Paralegal

• Average Salary: $53,180

Paralegals and legal assistants are some of the highest-paying jobs that only require an associate degree. These are very document-heavy positions — they gather, organize and analyze data to help support legal proceedings. Different job functions — like sorting through documents and writing legal memos — are already being automated by technology. Experts already using one type of software note that it certainly reduces the number of documents being read by humans, but a total robot takeover will be a slow process.

The education and training requirements aren’t universal for paralegal jobs. Though some have bachelor’s degrees, others have associate degrees and/or a paralegal certification. Regardless of education, paralegals are highly organized, discreet and innately familiar with the legal system. If displaced, a paralegal’s skills would lend themselves well to a career in contract management, which has a more positive job outlook.