About First Paralegal
MEET THE OWNER
The Paralegal Behind First Paralegal
"I started First Paralegal because I saw how much time attorneys were losing to work that didn't require their expertise. My goal is simple: take that work off their plate and give it back to them as finished, reliable product."
Carla Navarro, CP
Founder | NALA Certified Paralegal
Carla Navarro is a NALA-certified paralegal who graduated with honors from the University of San Diego’s paralegal program in 2014. She began her legal career in 2006 and formalized her focus as a paralegal in 2012 with a civil litigation firm in San Diego, California. She later developed a broad range of experience through corporate in-house roles and small to mid-sized firms supporting civil litigation, corporate matters, staff management, and trademark-related work.
Carla founded First Paralegal in 2016 and shifted the business to focus exclusively on providing virtual contract paralegal support to solo practitioners and small firms. She has supported attorneys throughout Southern California on matters involving discovery and motion practice, legal research, contract drafting, real estate-related work, and document-intensive litigation support. Carla is fluent in Spanish and frequently works with bilingual records and communications under attorney instruction.
- NALA Certified Paralegal (CP)
- Experience in civil litigation, corporate, real estate, and trademark matters
- Bilingual: English and Spanish
- Exclusively serving Southern California attorneys since 2016
WHY FIRST PARALEGAL EXISTS
Built for the Way Solo and Small Firms Actually Operate
Solo practitioners and boutique law firms face a specific problem: substantive paralegal work needs to happen accurately and on deadline, but the economics of hiring in-house don’t always make sense. A full-time paralegal means fixed salary, benefits, payroll taxes, and ongoing overhead regardless of whether the workload justifies it.
First Paralegal exists to fill that gap. Support is structured as task-based contract work scoped, deadline-driven, and delivered under attorney direction so firms can access experienced paralegal capacity when they need it without carrying the cost when they don’t.
The work integrates into how your practice already operates. There are no new systems, no long ramp-up, and no permanent commitment. Assignments come in by email, work goes out in draft-ready form for attorney review, and billing reflects only the time actually worked.
Task-based and clearly scoped
Each assignment has defined scope and a deadline. No open-ended retainers or vague arrangements.
Draft-ready work product
Everything delivered in draft form for attorney review. You retain full control over strategy and final work product.
No new systems required
Assignments come in by email. Support fits into how your practice already operates, not the other way around.
Billing tied to actual time
Hourly, billed in 6-minute increments, invoiced the 1st and 15th. No retainer. No minimums. No cost when there's no work.
For a full breakdown of services and practice areas supported, visit the Services page.
- KEY TAKEAWAYS
- First Paralegal provides substantive contract paralegal support exclusively to licensed attorneys.
- Support focuses on research, drafting, discovery, and litigation assistance, not administrative or clerical work.
- Work is delivered under attorney direction, with the attorney retaining full control over strategy, clients, and final work product.
- Engagements are flexible and structured to integrate into existing firm workflows without adding permanent staff.
- First Paralegal was founded by Carla Navarro, CP, a NALA-certified paralegal with experience supporting solo practitioners and boutique law firms throughout Southern California.