Paralegal

A paralegal is an individual 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. Paralegals perform tasks requiring knowledge of the law and legal procedures. The exact nature of their work and limitations that the law places on the tasks they are allowed to undertake vary between nations and jurisdictions. A paralegal is not a lawyer but is typically employed by a law office or internal legal department of a company. Paralegals generally are not allowed to offer legal services independently in most jurisdictions. Paralegals operate under a form of independent legal ethics and, with few exceptions, must also conduct their work under the formal supervision of an attorney. In some jurisdictions, paralegals can conduct their own business and are called Law Agents, providing services such as settlements, court filings, legal research and other auxiliary legal services; these tasks often have instructions from a solicitor attached. Various professional organizations offer varying definitions of a paralegal.A legal secretary is generally a secretary who has a basic understanding of legal terminology and the specific formatting required by a particular court or government agency. Legal secretaries are also typically responsible for keeping case files organized and indexed, often taking on the duties of a file clerk. Although legal secretaries may be trained to prepare some basic legal papers and letters, they generally have little or no knowledge of particular legal doctrines, statutes or regulations, and typically have no training or experience in conducting legal research or drafting legal documents, pleadings, motions, briefs or other court papers. On the other hand, a typical paralegal in the United States can perform all of these tasks under an attorney or law office. Paralegals bill for their time at a higher rate than legal secretaries.Many paralegals have completed a formal paralegal education program. Others have only on-the-job paralegal training. Formal paralegal education programs may result in a certificate, diploma, higher diploma, advanced diploma, associate degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree, or paralegal certificate. Many paralegals have completed all of their training before entering the profession, while others have completed their education while working their way up from the mail-room in a law firm. Many paralegals take Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses to fulfill the requirements of their firm, state, or association. It only takes 2 to 4 years to become a paralegal.Paralegals exist precisely because they are not lawyers and thus can do the work more cheaply. Other than expertise, the main constraint on what work a paralegal can or cannot do tends to be local rules that reserve (i.e. give a monopoly to) particular activities to lawyers. Some jurisdictions have a reserved activities list.Some attorneys who practice in fields involving medical care have only a limited knowledge of healthcare and medical concepts and terminology. Therefore, Legal Medical Consultants which are professional physicians, paramedics, nurses and respiratory therapists, have become fully trained as paralegals in the manner described above and assist behind the scenes on these cases, in addition to serving as expert witnesses from time to time.Australia has a distinct regime for the utilization of paralegals. According to one paralegal studies scholar:The legal profession’s monopoly in Australia is, however, confined to the right of appearance in a court of law and to the preparation of certain documents for reward, which leaves a vast field of legal tasks open to performance by other workers, including paralegals.Unlike nurses and physician assistants, paralegals have not caught the popular imagination and rarely are seen or mentioned in fictional or non-fiction legal television programs, or in legal fiction in print. There are however exceptions.