The Role of Paralegals in the Legal System Essay

Paralegals can lead to a career path. Since they lead attorneys to trials, they mainly know the work of an attorney. So if a paralegal want to go to law school and be an attorney or lawyers, they already will know the work and what

Medical malpractice lawsuits are an extremely serious topic and have affected numerous patients, doctors, and hospitals across the country. Medical malpractice is defined as “improper, unskilled or negligent treatment of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care professional” (Medical malpractice, n.d.). If a doctor acts negligent and causes harm to a patient, malpractice lawsuits arise. Negligence is the concept of the liability concerning claims of medical malpractice, making this type of litigation part of tort law. Tort law provides that one person may litigate negligence to recover damages for personal injury. Negligence laws are designed to deter careless behavior and also to

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

In order to complete this assignment we must first recognize what Unauthorized Practice of Law is when it comes to paralegals. There is no set definition on what UPL is but as a paralegal there are guidelines to go by. Some ways they can violate the practice of law would be an individual holding themselves as an attorney when they are paralegals, giving legal advice as an attorney would, or representing clients in a court of law. All of the previous are violations and can be subject to several disciplinary actions [ (Unauthorized Practice of Law, 2010) ]. It has been named illegal due to the damages on may suffer due to bad legal advice. In some states it is considered a criminal offense and could be given a jail sentence.

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.

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).

Since paralegals can only work under the supervision of an attorney, by doing the opposite may be consider an unauthorized practice of law, so paralegals must avoid assisting in the unlicensed practice of

It is a task in itself for one, such as myself, to allow another to fully grasp the principle of why I want to become a paralegal, let alone explain it within three pages without simply stating, “I desire to use the set of skills and passion that I possess in order to help others while working within this specific field of law.” Nevertheless, the reality of the fact is that it is purely the essence and core of why I have the drive and determination to work towards becoming a paralegal.

In stating so, Flynn argues that while some in the legal field think that paralegals are supervised and work under an attorney, therefore do not need to be licensed or certified. Others believe paralegals handle intricate legal matters, therefore should be licensed and certified. This statement from Flynn reinforces my belief that paralegals are essential to the effectiveness of a law firm and leads into my standing that licensing should be in place to ensure education, knowledge and adherence, which in turn will make a paralegal more valuable. Licensing of the paralegal profession and the requirements of experience and education that come with it; would dispel the long time misunderstanding of position titles among law office staff, attorneys and the public.

Lawyer is a person whose profession is to represent clients in a court of law or to advise or act for clients in other legal matters. Lawyers serve as both advocates and advisers. As advocates, they speak for their clients in court by presenting supportive evidence. As advisers, they counsel their clients on their legal rights and obligations. Lawyers, also called attorneys and counselors, can interpret laws and apply laws to specific situations, and draft new laws. Much of their work involves researching precedents, which are earlier interpretations of laws and the history of judicial decisions based on that law. Lawyers use precedents to support their cases in court. Many resources from law libraries and public documents to computer

Acting as a legal practitioner is considered a “great privilege” and “offers the opportunity to serve the community in a profoundly important way.” Lawyer’s roles as officers of the Court and administrators of justice give them a monopoly on the delivery of counselling and representation services. In order to “maintain their capacity to serve the community” , legal practitioners must accept that they are

It is not easy to choose a career that is suitable or relevant to your major today. Some people dream of becoming leaders, politicians and famous stars. There are others who are interested in becoming poets, writers and novelists while most of us generally have a desire of becoming engineers, doctors, and scientists of great repute. Have you ever heard about Paralegal? I am sure that many people know about this word, but how do you really know about this job? According to the American Bar Association (ABA), Paralegal is a person who is qualified by education, training, and work experience is employed by a lawyer, law office, and government agency and performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible.

family law is so much more than that. Below I will discuss my reasons for choosing family law, plaintiff/defendant,and the tasks of the paralegal.

that many may not be able to pay with cash and may have to take up a

Paralegals and Legal Assistants do various tasks to support a lawyer or attorney including organizing files, conducting legal research, and drafting numerous types of documentation in preparation for legal action to take place. Legal actions that take place are court hearings, trials, and corporate meetings.