A paralegal is a person who performs appointed lawful work, in which a lawyer is responsible for. They execute an assortment of assignments which include organizing and arranging records, drafting reports and conducting legitimate research. They are employed in a wide range of associations, however most work for law offices, government offices, or corporate departments.
What do Paralegals Do?
Paralegals aid with lawyers as they prepare for hearings, trials, and other corporate meetings. Contingent upon the span and size of the association or firm, their obligations could differ, particularly in a smaller firm. In addition to organizing and reviewing vital information, they may create detailed reports that help lawyers with their cases. If a lawyer may decide to file a lawsuit on behalf of their clients, a paralegal will help develop the documents and prepare the legal documents, that will be filed in court.
Instead of managing a case from start to end, workers that are utilized in much larger associations, only work on a specific portion of a case. For instance, a litigation paralegal may just audit legitimate material for internal usage, conduct research for legal counselors, maintain reference documents, and gather and arrange evidence for hearings. They don’t usually attend trials, yet may draft settlement agreements.
What the Day-to-Day Looks Like for a Paralegal
Law offices use computer software and innovative technology to prepare for trials and to effectively manage records. Paralegals employ computer software to formulate presentations and draft reports. Moreover, they must be progressive on the most recent software used for electronic disclosure, and familiarized with electronic data administration.
Paralegals may accept more obligations by having some expertise in various regions.
Some of these categories could be personal injury, corporate law, criminal law, career benefits, bankruptcy and real estate. Furthermore, experienced paralegals can accept supervisory obligations, for example, assigning work to other employees or administering group projects. Training programs for this career, usually offer classes like the first year of law school.
There is an intense amount of documentation and recording that they oversee, and being exceedingly organized will make their job tasks much easier. Paralegals should also be conscientious and proficient. Since job duties can shift significantly, depending on the size of the law firm, or the supervising lawyers, a paralegal should also be very flexible to certain circumstances.
Paralegal vs Lawyer: What’s the Difference?
When you’re looking for legal advice or to have legal paperwork drawn up, sometimes you might wonder if it really makes a difference whether you talk to a lawyer or a paralegal. The answer is, it does. Let’s discuss the differences between a paralegal and lawyer with a comparison.
The biggest difference is education and licensing, but let’s break it down a little more than that.
Paralegal
You may also have heard paralegals referred to as legal assistants. Though there are some distinctions between paralegals and legal assistants, they are used interchangeably and perform almost all of the same functions. Some states have programs that certify paralegals, and some people even attend college for paralegal studies or criminal justice, but there is no formal method of becoming a paralegal. Some people are simply hired by an attorney and given the title. In general, most paralegals have at least a two-year degree, though there are programs that can train someone to be a paralegal in as little as three months. Paralegals work under the instruction of an attorney and cannot work independently on their own.
Paralegals can research and draft legal documents, schedule hearings, interact with clients and keep case files and evidence in order. They can also prepare trial notes and obtain and review various legal documents that are pertinent to a case. They cannot give legal advice, represent clients in legal proceedings, or prepare any legal document without an attorney overseeing and approving it.
Paralegals also cannot establish the attorney-client relationship, take depositions, or handle the signing of any papers that will be filed with the courts.
It’s also important to note that there is no standardized description of paralegal duties, which means that they can vary from law office to law office.
Lawyer
A lawyer has received several years of education (four years for a bachelor’s degree and an additional three for law school) and passed the bar exam to be licensed in his or her state to practice law. Lawyers can work on their own, opening their own practice or joining other lawyers in a group practice. Lawyers can conduct depositions, represent clients in court, draw up legal documents, provide legal advice, set fees, sign pleadings (AKA court documents), and appear in court as a “counsel of record” to represent a client.
Lawyers analyze, consider and strategize for their cases, determining the best way to represent and/or defend a client.
Is there anything they can both do?
There are a few things that can be done by either a paralegal or a lawyer. Both of them can prepare wills and write contracts, do legal research and estate planning, interview clients and witnesses, and write legal briefs.
There are enormous differences between the duties of a paralegal and lawyer so the comparison is really very easy. As a general rule of thumb, legal advice and paperwork has to go through the lawyer, and the paralegal is only allowed to assist.
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