Example Of A Paralegal Research Paper

The role a paralegal has in a law firm is a vital. These professionals are highly valued for the abilities they contribute in the area of knowing the law, legal research and how it applies to a client’s case. Furthermore, paralegals also as assist their Attorneys on a variety of tasks pertaining to a law related matters. Regardless, no matter how knowledgeable the paralegal may be; they are always required to work under the direct supervision of an attorney. There are very little exceptions for paralegals to work in the law field, unsupervised. Even in these exceptions, It is still possible for a professional paralegal, under the supervision of an attorney or not, to still commit UPL (California Legislative Information Business and Professions Code).

Courts generally have held that a paralegal and or legal assistant can achieve the objectives of communication and to provide potential clients with information concerning legal fees and representation if instructed by the supervising attorney. However, a paralegal and or legal assistant cannot provide a potential client with legal advices, accept cases, appear in court, and or provide decision(s) to the case(s). Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland v. Morgan Joseph Hallmon, 343 Md. 390; 681 A.2d 510; 1996, a District of Columbia attorney employed his wife, Carole Cloud who is a law school graduate and is not admitted to practice law in any jurisdiction. Carole was hired as Office Manager, Coordinator, and Law Clerk of the firm. She performed legal work for a client of the firm, which mostly were reviewed and approved by the supervising attorneys Morgan Joseph Hallmon and Eric Cloud, her husband. Attorney Hallmon had given Ms. Cloud full responsibility of handling the case in which he has been kept aware and up to date with the proceedings and details of the case. The court stated:

Since paralegals can only work under the supervision of an attorney, by doing the opposite may be consider an unauthorized practice of law, so paralegals must avoid assisting in the unlicensed practice of

In order to complete this assignment we must first recognize what Unauthorized Practice of Law is when it comes to paralegals. There is no set definition on what UPL is but as a paralegal there are guidelines to go by. Some ways they can violate the practice of law would be an individual holding themselves as an attorney when they are paralegals, giving legal advice as an attorney would, or representing clients in a court of law. All of the previous are violations and can be subject to several disciplinary actions [ (Unauthorized Practice of Law, 2010) ]. It has been named illegal due to the damages on may suffer due to bad legal advice. In some states it is considered a criminal offense and could be given a jail sentence.

The Florida Paralegal Program was created in 2007, in order to regulate the paralegal profession in the state of the Florida. This program offers them a voluntary registration in this distingue organization, under the compromise to meet certain requirements such as education, certification, or work experience criteria, and also abide by a Code of Ethics and Responsibilities, all these based on the Chapter 20 of the Rules regulating the Florida Bar. Subsequently, these rules establish that a Florida Registered Paralegal is a paralegal who meets the requirements set out in Chapter 20 of the Rules regulating the Florida Bar. These rules designate that a paralegal is a person with education, training or work experience, who works under the direction of a member of The Florida Bar and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a member of The Florida Bar is responsible. However, there are certain differences, as well as pros and cons, between paralegals that are not registered under this rule and those who are, specifically on the following main points: work experience, education, and requirements to qualify.

At age 77 J.B. is a healthy and active woman, who spent her life before retirement as a nurse working at Shriners Hospital for Children. Her mental health and wellness as she has aged has stayed strong. She has full cognitive function and is able to make sound decisions about not only her life, but others that she may care for. Her mental health I feel keeps her strong physically along with the fact that she stays active with her husband and grandchildren. Functionally she has no problem mentally or physically going about her everyday activities or any other activities that are required of her. Culturally she is versed in many different cultures as she spent much of her career caring for people as a nurse and working in hospitals. Her

Paralegal assistant help assist lawyers, attorneys, and any other law firms. They do a mixture of duties which includes maintaining files, legal research, and manage documents. Paralegals work in a diversity of legal practice which can range from litigation and trial practice to tax, and real estate transactions,and estate planning. The employment of paralegal assistant is expected to grow from 2014 to 2024. Being a paralegal assistant is a good career because of career path, work will be diversified, and benefits.

It is a task in itself for one, such as myself, to allow another to fully grasp the principle of why I want to become a paralegal, let alone explain it within three pages without simply stating, “I desire to use the set of skills and passion that I possess in order to help others while working within this specific field of law.” Nevertheless, the reality of the fact is that it is purely the essence and core of why I have the drive and determination to work towards becoming a paralegal.

A paralegal is an individual who is qualified, through training, education or by virtue of the experience and are subsequently under employment or merely retained under a given lawyer or law firm, or an agency; to perform work that is delegated to him or her by the lawyer and for which the lawyer is responsible. Across the United States, paralegals profession is regulated by various certification laws, and this ultimately makes their work different.

In stating so, Flynn argues that while some in the legal field think that paralegals are supervised and work under an attorney, therefore do not need to be licensed or certified. Others believe paralegals handle intricate legal matters, therefore should be licensed and certified. This statement from Flynn reinforces my belief that paralegals are essential to the effectiveness of a law firm and leads into my standing that licensing should be in place to ensure education, knowledge and adherence, which in turn will make a paralegal more valuable. Licensing of the paralegal profession and the requirements of experience and education that come with it; would dispel the long time misunderstanding of position titles among law office staff, attorneys and the public.

Criminal law paralegals provide assistance to defense attorneys and prosecutors. Their duties include drafting documents, doing research, interviewing witnesses, putting together discovery information, communicating with other parties, and assisting attorneys when they are in

The lawyer is the lead in the legal team and has passed the bar examination and have a license to practice law in their respective state(s). In larger firms, the lawyers can be assigned as partners and associates. The partner has actual ownership in the firm whereas the associate are usually on salary as an employee, not being an owner in the firm. The supervising attorney in a large firm is responsible for the actions and work of the lawyers under him/her. The paralegal is responsible for the litigation process. Some of the responsibilities of the paralegal are preparing casework, investigations, preparing briefings, conducting

Justice. It is something that everyone wants, something that we strive for, even something that sparks. However, when we think of lawyers, we think of superheroes with an expensive education, walking into the courtroom and serving up justice. What no one thinks of is the person that helped the lawyer get there, the paralegal that prepares the necessary documents, the paralegal that makes sure his or her attorney is at the right place at the right time. A paralegal is crucial and in some cases vital to our justice system yet they are so often over looked.

The purpose of this memorandum is to go into detail about the legal career path of being a lawyer. Within this memo, you will find information regarding the preparation for a career as a lawyer, such as the necessary degrees and skills, as well as information on the general outlook for this job, such as expect salary, and where most of the jobs in this field are located. Finally, the memorandum will discuss how occupational research for being an attorney helped tailor my resume and cover letter to specific job postings in the field.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of paralegals and legal assistants is projected to grow 22 percent between 2006 and 2016, much faster than the average for all occupations (National Association of Legal Assistants, 2008). Private law firms continue to be the single largest employer of paralegals, good job opportunities also exist in several other markets in both the private and public sectors. In addition to private law firms, other organizations in the private sector employ paralegals (American Bar Association, 2011). Some examples include corporate legal departments, insurance companies, estate and trust departments of large banks, hospitals and health care organizations, real estate and title insurance companies, and professional trade associations. Earnings vary considerably depending upon such factors as size of the community, geographical location, and size of the firm, nature of the legal practice, and the paralegal's educational background and work