Over the last several years, the paralegal profession has grown tremendously. With the help of paralegal associations and local colleges, the paralegal/legal assistant is becoming one of the top ten professions in the job market today. With specialized legal training, a paralegal can increase a law firm's revenue while at the same time, decreasing an attorney's workload.
Many area colleges offer two and four year paralegal degrees. Some of the more reputable colleges offer ABA (American Bar Association) approved paralegal programs which are preferred by firm's looking for paralegals..
What is a paralegal? A paralegal works under the supervision of an attorney, and is able to perform many of the tasks that an attorney performs. Paralegals are not permitted to give legal advice or practice law, however, they are becoming a "right arm" for many attorneys. With the help of education and experience, paralegals are able to prepare many legal documents and perform legal research for attorneys.
Some examples of services and documents that a paralegal is able to provide are categorized as follows:
Estate and Trust Administration:
Drafting Last Will and Testament, Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, Living Will, Power of Attorney (financial), Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts and Trust & Probate Administration including transferring of assets, estate tax preparation, accounting and distribution of assets.
Domestic Relations:
Drafting Separation Agreements, Petitions for Dissolution, Complaints for Divorce, child support calculations and forms required by the Domestic Relations Court;
Bankruptcy:
Drafting Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 petitions and various pleadings related to adversary proceedings;
Corporate:
Drafting Articles of Incorporation, Operating Agreements, Minutes, By-Laws, Corporate Dissolutions and documents required by the Secretary of State;
Litigation:
Drafting Complaints, Interrogatories, Request for Documents, Request for Admissions and various other civil pleadings. [Of course, the supervising attorney must review each document, no matter how good the paralegal is or how much experience the paralegal has.]
Other areas of interest for Paralegals include:
Social Security Disability,
Medicaid Planning,
Special Needs Trusts,
Special Education,
Intellectual Property,
Real Estate,
Mergers & Acquisitions and many others..
Paralegals are not only employed by law firms, but they are also found in government agencies and corporations. Many paralegals often "free-lance" their position by performing work for different attorneys at their own leisure.
Find out more about paralegals by visiting PARALEGAL CITY, the group. |
