A
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 and who performs specifically delegated substantive
legal work for which a lawyer is responsible.
Since
the introduction of paralegals to the legal industry in the 1960s,
there has been
a considerable growth
in the number of paralegals.
According to the
Department of Labor, there were more than 200,000 paralegals working
in the United States in 2004.
Paralegals are prevented by law from performing certain tasks
(e.g. offering legal advice), but, nevertheless, do carry out many
others.
The list of tasks carried out by paralegals is long, and some of them
include performing legal research, conducting client interviews,
drafting legal documents, etc.
In the United States and
Canada, paralegals may work independently as freelancers in private
practice as well as directly under the employ of individuals or
corporations. Some paralegals opt for working independently, but are still
required to abstain from performing lawyer-only tasks. The majority of
paralegals work for law firms, solo-practitioner attorneys, the
government, or in legal departments of large corporations, which are
headed by in-house attorneys.
Paralegal Training and
Education
In the US Paralegals are
not licensed.
Certification is voluntary, 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 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; passing an exam administered by a recognized
entity is the only benchmark generally considered to be a "certifying"
event.
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. Many paralegals have completed a bachelor's degree in
paralegal studies. Others have completed a bachelor's or even a
master's degree in another field, and quite of few of these have also
completed a regular or post-baccalaureate paralegal certificate. Many
have completed a two-year course before working in the profession, and
still others have certificates.
Paralegal or legal assistant courses of study have long been available
in associate's degree or certificate programs at community colleges.
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.
One guess to the increasing trend might be that as law responds to
rapidly changing technology, social, and business environments, the
workload of law firms and even their way of doing business changes as
well.
Paralegal
Training
This
page is dedicated to Paralegal Training. The information
is derived from reliable government sources and is not meant to be financial advice.
