Paralegal Careers Issues - Thesis Example

? PARALEGAL CAREERS [School] Number] November 24, This thesis paper shall discuss the importance of the paralegal and legal assistant profession to ease the workload of the lawyers. The key roles and responsibilities of a paralegal and a legal assistant shall become the vital part of this report. It shall also cover the nature of their work, training, other qualifications and the employment growth of this profession and the opportunities that this profession brings to paralegals. This report shall also present the 10 critical skills that every paralegal or a legal assistant should master to excel in this profession. Keywords: paralegal, legal assistant, legal profession, supervising attorney, cases, litigation Paralegal Careers A lawyer’s profession covers several responsibilities in order to successfully carry-out the cases being handled by them. In order to experience victory in a legal battle, it usually takes a rigorous work of research, interviews and gathering of evidence. The lawyer cannot do this work alone. To relieve the lawyers with burden, they need assistance from a paralegal or legal assistant. It is expected that the lawyers assume the major responsibility of legal work but they will need to delegate some of their tasks to paralegals or legal assistants. Thesis Statement: A lawyer’s success in a litigation case is dependent on good research work and investigative skills of a paralegal or a legal assistant. Nature of Work Paralegal are also known as legal assistants. They are almost like lawyer in the performance of their functions. The only difference is that paralegal cannot give a legal advice and represent clients in court during trial (Hatch and Zimmer Hatch, 2006). Most of the time, lawyers many of their tasks to paralegals. A paralegal continues to assume new responsibilities in legal offices and perform many of the same tasks as lawyers. However, there is a prohibition under the law that is not within the scope of practice of law, such as setting legal fees, giving legal advice, and presenting cases in court (US Department of Labor). An important task of a paralegal is to assist or help lawyers to prepare for courtroom hearings, trials and also corporate meetings. A paralegal must have good investigative skills, be able to prepare good research incorporating the relevant facts of the case and makes sure that every detail is considered. A paralegal is also expected to be able to identify the applicable laws, jurisprudence, journals and articles which can help establish the client’s case. Most of the bulk of a paralegal’s work involves immense documentation. Paralegals may help prepare the lawyers come-up with legal arguments, draft pleadings and motions to be filed with the court, obtain affidavits, and assist them during trials (US Department of Labor). They are expected to organize and track files of all important case documents and make them available and easily accessible for the lawyers. Aside from these tasks of documentation, paralegals also must be knowledgeable in preparing legal documents such as litigation and non-litigation legal forms. Some of which are contracts, mortgages, separation agreements, preparing tax returns, establishing trust funds, and planning estates. They must be also good with coordination especially when it comes to the activities of other law office employees and maintain financial office records (US Department of Labor). Paralegals are usually employed by law firms, corporate legal departments, and various government offices. They handle several areas of law which includes litigation, personal injury, corporate law, criminal law, employee benefits, intellectual property, labor law, bankruptcy, immigration, family law, and real estate (US Department of Labor). For most of the paralegals, they usually handle routine assignments when they are just beginners in the profession, particularly when they are still inexperienced. They hone their skills by spending time in libraries and handle research work and information gathering for law offices and firms. Part of this routine involves travelling as they obtain information relevant to the case of conduct visits in government agencies on behalf of their clients. Training and Other Qualifications Most level-entry paralegals must possess an associate’s degree in paralegal studies, or a bachelor's degree in another field and a certificate in paralegal studies. Some employers also train paralegals on the job (US Department of Labor). If you care interested to become a paralegal, there are several ways to become a paralegal. The easiest way to earn am associate degree is by enrolling in community college paralegal program. For those with a college degree, they must be able to obtain a certificate in paralegal studies. There are a number of schools who are offering a bachelor's and master's degrees in paralegal studies. There are also quite a few law firms or law offices who train paralegals while they are on the job (Hatch and Zimmer Hatch, 2006). An associate degree and a bachelor's degree program is a combination of paralegal training with courses in other academic subjects. The certificate programs differ in the amount of time that they need to complete the course. Most certificate programs provide intensive paralegal training for individuals who already hold college degrees (US Department of Labor). On the other hand, some training programs also offer legal research and the legal applications of computers, while some also offer an internship wherein the students gain practical experience for a period of time by formal training and rendering services for a few months in a private law firm, the office of a public defender or attorney general, a corporate legal department, a legal aid organization, a bank, or a government agency. Internship experience is a valuable asset in seeking a job after graduation US Department of Labor). Employment and Job Outlook Employment of paralegals and legal assistants is projected to grow 28 percent between 2008 and 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations (US Department of Labor). Some employers are trying to be practical and minimize the cost of labor by hiring paralegals to perform a lawyer’s tasks (Hatch and Zimmer Hatch, 2006). Paralegals are performing multi-tasking functions which make them more useful to the legal profession. The demand for paralegals and legal assistants is expected to grow as an expanding population increasingly requires legal services, especially in areas such as intellectual property, healthcare, international law, elder issues, criminal law, and environmental law. The growth of prepaid legal plans also should contribute to the demand for legal services. It is also expected that there will be demand for paralegals that specialize in areas such as real estate, bankruptcy, medical malpractice, and product liability (US Department of Labor). A report of the US Department of Labor also stated that community legal service programs which provide assistance to the poor, elderly, minorities, and middle-income families, will employ additional paralegals to minimize expenses and serve the most people. These job opportunities also are expected in Federal, State, and local government agencies, consumer organizations, and the courts. There are many applicants who apply for the job because of the lucrative opportunities that the paralegal career brings (Hatch and Zimmer Hatch, 2006). Ten Critical Skills of a Paralegal or Legal Assistant The Ten critical skills of a paralegal are the following (Statsky, 2005). 1. Identifying legal issues Every paralegal or legal assistant should be able to identify the legal issues by conducting a thorough research on the cases assigned to them by the firm, partners or supervising attorneys. He or she should be keen to details in order to build the case and gather all relevant and material pieces of evidence that shall for part of the records of the case during trial. 2. Breaking rules into elements Every paralegal or legal assistant should be able to break down the rules into its elements, by applying the law to the given facts and analyze what violations were made by the plaintiff, defendant, or third parties involved in the case assigned to him or her. 3. Applying rules to facts The key responsibility of a paralegal or legal assistant is to apply the law, rules, jurisprudence and updated cases which are relevant to the cases assigned to them, which involve similar or analogous circumstances which can contribute in the establishment of the claim of the clients. 4. Interviewing clients Part of the role of the paralegal/ legal assistants is to conduct interviews to the clients, their witnesses, third parties, entities and government agencies involved in the case. The questions to be propounded must be able to extract the true facts of the case in order to present the case based on what really happened and to help the handling lawyer build valid defenses for the client he represents. 5. Investigating facts A paralegal or legal assistant must be very keen to details and organized during conducting an investigation by carefully studying the facts of the case, the issues involved and how to correlate them to the applicable law and rights violated by the plaintiff/defendant in the case. 6. Digesting discovery documents A paralegal must be able to use discovery tools to establish the client’s case by producing relevant documentary evidence that needs to be attached to the pleadings or during trial proper. 7. Providing litigation assistance Another major responsibility given to a paralegal or a legal assistant is to provide litigation assistance to the clients and helping the handling lawyer to defend their clients in their cause. 8. Researching the law A paralegal/legal assistant must be able to perform a through research on the applicable laws, spending time reading law books, jurisprudence and documents that he/she has gathered to prepare for trial and to be able to convince the judge and the jury to rule in favor of their client. 9. Drafting documents; and A paralegal or legal assistant is also required to prepare documents for the supervising attorney so the lawyer will be able to present material and strong pieces of evidence during trial in order to establish their client’s cause. 10. Representing clients at administrative agencies where authorized by law. A paralegal or a legal assistant should be able to communicate well with government agencies who are involved in the case of the client. He or she can make proper representation for or on behalf of the client when needed by the government agencies where authorized by law. Conclusion The job of a paralegal is important to the lawyer because paralegal work behind the scenes before the trial starts. They play a vital role in the over-all tasks of lawyers because they do all the detailed work. The lawyer’s success in every case the he or she handles is dependent on how good the research was made or the thorough investigation conducted by a paralegal. Therefore, a paralegal must be given majority of the credit in every case that a lawyer wins. The paralegal profession must be given significance because if not for them, the lawyer’s cannot function well and considered to be paralyzed without the assistance of paralegals. References Hatch, S. and Zimmer Hatch L. (2006). Paralegal Career for Dummies. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Publishing Inc. Statsky, W. P. (2005). Essentials of Paralegalism. Fifth Edition. USA: Thomas Delmar Learning. United States Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11. 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