In the United States of America, a paralegal is anyone who has been employed by a lawyer, corporation, law office, government organization or other body and has qualified either by education, work experience or training to perform particular delegations that are fundamental legal works that are the responsibilities of a lawyer. Conversely, this definition varies from country to country. In some countries such as Canada, a paralegal is an independent practitioner of the law and is licensed by the law society of the country- this implies that the paralegal could run a legal firm if they so wish. A paralegal must be trained and have adequate knowledge in matters concerning the law and legal proceedings. In the country, a paralegal is not allowed to offer legal services such as representing a client in a court of law and they only work under the guidance of a lawyer or an attorney. Therefore, for a paralegal to engage in legal matters and offer legal services, they must do so while under a barrister or a law firm ( Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012) .
A paralegal could own a private company (law agents) whereby they could provide specific services such as legal research, court fillings, settlements and other secondary legal services. However, for them to duly perform these tasks, they need instructions from an attorney. Habitually, the coaching legal entity will rely on the expertise of the paralegal with relevance to how acquiescence is to be met in accomplishing tasks. A paralegal works as an augmentation of a lawyer and whatever they do is because of instructionsfrom the attorney thus the attorney is solely responsible for the outcome. These actions are protected under “the conduit theory”. This paper will analyze paralegals, their careers, their role in the legal profession, their traits and how they perform their tasks while avoiding unauthorized practice of the law.
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Qualifications of a Paralegal, Available Career Choices And Their Need for Continuing Education Training
In America, paralegals take a series of courses approved in law and legal processes. Paralegals lack an international consistency in definition, their job roles and status is not definite, their terms and conditions of occupation is undefined, the training they require is unspecified and the regulations of their job descriptions is not stipulated. Therefore, paralegals must be described with regards to individual jurisdiction. In the USA, paralegals must complete an official paralegal education program. Although most of the paralegals complete their trainings before joining a firm, some only have on-the-job training. In order to satisfy the necessities of firms, associations or state, a majority of paralegals take continuing legal education (CLE). Currently, paralegals in the country cannot be licensed by the government bodies but can only be certified or registered or certificated by private firms ( Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012) .
Functions of a paralegal, their workplace and accounting procedures in the law office
They are allowed to prepare and reply to interrogatories, analyze and recapitulate dispositions, draught procedural motions, write preliminary research memos, carry out and analyze legal research and finally perform case and project management. Furthermore, most of the paper work drafting in the office is their duty especially in probate cases, bankruptcies, divorce actions and investigations. However, in the unites states, paralegals lack the power to offer legal services to the public like lawyers do neither are they officers of the court; because of this, they are not subjected to government or court sanctioned rubrics of conduct ( Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012) .
In Ontario, Canada, paralegals are licensed and by the law society of Upper Canada just like lawyers. Although they have more power in practice than the unlicensed paralegals, they still work in a restricted scope. They are allowed to represent clients in courts for special matters such as immigrations, provincial offenses, tenant disputes, small claims in court (lower than $25,000) and labor laws. Licensed paralegals are also allowed to take affidavits. However, they do not have the mandate to represent the public in family courts, estates or wills ( Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012) .
Characteristics ofan Effective Paralegal
A paralegal ought to have the necessary knowledge and expertise to perform legal tasks under the supervision of a lawyer. They require a formal education, adequate experience and training in order to be able to assist attorneys in the provision of legal services. Even though education and training is fundamental for a paralegal, some characteristics are significant in an impeccable paralegal.
Good judgment
A paralegal should have the ability to make decent judgments as this will help them enhance persistence and ingenuity. Taking a quote from Will Roger, “good judgment comes from experience and a lot of bad mistakes,” it is evident that although some people have stronger abilities to make good judgments than others, it is only through numerous mistakes do people learn and become good judges along the way. For a paralegal to make good judgments, they must first take ample time to carefully think about the situation, conduct adequate research about the problem, describe and understand the situation, criticize the choices available before they make the decision (Pierce, 2015).
Ingenuity
A good paralegal must be resourceful. They must be able to tackle tasks even before the attorney asks them too. They should be assertive, intelligent, independent and defensive. Ingenuity in a paralegal will help them be assertive and independent enough to handle a problem that even the attorney is not aware of. However, while doing so, a paralegal must be cautious not to practice law without authorization (Pierce, 2015).
Logic
With careful reasoning and thinking, a paralegal can move from one point to another. Logic must be combined with good judgment to avoid preventable mistakes and ingenuity to pave way for desirable outcome. An excellent paralegal must able to reason logically and systematically to deal with the complexities of the law. They must be able to recognize and evaluate the principle facts and concepts associated with a case critically and analytically (Pierce, 2015).
Strategies That a Paralegal Could Take To Avoid Unauthorized Practice ofthe Law
As much as paralegals could bring a law firm financial benefit, they could also be the cause of noteworthy financial and reputational tribulations for both the firm and the lawyer in charge. Therefore, lawyers should ensure that the paralegal’s ethical obligations are straightforward from the very beginning to avoid violations and consequent losses. The following measures may be taken (Kao, 2007)
When a lawyer faces a conflicting case and he or she is prohibited from working on the contradicting side of the ongoing matter; therefore, a paralegal is also prohibited to do so. A paralegal cannot work for an opposition client or on a matter adverse to a former client if the two problems are significantly related. This is because they run a risk of breaching the confidentiality between the client and the paralegal. A paralegal is, as much as the lawyer they are working under, banned from any representation or transaction for a contradictory client who is working against their previous or current client. Whenever a conflict arises, the paralegal and the attorney must discus and establish the ethical walls to avert any disclosure of information received in confidentiality (Kao, 2007).
Secondly, paralegals should not develop any client-attorney relationship with the clients; they are not allowed to give legal advice to the client neither are they allowed to appear before the court to represent a client. These three prohibitions are provided in the American Bar Association module rules in rule number 5.5. Furthermore, a paralegal does not have the authority to defend depositions for a client and to sign pleadings to be filed in court- this can only be done by a lawyer. Although it is the mandate of the lawyer to determine the constitution of the law practice in their jurisdiction, paralegals should also learn and appreciate the extent of their authority to prevent running afoul (Kao, 2007).
Paralegals should learn the significance and put in practice client confidentiality. All clients’ information including files, documents and computer security should be kept private from any outside interference. In most firms, paralegals are expected to sign a confidentiality agreement and therefore breaching this contract will land the paralegal in severe legal charges. Just in case, a paralegal erroneously breaks a client’s privacy, he or she should immediately inform the attorney in charge so that they can be bale to make judicious remedial arrangements (Kao, 2007).
Key Difference between Activities of a Paralegal and Those of an Attorney’s when preparing For a Trial (Compare and Contrast)
When preparing for a trial, the lawyer main duties include representing the client in formal occasions such as in a court of law or in mergers. They have the power to provide direct legal advice to their clients while at the same time navigating the questions of the client as they arise. They are licensed to file documents such as wills, deeds, lawsuits and contracts on behalf of their clients. In addition, lawyers are also expected to sign papers to be filed in court and take and defend depositions. A paralegal on the other hand, can only serve as a support for the attorney. Before a trial, they will carry out research with regards to the case, prepare documents required for the trial, record formal statements useful during to the case and manage the records of the case. While an attorney is allowed to create the lawyer-client relationship, a paralegal is not and therefore cannot provide direct legal advice to the said client (Gresham, 2016).
References
Gresham, T. 2016. The Difference betweena Paralegal andan Attorney. Hearst newspapers: Houston chronicles. Print
Kao, P.F. 2007. No, A Paralegal Is Not A Lawyer. American Bar Association. Journal of Business Law Today. 16 (3)
Pierce, T. 2015. 5 Most Important Paralegal Traits. Agile Law. Retrieved On November 11, 2016 from Http://Www.Agilelaw.Com/2015/08/5-Most-Important-Paralegal-Traits/
Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2012. Occupational Employment and Wages. Paralegals and Legal Assistants . Print
