own path in law and wondering where they fit. As we wrap up this first episode, I wanna thank you for listening and being part of this journey. Legal careers are built over time, shaped by experience, education, and the people we learn from along the way, and none of us built our careers in isolation. If this episode resonated with you, I invite you to follow the podcast on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and connect with me on LinkedIn and share your story with me. This is Sister-in-law, the paralegal journey, and this is just the beginning. Welcome to the conversation.