Becoming a Paralegal

Although the American Bar Association ("ABA") and many jurisdictions have defined the role of paralegals, you may find that the actual job description of a paralegal position can radically vary depending on the law specialty, region, and the size of the firm or legal department. Here is what the ABA says about the profession.

According to the ABA's website (http://www.abanet.org/
legalservices/paralegals/lawyers.html), "A legal assistant or 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." Attorneys delegate work to paralegals, and supervise the work, because the attorney is responsible for the paralegal's work product. Further, the ABA points out that "Paralegals perform substantive legal work that would otherwise be done by attorneys," and while I love that the ABA specifically points out that "Clerical work is not substantive legal work", the fact remains that a lot of paralegals still do a lot of clerical work.

It can be frustrating when an attorney or a firm confuses the terms "Paralegal", "Legal Assistant", and "Legal Secretary". The ABA as well as national paralegal associations such as NALA and NFPA recognize that the job titles "Paralegal" and "Legal Assistant" can be used interchangably. A "Legal Secretary" is someone who does clerical work (typing, dictation, etc.) in a legal environment.

Education and Training
When it comes to embarking on a career as a paralegal, training is essential. There are a couple of paths to paralegal training, either graduating wtih a paralegal degree or post-degree certificate, or receiving on-the-job training.

When deciding which path to take, or which paralegal school to attend, first look at the job openings in your area (your local newspaper, Yahoo! Hot Jobs, CareerBuilder, etc.) to determine what employers are looking for. Before I enrolled in my community college's ABA-approved program, I noticed that in my local area, the jobs were mostly entry-level (jobs reequiring experience were advertised and filled by word-of-mouth), but in a major metro area like Chicago, employers were looking for paralegals with either a college degree or a certificate from an ABA-approved paralegal program. Because I'd love to move back to Chicago someday, I selected the ABA-approved certificate at a school 45 miles away over the university program in town.

Networking
Networking is hard to do, particularly if you tend to be shy or introverted like me. However, I cannot stress enough the importance of getting to know other legal professionals in your area. If read any of the job advice books or websites, you will find that more jobs are filled through networking than by sending a resume.

Therefore, it is important to join a local paralegal association. Additionally, find out if your local bar association allows non-attorney members to join. The caveat is that it isn't enough just to join; it is important to be actively involved in order to develop relationships. If you are actively participating in association activities and committees, you will likely find that your fellow association members are going to be eager to assist you in your job search.

Another interesting way to network is online, using LinkedIn.com. Linked In is kind of like Facebook for working professionals. You can post your job history and professional accomplishments, connect to former and current coworkers, and can even get recommendations from them. I happen to know that more than a couple of the firms I applied to work for looked at my LinkedIn profile and saw that my former supervisors gave me great recommendations. LinkedIn is an alright start to networking, but you *still* have to get involved with your local paralegal association, even if you are still a student.

Career Development
Whether or not you are working as a paralegal, if you want to advance (either in title or in responsibilities) it is important to actively continue to learn. Both of the national paralegal associations, NALA (NALA.org) and NFPA (paralegals.org) have certification program that allow members to test in order to earn professional designations. Attend Continuing Legal Education seminars, read books, blog about legal topics, and find out what you need to do in order to advance in your career.

Paralegals can do a lot more than filling out legal forms and writing boilerplate motions and pleadings. In fact, attorneys can improve their bottom line - and the happiness of their clients - if they hire qualified (educated or trained) paralegals and fully utilize them.

According to the ABA Model Guidelines for the Utilization of Paralegal Services (http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/paralegals/downloads/modelguidelines.pdf), a paralegal can do almost any task an attorney can do as long as the lawyer delegates and supervises the work.

What Paralegals May Do:
According to the ABA Standing Committee on Paralegals, a paralegal can "review and organize client files, conduct factual and legal research, prepare documents for legal transactions, draft pleadings and discovery notices, interview clients and witnesses, and assist at closings and trials". This list is expanded a little bit by NALA (www.nala.org). According to NALA, a paralegal can "conduct client interviews and maintain general contact with the client after the establishment of the attorney-client relationship, so long as the client is aware of the status and function of the legal assistant, and the client contact is under the supervision of the attorney; Locate and interview witnesses, so long as the witnesses are aware of the status and function of the legal assistant; Conduct investigations and statistical and documentary research for review by the attorney; Conduct legal research for review by the attorney; Draft legal documents for review by the attorney; Draft correspondence and pleadings for review by and signature of the attorney; Summarize depositions, interrogatories and testimony for review by the attorney;
Attend executions of wills, real estate closings, depositions, court or administrative hearings and trials with the attorney; Author and sign letters providing the legal assistant's status is clearly indicated and the correspondence does not contain independent legal opinions or legal advice."

What Paralegals May Not Do:
There are several excepetions that are typically outlined in state law and statutes. Paralegals are responsible for following the ethics rules of their jurisdictions, and knowing what they cannot do. For example, in Illinois, a paralegal may not: provide legal services directly to the public without lawyer supervision; give legal advice; advocate on behalf of a client in a court; accept or reject cases on behalf of an attorney or firm; set fees; split fees with an attorney; solicit cases for an attorney.