Responsibilities for Legal Assistant
To sit for the CLA/CP exam, you need one of these educational backgrounds:
Paralegals review and organize client files, conduct factual and legal research, and prepare documents for legal transactions. Paralegals also listen attentively to clients and guide them through anticipated and unforeseen situations as they arise.
Like a nurse, a paralegal assists the attorney and is typically very hands on with the client, communicating with them frequently throughout the case. The paralegal's knowledge of the clients, their injuries, and concerns allow the lawyer to appropriately address those things.
Conduct legal research. Draft legal documents, correspondence and pleadings. Summarize depositions, interrogatories and testimony. Attend executions of wills, real estate closings, depositions, court or administrative hearings and trials with the attorney.
Enhancing paralegal-client communicationAllow clients to speak for themselves… ... Talk with clients in plain English… ... Return phone calls as soon as possible. ... Show courtesy and respect… ... Keep the details of a client's case confidential. ... Repeat important information to clients in different ways…More items...•
How can a paralegal provide support to both the attorney and client when a matter is referred? Paralegals must understand the legal problem involved which must be referred. Paralegals should ensure to obtain all the necessary required information before referring the case to the attorney.
The paralegal plays an important role on any legal team. They help support lawyers during trial and to prepare for cases. The paralegal is the heart of a law firm as they are taking on more duties formerly given to legal secretaries and entry-level lawyers.
Within the 5 job duties associated with the position, a paralegal must have a diverse set of skills, experience, and knowledge.Research. ... Case Preparation. ... Document Management. ... Courtroom and Legal Proceedings Assistance. ... Communication and Coordination.
A legal assistant, or litigation assistant, may perform administrative duties as well as legal tasks. A paralegal focuses more on legal duties and research to assist lawyers. Both positions require an understanding of legal terminology and procedures.
An indispensable paralegal has an ability to multitask, a strong attention to detail, a willingness to learn, an expertise in organization, and psychic abilities.
Here are a few simple rules to follow for maintaining positive client relationships:#1 Treat each client as if they are your only client. ... #2 Talk about goals. ... #3 Take an interest in a client as a person, not just a case. ... #4 Be prepared. ... #5 Keep in touch. ... #6 Meet deadlines. ... #7 Encourage honesty. ... #8 Be on their side.
10 Client Communication Best PracticesListen intently to client needs. ... Maintain boundaries. ... Reply to emails at set times. ... Be upfront about failure. ... Determine your client's communication style. ... Be genuine. ... Answer all posed questions. ... Pause before reacting negatively.More items...•
Paralegals Provide Attention to Details – The professional lawyers have a broader perception with respect to legal matters. But when it comes to paperwork, hiring California paralegal services is the best bet. Experienced paralegals can assist you thoroughly with attention to details.
Within the 5 job duties associated with the position, a paralegal must have a diverse set of skills, experience, and knowledge.Research. ... Case Preparation. ... Document Management. ... Courtroom and Legal Proceedings Assistance. ... Communication and Coordination.
A lawyer is someone who has studied law and has the authority and qualification to practice it whereas a paralegal can work for an attorney but cannot practice law. Paralegals can research cases, file documents and help prepare legal reports for the lawyer they work for.
A paralegal can also do research for their attorney and appear in court.
Paralegals Provide Attention to Details – The professional lawyers have a broader perception with respect to legal matters. But when it comes to paperwork, hiring California paralegal services is the best bet. Experienced paralegals can assist you thoroughly with attention to details.
Though paralegals cannot give legal advice, there are many ways they help attorneys with legal work.
Paralegals cannot practice law. Though paralegals may have extensive legal knowledge, they are not allowed to present themselves as attorneys or practice law. They must work under the supervision of an attorney. A paralegal cannot give legal advice.
Now that you know what a paralegal can and can’t do, here are the ways that they improve a law office, and help support the lawyers that work there.
Here’s a surprising fact: Lawyers only use 31% of their workday time for billable hours, according to a 2020 report by Clio. Paralegals can help attorneys clear up administrative work, so they can add more billable hours to the bottom line of the law office.
Sometimes, attorneys leave a legal office in order to strike out on their own or join another firm. This can cause casework to get backlogged. Paralegals can help casework keep moving forward, working under the supervision of other attorneys in the office.
Since paralegals work under the supervision of lawyers, it is important to remember the limits of what they can legally do in legal work. Supervising attorneys must make reasonable efforts to make sure that paralegals follow professional codes of conduct.
If you are a California resident, and you have previously completed an associate or baccalaureate degree or have completed 54 quarter units (36 semester units) in general studies and business from an accredited institution, you are eligible to take our fully Online Paralegal Studies program.
Paralegals offer technical support for lawyers and often help with a variety of client-related tasks. They are often the secondary point of contact for clients once the lawyer is assigned to a case. While they may perform some administrative duties, they are more involved with legal tasks. Some typical responsibilities of a paralegal include:
A legal assistant is a professional who's responsible for performing administrative and customer service duties within a law office. While they may help the lawyers research cases in the same way that paralegals do, they generally perform more secretarial work. They also may be called “administrative assistants” or “legal secretaries.”
However, paralegals are involved with tasks that involve actual technicalities with the law, while legal assistants have a broader range of responsibilities. Here are the top skills necessary for each role:
Also, paralegals can specialize in certain areas of the law, such as criminal, family, real estate or immigration law. Related: Paralegal Resume Samples.
Paralegals can specialize in certain areas of the law, such as family law, criminal law, real estate or immigration law.
The average annual salary for a legal assistant is $42,573 per year while paralegals earn $49,177 per year. Paralegals who hold a paralegal certificate generally earn 15% more than the average base salary. For the most up-to-date information ...
Most paralegals have either a two-year associate degree or a four-year bachelor's degree.
As we’ve established, legal assistants support law firms by working with others on the team—from paralegals to attorneys—on behalf of lawyers. But what exactly does a legal assistant do?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the 2020 median pay for paralegals and legal assistants was $52,920 per year or $25.44 per hour.
Hiring a paralegal can be an effective solution for law firms that need assistance with substantive legal work. A paralegal is also more cost-effective than another lawyer. If your firm is struggling with lawyers who are overloaded with substantive legal tasks, low billable hours, or unhappy clients and customer service complaints, you could benefit from working with a paralegal.
A legal assistant can take these administrative tasks off of an attorney’s to-do list. Lawyers can then spend more time on billable work.
What can paralegals do? Though paralegals cannot practice law or give legal advice, they can take on more legal-specific tasks for lawyers. Examples include interacting with legal clients, preparing legal documents, conducting interviews, assisting at trials, and more.
Clio Manage allows you to add users as Non-Attorneys, and you can customize their permissions as well.
The US national average annual salary for a legal assistant comes in at $44,229, compared to $51,239 for a paralegal.
Part of what drove the ABA to update its definition is because the responsibilities and qualifications for legal assistants vs. paralegals are often similar. However, popular usage of legal assistant has sometimes diverged from the definition of paralegal. In fact, some job postings for legal assistant outline responsibilities that are more closely related to the work of a legal secretary.
BU’s flexible online Paralegal Studies Certificate Program gives students living anywhere access to expert hands-on training from a university renowned for academic excellence. Whether students have prior legal experience or are transitioning into the field, the program’s instructors and curriculum provide learners with distinct benefits and the professional know-how that today’s employers seek.
In the case of legal assistants vs. paralegals, the line gets even blurrier because of the historical use of the terms and how they are commonly used now.
Regardless of the law career path you choose , attaining a combination of education and on-the-job training is often the best way to solidify your career. For example, some firms may promote a legal secretary to the role of paralegal, but it would be more difficult for them to get a similar position at another firm unless they had a paralegal certificate. Of course, the exact mix of experience and education depends on where you’re at in your career now, and where you would like to be.
Replacing an earlier definition published in 1986, the American Bar Association (ABA) updated its legal assistant definition to include paralegal in 1997. The current definition is as follows:
Job Responsibilities. Support and aid lawyers in cases, requiring legal education or experience. Focus on administrative tasks for a law firm, but a background in law is not required. Specialized Expertise. Can specialize in specific areas of law, such as business or estate planning.
Bureau of Labor and Statistics (accessed May 7, 2019), employment is expected to grow 15% each year through 2026. As a result, not all legal assistant jobs require advanced education, but it is increasingly common for professionals seeking these roles to earn paralegal certificates. A few more common legal assistant qualifications from the staffing service Robert Half include:
The National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) awards the designation Registered Paralegal (RP) to persons who have met its requirements, which include passing the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE), or the designation of CORE Registered Paralegal (CRP) to persons who pass the Paralegal CORE Competency Exam (PCCE). NPFA also offers an Assurance of Learning opportunity for paralegal education programs.
These include a minimum of 60 semester hours of study (18 semester hours must be designed specifically to develop paralegal skills), extensive reports and periodic site visits. An ABA-approved paralegal education program has undergone a rigorous scrutiny of its curriculum, faculty, recruiting and admission practices, library and computer resources, student services, and other aspects of the program.
Technically a "certified" paralegal is a paralegal who has completed the voluntary certification process of a professional association by developing a specified level of professional competency.
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. ( ABA House of Delegates, 2020)
The ABA endorsed the use of paralegals in 1967 and established the first committee on paralegals in 1968. Since 1975, the ABA has approved paralegal programs that satisfy the rigorous standards of the ABA Guidelines for the Approval of Paralegal Education Programs (PDF).
Maine, Indiana , and South Dakota have defined the terms. Maine's definition also carries fines for misuse. Paralegals are qualified to perform their responsibilities by completing an educational program, receiving training on the job, or through actual work experience. They are not licensed as attorneys are.
Paralegals can be a key element in that team, especially in fostering cost efficiency.
A paralegal is a trained professional who works closely with lawyers to help them prepare for cases. They take care of tasks that lawyers would otherwise have to handle themselves.
The positions of legal assistant and paralegal are sometimes used interchangeably, but that’s not necessarily accurate. The American Bar Association recently updated their definition for paralegals, no longer recognizing “legal assistant” as an equivalent title.
Paralegals usually earn more money than legal assistants. Many firms have higher work experience or education requirements for paralegals, and they may also grant these professionals greater responsibilities.
A legal assistant is a professional who provides administrative services in a law office or a similar setting. Depending on the job, they can also share the responsibilities and duties of a paralegal.
Paralegals are not allowed to hand out legal advice. They also can’t steer clients toward certain choices or serve as their legal representatives. Those roles are reserved for lawyers.
Your paralegal training can help prepare you for other careers as well. For example, you may consider working as a legal secretary. Your background knowledge of law can be beneficial in that position.
Paralegals and legal assistants serve on the same team to keep law offices functioning efficiently, but they can go about that mission in different ways. Legal assistants handle more administrative duties, and paralegals get to be more closely involved with legal matters.