Pros
Some genuinely interesting work if you're in the right place at the right time. Generally a nice bunch of co-workers.
Cons
- poor pay. 1) 18k is the starting salary and is the salary you will likely stay on regardless of performance or billable hours. 2) senior paralegals typically earn around 22K and there is no clear progression route to get there. 3) Bonuses - don't be silly. you'd be lucky to get a few 100 whilst your friends in other industries are getting 10% bonuses and yearly pay rises. - poor prospects. 1) TC route is a mystery. It's not based on billable hours. It's not based on client contact. It doesn't seem to be based on experience. It'll leave you scratching your head. 2) at performance reviews you'll be told what a stellar job you're doing but that you're not getting promoted or a pay increase. You'll be left with bizarre intangible points to work on that'll leave you with one conclusion - they can afford to pay you more but they like getting you on the cheap. 3) there are 4 levels of paralegal at AG - you'll typically find that the majority of people are level 1 and have been there for 1-2 year (you won't promote if you work here). 4) management will not drive your progression, they'd rather drive their bottom line. - unpleasant working environment. 1) people that have been there a while tend to be short tempered and unapproachable, i think that says more about the environment than I ever could. 2) you'll be made to feel dispensable at all times. 3) you'll constantly be lectured about the great opportunities but let perplexed at your reality. 4) you'll constantly be reminded that you could be charging the client more and that maybe you should look at billing another 10 minutes a day because if everyone did that ... 5) 'development' is non-existant. 6) when you're invited to give feedback management seem more interested in how pretty their graphs are rather than the fact that they have significant numbers of disengaged people. My advice to people thinking about joining AG as a paralegal. It won't get you a TC there but it will give you exposure to interesting work if you're prepared to wade though the unpleasantness of it all. Don't stay for more than a year!