Hi
@syw, I do not have any particular knowledge about this issue and I would love for anyone who knows more than me to jump in and correct me! My (perhaps naive) assumption, however, would be that paralegal experience cannot be a negative, can it?
Perhaps the bigger question is which firms are more amenable to recruiting graduates who have been out of university for some time? In my anecdotal experience, UK firms with large trainee cohorts tend to prioritise the standard intake groups (i.e. 2nd-year law/final year non-law) whereas US firms and firms with special areas of expertise often take candidates who have some other experience. At BPP on the PGDL course, I am in a class with students who are almost all going to US firms and at 24 years old I think I am under the average age in the class. My friends in a class with future trainees of London's 'City Consortium' firms say that almost everyone is 21!
So judging on this alone, I would say that the major UK firms may prefer 2nd-year law or final-year non-law students but as far as post-uni experience goes, I can't see why being a paralegal could possibly be a bad thing. Firms often espouse their desire for candidates to have legal work experience so I think that your experience should put you in good stead for most of the firms you are applying to