Paralegals are not attorneys but what’s the difference? Well, the biggest difference is the attorney’s law degree that grants them permission to practice law which a paralegal cannot. However, paralegals do perform a number of functions that attorneys used to do and this article will give you a brief overview of those duties.
While paralegals (also called Legal Assistants) are limited to certain duties within a law firm, you would be surprised to learn how many things they really do perform. Below are just a few.
A few of most notable duties paralegals perform are legal research, document preparation and writing. The reason why paralegals are doing more and more of this type of work is cost. Although paralegals do make a good living they certainly don’t make the type of money an attorney does and so it’s becoming increasingly popular for law firms to hire them to the so-called legwork type activities that make up a large part of many cases. This lowers costs for the firms and thus allows them to charge clients less and it also frees up an attorneys time to more of the legal work and spend time with clients.
Paralegals may also take over as a case supervisor to help keep legal fees more affordable and thus they can work with more clients. Of course, some may argue that if a paralegal is doing all this work it must be less effective or be of a lower quality than if an attorney were to do it but that’s simply not the case. Everything prepared by a paralegal is checked by the attorney and in reality most paralegals will do a far better job at the tasks they are assigned than the attorneys themselves.
One of biggest activities a paralegal cannot do is give legal advice - only a licensed attorney can do that. Another activity paralegals cannot perform is one-on-one development of the attorney-client relationship. If you think about It makes sense because the attorney-client relationship is just that – a relationship between the attorney and client it’s not a relationship between the paralegal or legal assistant and the client.
Only an attorney can attest their name to legal documents on behalf of the client and therefore a paralegal cannot sign any legal documents on behalf of a client. Another duty that cannot be performed by a legal assistant is the representation of a client in court. Frankly, many paralegals could probably do a nice job it’s simply not legal and so they can’t do it. And last but not least, a paralegal does not and cannot set up the legal fees and they also cannot collect any legal fees - only an attorney can do that.
Uniformity has yet to be reached throughout all 50 states as far as qualifications and certification guidelines. Presently, the states allow the hiring attorney to judge an individual’s qualifications since that attorney will be the one to sign-off on the paralegals work. Of course, the level of clerical, legal and research experience required to be hired varies by law firm but in general, if you are a certified paralegal you should have the qualifications that most law firms are looking for.
The paralegal profession is growing by leaps and bounds and by all indications it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future and so if a paralegal career is something that you feel you might be interested in you need to take it upon yourself to take action and get trained.
Even if you are currently working, there are plenty of opportunities to take paralegal courses at a local community college, specialty school or online. There are also different paralegal degree options. Some people go for a 2 year certificate while others choose to earn a paralegal degree as a part of a 4 year degree. The training is out there but it’s up to you to do the research and determine what option if best for you.
Becoming a paralegal professional isn't for everyone but if you love research, can work under a deadline, have good writing and organizational skills then take the first step down this rewarding and exciting career path by taking a careful look at the best Paralegal Schools in the country by using the resources we provide.
