What is a Paralegal?
What is a Paralegal
A paralegal is a law professional just like an attorney but with some distinct differences. A paralegal must be supervised by an attorney. A paralegal or legal assistant as they are otherwise known cannot give legal advice so must always make sure that the client understands this. They also cannot represent a client in court.
Why do law firms employ paralegals?
In a one word answer the reason is cost. Attorneys are an expensive asset and law firms want to keep costs manageable without compromising the service they provide to their clients. Well trained paralegals can do much of the work that was previously the remit of qualified attorneys. For example, instead of having a qualified attorney spend hours researching past case law, you can employ a legal assistant to do this at a fraction o the cost. There is also the argument that people become more efficient when they do similar jobs all the time. It stands to reason that if a paralegal spends hours every week studying case law, he or she should develop excellent research skills.
So what is involved in the paralegal job description?
Although parts of the paralegal job description will be similar regardless of where they work, there can be huge differences too. For example, you will always have to do legal research no matter what area of the law you work in. If you work in criminal defense you will be using past case law to help your clients achieve an acquittal. If you work on estate law you will still need to research past cases to find out what is likely to happen with your client’s estate etc.
Legal research involves a lot more than simply gathering lots of information. Your job as a paralegal will be to analyze the information you have found. You will be asked to present your analysis to the lawyer looking after the client. As you gain more experience your work will probably involve more analysis and preparation of court motions.
What other duties are outlined in the average legal assistant job description?
If you work in the large law firms you may have less client contact than a certified legal assistant working in a smaller firm. Often the paralegal is the liaison between the client and the attorney. An ability to communicate effectively is therefore extremely valuable asset. Developing rapport with people will help you to progress in your chosen career.
If you choose to work in corporate legal departments you will probably find yourself working almost as a case administrator. This may include managing cash accounts. In the USA, Law firms hold separate accounts for their client’s assets. For example if they are acting on behalf of a client in an estate dispute all proceeds of the estate will be deposited into an special account and all transactions on this account will have to be noted and monitored. These monies are not an asset of the law firm and must be kept completely separate to the law firms back accounts.
A paralegal performs specifically delegated tasks. For example if the attorney you are working for is representing a client charged with murder or an assault, you may be required to interview witnesses and review the evidence against the client.
You may work for private law firms who specialize in prenuptial agreements. In this case your investigative skills may be used to ascertain the assets and background of either the potential bride or groom.
Do paralegals have to belong to the American Bar Association (ABA)?
There is currently no requirement for paralegals to join the American Bar Association. The ABA only authorizes attorneys but it does have a division set up for legal assistants to join. Only about 2000 have taken up this invitation as the ABA is seen as representing another section of the legal profession. There is an argument though that by mixing with other attorneys and paralegals, in addition to continuing legal education you are also well placed to find a new position.
Does it matter what paralegal training programs I complete?
The answer should be no it doesn’t matter which paralegal training programs you choose but the reality is that some employers will prefer you to have qualifications from certain colleges. For instance some may not view an online paralegal certificate program as highly as a local college. You will also need to decide which certification exam you take if you intend to gain your paralegal certification. The NALA offers the CLA (certified legal assistant) or CP (certified paralegal). You pass one exam but have the choice of what you would like to be called. This is similar to an attorney being called a lawyer and vice versa.
Alternatively you could take the NFPA PACE exam and when you pass you can call yourself a registered paralegal.
Both types of certification has two tiers, one to cover ethics and general law and one that offers you the chance to pick the topics you want to specialize in. The Pace exam takes four hours but the CLA is a two day examination.