Chapter 1Today’s Professional Paralegal
Chapter Overview
- Introduction
- What Is a Paralegal?
- What Do Paralegals Do?
- Paralegal Education
- Paralegal Skills and Attributes
- The Future of the Profession
Chapter Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will know:
- What a paralegal is.
- What kinds of tasks paralegals perform.
- The names of some of the professional associations of paralegals.
- What kinds of education and training are available to paralegals.
- Whether paralegals must be certified or licensed.
- Some skills and attributes of the professional paralegal.
Chapter Outline
I. INTRODUCTION
A. The paralegal profession is an exciting and growing profession.
B. The paralegal profession offers a wide variety of opportunities for personal and
professional development.
C. The paralegal profession is one of the fastest-growing occupations in the United
States.
D. How do you know if you want to become part of the profession?
II. WHAT IS A PARALEGAL?
A.The terms paralegal and legal assistant are interchangeable.
B.Two of the major organizations involved with paralegals, the American Bar
Association and the National Association of Legal Assistants, jointly agree on the
definition of a paralegal.
C.A legal assistant or paralegal is defined as a person
1.qualified by education, training, or work experience
2.employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, government
agency, or other entity
3. who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work
4. for which a lawyer is responsible.
D. The National Federation of Paralegal Associations prefers the term paralegal to
legal assistant.
III.WHAT DO PARALEGALS DO?
A. Paralegals perform many of the tasks involved in legal representation that have
traditionally been handled by attorneys.
B. Today an increasing number of paralegals find work in nontraditional (non–law-
office) settings, including corporations, government agencies, courts, insurance
companies, real estate firms, and any other entity that uses legal services.
C. A Sampling of Paralegal Tasks
11.Conducting client interviews and maintaining general contact with clients
12.Locating and interviewing witnesses
13.Conducting legal investigations
14. Calendaring and tracking important deadlines
15. Organizing and maintaining client files
16.Conducting legal research
17.Draftinglegal documents
18.Summarizing witness testimony
19.Coordinating litigation proceedings
10.Attending legal proceedings
11.Using computers and technology to perform the above listed tasks.
D.Paralegals are increasingly becoming the technology experts at law firms.
Paralegals are frequently the people who recommend what legal software needs
to be used. Paralegals will use legal software for
11.Internal case management
12.Organize client files
13.Manage calendars
14.Share research
15.Record reference materials
16.Track billable hours
17.Manage expenses
18.Generate bills
19.Calculate accounts receivable
10.Produce financial reports
11.Perform sophisticated legal research
IV.PARALEGAL EDUCATION
A.Formal paralegal education programs began in the late 1960s.
B.There are now over a thousand paralegal programs nationwide, but the types of
programs offered and the quality of the education provided vary greatly.
C.Educational options:
1.Two-year community college programs
a.Such programs award either an associate degree or a paralegal
certificate.
b.These programs usually require 60 semester hours that include general
education requirements.
2.Four-year college or university programs
a.These programs award a bachelor’s degree with a major or minor in
paralegal studies.
b.The degree requires about 120 semester hours, with 50 to 60 hours spent
on general education.
3.Certificate programs
a.Offered by private institutions
b. Usually three to eighteen months in length
c. Typically require only a highschool diploma for admission
4. Postgraduate certificate programs
a. Require a previous degree to be admitted
b. Usually three to twelve months in length
5. Master’s degree programs
a. Must already have a bachelor’s degree
b. Usually two years in length
c. For paralegals, paralegal supervisors, or law office administrators
d. Some offer specific areas of law such as dispute resolution or intellectual
property
D. Curriculum—A Blend of Substantive and Procedural Law
1. Substantive law includes all laws that define, describe, regulate, and create
legal rights and obligations.
2. Procedural law establishes the methods of enforcing the rights established by
substantive law.
3. Paralegal education includes the study of both substantive and procedural
law.
E. The role of the AAfPE and ABA in Paralegal Education
1. The American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE) was formed in
1981 to promote high standards for paralegal education.
2. The American Bar Association (ABA) established the first educational
standards for paralegal training programs in 1974.
3. Programs that meet the ABA’s quality standards and are approved by the
ABA are referred to as “ABA-approved programs.”
4. Currently the ABA has approved 260 programs.
5. California is the only state that mandates certain minimum education
requirements.
F. Certification
1. Certification involves formal recognition by a professional group or state
agency, indicating that an individual has met certain standards of proficiency.
2. Certification is not the same as receiving a paralegal certificate.
3. No state currently requires paralegal certification.
4. NALA, NFPA, NALS, the Alliance of Paralegals, Inc. (AAPI), and some states
(Texas, California, Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina) offer voluntary
certification programs.
5. NALA has three designations:certified legal assistant, certified paralegal, or
advanced paralegal certification
6. NFPA offers the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE) so that a
paralegal can become a registered paralegal.
G.Continuing Legal Education (CLE)
1. Paralegals, like attorneys, often supplement their formal education by
attending CLE programs.
2. Some paralegal organizations require members to complete a certain number
of CLE hours per year through seminars, workshops, or coursework.
3.NALA and NFPA require paralegals to take CLE courses each year to
maintain certification.
4. California requires every person who is working as a paralegal to complete
four CLE hours in legal ethics every three years and four CLE hours in
general law or a specialized area every two years.
V. PARALEGAL SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES
A. Analytical Skills—Paralegals must be able to take complex theories and fact patterns and break them down into smaller, more easily understandable concepts.
B.Communication Skills—Paralegals must have excellent reading, speaking, listening, and writing skills to help with cases and clients.
1. Reading skills
2. Speaking skills
3. Listening skills
4. Writing skills
C. Computer Skills—Computer experience is essential for today’s paralegal.At a minimum a paralegal should have word-processing skills and data entry skills.Any additional computer skills increase the paralegal’s marketability in the job market.
D. Organizational Skills—Paralegals must be able to organize files, create procedures and checklists, and keep things running smoothly.
E. Interpersonal Skills—Communicating and interacting effectively with clients, witnesses, support staff, and attorneys is an important asset for paralegals.
F. Ability to Keep Confidences—Paralegals share in the attorney’s ethical and legal duty to keep all client information strictly confidential.
G. Professionalism—Paralegals must be responsible and reliable in order to earn the respect and trust of the attorneys and clients.
VI.THE FUTURE OF THE PROFESSION
A. The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that the number of paralegal and legal assistant positions is expected to grow by almost 30 percent between 2002 and 2012.
B.The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 57,000 new paralegal positions will become available in the United States between 2002 and 2012.