Paralegals are not lawyers, that much is clear. This does not mean however that they do not often do many of the jobs that lawyers do.
It is particularly difficult to define exactly ‘what do paralegals do?’ considering that the term ‘paralegal’ is a generic term for the many different roles they undertake. Crudely speaking however, a paralegal job differs from the job of a lawyer in that it is a ‘doing’ job.
A paralegal’s job usually involves carrying out the course of action suggested by the lawyer. For example, research that question, interview that witness, complete that legal document or incorporate that company.
Despite this, paralegals are increasingly handling cases themselves from start to finish. In areas of practice where cases are very similar in nature (e.g. probate or conveyancing) or follow a simplified route, paralegals are able to work independently.
Lawyers will continue to handle to more complex cases where paralegal involvement is only on a peripheral basis. Such examples would be murder trials, mergers and acquisitions, aircraft financing deals, etc.
However, with the growing number of paralegal law firms (companies offering legal services to businesses and the public without any lawyers) it means that we may find paralegals taking on more complex cases eventually.
Examples of paralegal work are:
- Working on/handling probate and family law (divorce etc) cases in a solicitors’ firm
- involvement in purchasing land and selling finished properties for a property development company
- Registering and defending trademarks for a food company
- Prosecuting people have been cruel to animals as part of the RSPCA prosecutions team
- Giving immigration law advice to clients when working for a paralegal law firm
- Advising on consumer law protection as part of a local authority trading standards department
- Helping members of the public on a wide variety of issues (e.g. employment/housing) as a Citizens Advice volunteer adviser
- Working for the Crown Prosecution Service
- Incorporating companies and doing other company secretarial work for a solicitors’, accountancy or company formation practice
James O’Connell
Institute of Paralegals
15-09-2009
Provided by AllAboutLaw.co.uk – The Law Careers Website
