Family Law is an area of law that covers a wide spectrum. From amiable prenuptial agreements to bitterly contested custody battles, Family Law has something for everyone.
I believe that a good paralegal in a practice that specializes in divorce would need to be a people person who has excellent communication skills. She may need to help the attorney put the client at ease while still maintaining a sense of strength for an emotionally and I or physically abused client. For example, a meeting with an attorney and a paralegal might be the first concrete step an abused wife takes in actively resisting her husband. This may be the first time she tries to obtain help from a third party and she would need someone who would not judge her for not
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An attorney and the paralegal should be seen as being fair and equitable concerning the division of those important days when they are trying to help the parents
reach a compromise. A skilled legal team needs to be able to help the parents communicate and reach reasonable arrangements that are in the best interest of the children as opposed to what will irritate the non-custodial parent the most.
Division of marital assets is emotionally charged as well. If the home is awarded to the wife but she can only afford to keep it if the husband continues making his child support and alimony payments, she would have the added stress of possibly losing the home if he chooses to discontinue his payments. She would then have to try to work out some kind of refinancing or sell the home. Once again she might need the support of her legal team to help her maneuver through the choppy waters of possibly having to uproot her children from the only home they have ever known.
These are only a few of the areas in which a paralegal and her attorney would need good communication skills. They would also need the ability to zealously defend their client as she works her way through the beginnings of the next stage of her life and that of her
The role a paralegal has in a law firm is a vital. These professionals are highly valued for the abilities they contribute in the area of knowing the law, legal research and how it applies to a client’s case. Furthermore, paralegals also as assist their Attorneys on a variety of tasks pertaining to a law related matters. Regardless, no matter how knowledgeable the paralegal may be; they are always required to work under the direct supervision of an attorney. There are very little exceptions for paralegals to work in the law field, unsupervised. Even in these exceptions, It is still possible for a professional paralegal, under the supervision of an attorney or not, to still commit UPL (California Legislative Information Business and Professions Code).
Courts generally have held that a paralegal and or legal assistant can achieve the objectives of communication and to provide potential clients with information concerning legal fees and representation if instructed by the supervising attorney. However, a paralegal and or legal assistant cannot provide a potential client with legal advices, accept cases, appear in court, and or provide decision(s) to the case(s). Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland v. Morgan Joseph Hallmon, 343 Md. 390; 681 A.2d 510; 1996, a District of Columbia attorney employed his wife, Carole Cloud who is a law school graduate and is not admitted to practice law in any jurisdiction. Carole was hired as Office Manager, Coordinator, and Law Clerk of the firm. She performed legal work for a client of the firm, which mostly were reviewed and approved by the supervising attorneys Morgan Joseph Hallmon and Eric Cloud, her husband. Attorney Hallmon had given Ms. Cloud full responsibility of handling the case in which he has been kept aware and up to date with the proceedings and details of the case. The court stated:
The lawyers highly support a joint custody that would benefit the child. The lawyers argue the case on two different aspects.
Male paralegals are allowed to be neutral or polite which results in them putting a lid on their emotions. For instance, Peirce mentions a paralegal named Bill who was "always tactful, courteous, and considerate of other people's feelings but never overly solicitous"(135). This means that even though Bill cared about other people's feelings he would never actually be interested in them. On the other hand, female paralegals are expected to be actively involved. For example, Peirce mentions a paralegal named Lisa who was "warm, friendly, and outgoing… was always cheerful.
Paralegal assistant help assist lawyers, attorneys, and any other law firms. They do a mixture of duties which includes maintaining files, legal research, and manage documents. Paralegals work in a diversity of legal practice which can range from litigation and trial practice to tax, and real estate transactions,and estate planning. The employment of paralegal assistant is expected to grow from 2014 to 2024. Being a paralegal assistant is a good career because of career path, work will be diversified, and benefits.
Lawyers tend to overuse the word aggressive; divorce lawyers more than most. In many cases aggressive legal actions are exactly what is needed to address a situation. But it’s even more important that your family law attorney be acting first and foremost as intelligent and effective legal representation. How do you know when your Arizona family law attorney is overaggressive?
A paralegal is an individual who is qualified, through training, education or by virtue of the experience and are subsequently under employment or merely retained under a given lawyer or law firm, or an agency; to perform work that is delegated to him or her by the lawyer and for which the lawyer is responsible. Across the United States, paralegals profession is regulated by various certification laws, and this ultimately makes their work different.
“Some in the profession argue that since paralegals are supervised by attorneys, there is no need for mandatory licensure, certification, or registration. Others contend that since paralegals are trained to assist in the delivery of complex legal services, there should be a mandatory competence credential in order to protect the public.” (2001)
Legal information can be given by anyone with law knowledge, a simple statement only of what the law states is legal information, that person leaves it up to the individual to decide how they want to proceed with their case. Generally, legal information is given at no cost. When giving legal advice a paralegal may discuss drafting or revising and official legal document with the oversight of a practicing attorney. A paralegal may discuss with clients legal information consisting of a question whether or not a certain act is legal but may not give legal advice based off of the clients responses. If a paralegal is not setting legal fees, undertaking representation, giving legal advice, or representing a client in court, a paralegal may assist an attorney with anything else. When assisting clients a paralegal does have the right to type up forms for clients however they may not aid in helping them fill out the form. When filling out a form the paralegal could accidentally give advice on what to put and giving legal advice as a paralegal is against the
In some states UPL is not only criminalized in itself, but another charge of falsely claiming to be a lawyer even thought this is not how the paralegal intended the situation to turn out. In the innocence of trying to help out a friend by sharing their legal know how, they in turn can be persecuted, lose their jobs or even their careers. Any person of the public can put in their opinion about a legal situation, or tell a person what they think they should do and it would not be considered unauthorized practice of law. However, when a person is a paralegal, any spoken or written opinion about what a person should do in a legal situation can be considered UPL. Whether it is a friend, family member, or just someone a person knows, the situation stays the same. It is clear that only an attorney should provide legal counsel, legal representation or sign legal documents. A paralegal may do ninety percent of the work on a client’s case but in the end the attorney is the only one who can do these things. Polly Paralegal needs
Criminal law paralegals provide assistance to defense attorneys and prosecutors. Their duties include drafting documents, doing research, interviewing witnesses, putting together discovery information, communicating with other parties, and assisting attorneys when they are in
Paralegals or legal assistants are qualified by education, training or work experience, but are not required by any state to be licensed. Although, legal assistants may get become certified through such organization as NALA or some state bar associations. Paralegals are a valuable asset to an attorney, but it is important for a paralegal or legal assistant to adhere to the standards of legal ethics and proper conduct, one of which, they must never give legal advice. A paralegal or legal assistant may assist an attorney, but the attorney is ultimately responsible, therefore the paralegal should work under the supervision of said attorney. Currently, there are no absolute requirements for a person to be a paralegal, but with most
The position which is the one that I take - is that both parents should assume equal responsibility in raising a child. The alternate position is that introducing the concept of 'shared parenting' in family law would be problematic since it would be shifting the focus away from the best interests of the child to political and gender-based topics.
According to many the custody of a child should be determined with the best interest of the child in mind. However, it is not easy for a
After conducting research on this career, I found paralegals have many responsibilities in the legal world. Many of them I was unaware of until this research. Paralegals