Paralegal

A paralegal is a person who works under the direct supervision of a lawyer, and who is typically responsible for researching and managing the daily tasks for cases. While paralegals work closely with cases, they are limited in their duties and must be supervised by a lawyer, who will be ultimately responsible for the paralegal's work. They are found in all areas where lawyers are — in criminal trials, in real estate, in government, in estate planning, and so on. Paralegals and legal document assistants (LDAs) are often mistaken for one another; however, in most jurisdictions, paralegals are not permitted to contract directly with consumers for the preparation of legal documents.

Official definitions

Various legal organizations offer official definitions of a paralegal; these definitions typically have slight differences. Definitions offered by major organizations include:

• From the American Bar Association: "A legal assistant or paralegal is a person qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible." Under this definition, the legal responsibility for a paralegal's work rests directly and solely upon the lawyer. [1]
• From the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) [USA]: "A Paralegal is a person, qualified through education, training or work experience to perform substantive legal work that requires knowledge of legal concepts and is customarily, but not exclusively, performed by a lawyer. This person may be retained or employed by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency or other entity or may be authorized by administrative, statutory or court authority to perform this work. Substantive shall mean work requiring recognition, evaluation, organization, analysis, and communication of relevant facts and legal concepts." [2]
• From the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) [USA]: "Legal assistants, also known as paralegals, are a distinguishable group of persons who assist attorneys in the delivery of legal services. Through formal education, training and experience, legal assistants have knowledge and expertise regarding the legal system and substantive and procedural law which qualify them to do work of a legal nature under the supervision of an attorney." In 2001, NALA adopted the ABA's definition of a paralegal or legal assistant as an addition to its definition. [3]
• From the American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE): "Paralegals perform substantive and procedural legal work as authorized by law, which work, in the absence of the paralegal, would be performed by an attorney. Paralegals have knowledge of the law gained through education, or education and work experience, which qualifies them to perform legal work. Paralegals adhere to recognized ethical standards and rules of professional responsibility." [4]

Educational background

In the United States, paralegals have taken many different paths to their careers. These paths comprise an array of varying levels of education, different certifications, and on-the-job-training. They work in government, for law firms, for corporations, for real estate firms, and for nonprofit organizations. Where they work and what they do often depends on what mixture of experience, skills, education, and certification they possess.

There is no specific educational requirement in most U.S. states for legal assistants or paralegals. Some paralegals have only on-the-job experience, while some paralegals have completed a two-year course or bachelor's degree in paralegal studies. Others have completed a bachelor's or even a master's degree in another field, and quite a few of these people have also completed a regular or post-baccalaureate paralegal certificate. Many paralegals have completed all of their training before entering the profession, while others have completed their education while working their way up from the mailroom in a law firm. Many Paralegals take Continuing Legal Education credits to fulfill the requirements of their firm, state, or association.

U.S. Paralegal or Legal Assistant courses of study have long been available in associate's degree or certificate programs at community colleges and private universities. However, similar programs exist at four-year universities and have expanded over the years. More and more prestigious universities offer bachelor's degrees and post-baccalaureate certificates in the subject.

Certification

In the United States, there is no such thing as a licensed paralegal; rather, paralegals can be certified. While Certification is voluntary in most states, it increases a paralegal's skill sets or prepares him or her to enter the profession, often increases the likelihood of a paralegal's hire or promotion, and serves to identify a person as capable of work that is on par with certain standards. Certification is typically accomplished by taking and passing one of several privately administered tests from one of several paralegal associations. Graduation from a certificate program does not certify a paralegal; in most states, passing an exam administered by a recognized entity is the only benchmark generally considered to be a "certifying event".

Many states, such as Florida, have started to legislate licensing requirements for paralegals, in an effort to maintain quality and to determine who can call themselves paralegals.

Salary

In the United States the median yearly salary for a paralegal in the private sector is $50,000. Paralegals working for the US federal government average over $53,000 per year while state and local government paralegals earn around $34,000. Larger law firms may pay as high as $80,000 annually with benefits. Starting salaries in smaller metropolitan areas, however, may be about $24,000 annually.

Economics

At the heart of the paralegal phenomenon is a legal-economics argument. According to the laws of the United States, there are five specific acts which only a licensed attorney can perform:

• Establish the attorney-client relationship
• Give legal advice
• Sign legal papers and pleadings on behalf of a party
• Appear in court on behalf of another (i.e. the client)*
• Set and collect fees for legal services

*Except for a limited number of jurisdictions, including but not limited to Social Security cases, wherein a non-attorney (Paralegal) can appear on behalf of the client.

Outside of those five specific acts reserved for an attorney only, the paralegal can perform any task, including legal research, legal writing, preparation of exhibits, as well as the mundane day-to-day tasks of case management. The key is that the attorney is entirely responsible for the actions of the paralegal, and, by signing documents prepared by the paralegal, the attorney makes them her own.

Law schools and state bar associations, through admissions and licensing, control the number of licensed attorneys and, as economic theory would predict, generally act to restrict that number in order to increase salaries over what a truly free market would produce (and, in the case of law schools, allow an increase in tuition by increasing the financial reward of obtaining a law education.) While the strenuous education and bar exams arguably increase the quality of attorneys at the same time as the cost of employing one, there remain many legal tasks for which a full legal education is unnecessary but some amount of legal training is helpful.

As the cost of litigation has risen, insurance companies and other clients have increasingly refused to pay for an attorney to perform these certain kinds of tasks, and this gap has been filled in many cases by paralegals. Paralegal time is typically billed at only a fraction of what an attorney charges, and thus to the paralegal has fallen those substantive and procedural tasks which are too complex for legal secretaries (whose time is not billed) but for which attorneys can no longer bill. This in turn makes attorneys more efficient by allowing them to concentrate solely on the substantive legal issues of the case, while paralegals have become the "case managers."

The increased use of paralegals nationwide has slowed the rising cost of legal services and serves in some small measure (in combination with contingency fees and insurance) to keep the cost of legal services within the reach of the regular population. However, as John T. Brodrick, Jr. warns in his article "An Emerging Model: Legal Assistant as Colleague" (Chapter 7 of Leveraging with Legal Assistants), "However, our profession makes a serious error if it uses legal assistants only as economic tools."

Paralegal Nurse Consultants

Some attorneys who practice in fields involving medical care have only a limited knowledge of healthcare and medical concepts and terminology. Therefore, in addition to Legal Nurse Consultants, a certain number of registered nurses have become fully trained as paralegals in the manner described above and assist behind the scenes on these cases, in addition to serving as expert witnesses from time to time. There is an extremely high demand for nurses to begin with, so the demand for nurses with paralegal skills is expected to remain very high in the near future.

Paralegals and notaries public

A large percentage of paralegals and legal secretaries are also commissioned as notaries public.

Paralegals outside of the United States

The original concept of paralegals started with the Attorneys Assistants of the United Kingdom, where paralegals may be found today, acting as assistants to fully qualified solicitors. In most countries, a Bachelor's degree is sufficient education to practice law, though not necessarily at the highest levels; in the U.K. further qualification is required to act as a barrister (England) or advocate (Scotland). Meanwhile, in the U.S. a Bachelor's degree is becoming the standard for paralegals.

In the U.K., with many graduates finding a training contract hard to secure, it is now the norm for individuals who have completed the educational stage of the qualifications necessary to become a solicitor to seek employment as a paralegal in order to gain the experience of working in a legal firm necessary to secure the training contract. Initially this was simply a way of earning money in a relevant working environment, however it is now almost necessary for a training contract applicant to demonstrate having had such employment, and many firms will only recruit from their own pool of paralegals. This unofficial extension to the requirements necessary to become a qualified solicitor is a source of continued frustration amongst law graduates, and fuels the calls for the Law Society to replace the current qualification scheme with something fairer, faster, and at lower cost to the underpaid graduate. Further, in England & Wales anyone may call him or herself a paralegal without any qualification whatsoever. The National Association of Licensed Paralegals is hoping this will change but for the moment 'paralegal' is not a protected title. Paralegals in England and Wales may offer legal advice, as may any person, as there is no offence such as the unauthorized practice of law. Of course a client 'wronged' by such a paralegal may have remedy in a civil court for damages. Such paralegals have rights of audience in the small claims court. The NALP is planning to petition the Department of Constitutional Affairs to obtain rights of audience in the magistrates court, crown court and high court and have met with enthusiasm by the government in a bid to widen access to justice. Paralegals, and indeed any lay mmber of the public, can act as a Police Station Representative and give advice to clients under caution at the police station. If they wish to be paid by the government (LSC) they must become accredited but otherwise their are no laws or restrictions to stop this.

The Province of Ontario, Canada, recently became the first jurisdiction in North America to provide for the licensing of independent paralegals. This task will be the responsibility of the Law Society of Upper Canada (founded in 1797), which already regulates Ontario's 40,000 or so lawyers. As of May 1, 2007, the Law Society will determine what types of services paralegals can offer without the supervision of a lawyer. The Society will also be responsible for disciplining paralegals who do not conform to rules of professional conduct.

Paralegals in television and literature

Unlike nurses and physician assistants, paralegals have not caught the popular imagination and rarely are seen or mentioned in fictional or non-fiction legal television programs, or in legal fiction in print. There are however exceptions.

The most famous is probably Erin Brockovich, a real legal clerk whose participation in a toxic tort case became a major motion picture.

Another notable exception is the character Della Street, from the Perry Mason novel, television and movie series. Although Mason identifies Della as "my confidential secretary", the projects he assigns her are entirely consistent with the law office work performed by experienced paralegals.)

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, an esoteric cartoon comedy, features a paralegal prominently in the form of Avenger, who is usually seen managing files, preparing and presenting documents to the attorneys, and drafting letters to clients. Avenger will usually accompany the charismatic, yet often under-prepared, attorney into court, and whisper case information and advice into his ear. Despite knowing no human language, he is far and away the most competent employee of Sebben & Sebben.

When opposing counsel on the television program Law & Order dramatically produces a motion and brief from his or her coat pocket or briefcase at the proper moment, it is often the case that a team of unnamed paralegals, law clerks, and/or junior associate attorneys had a lot to do with it. When an attorney in a trial movie produces a blow-up exhibit, or examines or cross-examines a witness on the stand, or brings documents to court to introduce as evidence, any and all of that would involve the work of one or more paralegals who prepared the exhibits, or obtained the documents by subpoena or by locating and copying public records.

References

• Current ABA Definition of Legal Assistant/Paralegal
• The Paralegal Profession
• Paralegal and Legal Assistants
• A Rose By Any Other Name
• What is a paralegal? — from the National Association of Legal Assistants
• Florida's registered paralegal program

See also

• Community college
• Contract attorney
• Proprietary colleges

External links

• United States Bureau of Labor Statistics government web site Occupational Outlook for Paralegals and Legal Assistants
• National Federation of Paralegal Associations
• National Association of Legal Assistants
• NALS National Association of Legal Secretaries
• Paralegal Society of Ontario (Canada)
• Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas
• Video about the Paralegal Profession
• International Paralegal Management Association (IPMA)
• ParalegalGateway.com