...The Paralegal Profession Ruth Keith Everest University According to Paralegal Today (2011), a 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 who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work, for which a lawyer is responsible” (p. 3). This paper will show the various duties of the paralegal. It will also prove what a valuable asset they are to the legal profession. Paralegals mostly work for law firms, government agencies, and corporate legal departments. They do a variety of tasks to support lawyers. They conduct legal research, draft documents, and organize and maintain files (Unknown, 2012). Interviewing clients, witnesses, and conduct legal investigations are also part of the job description. The specific tasks vary depending on the size of the office, the type of law the firm practices, and the amount of experience the paralegal has. Even though they gain a great deal of knowledge in the law, they are not authorized to give legal advice (Miller &Urisko, 2011). As a paralegal, I would like to find a position in a family law office. Working for an attorney who helps clients in either adoption proceedings or child custody cases would be the most intriguing for me. Knowing that I had a hand in helping a couple receive a child that they so desperately deserve, or removing a child from an abusive situation, would be...
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...Professional Responsibility is the foundation of ethical practices of paralegals in the legal community. Shape A paralegal must adhere strictly to the accepted standards of legal ethics and to the general principles of proper conduct. The performance of the duties of the paralegal shall be governed by specific canons as defined herein so that justice will be served and goals of the profession attained. (See Model Standards and Guidelines for Utilization of Legal Assistants, Section II.) The canons of ethics set forth hereafter are adopted by the National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc., as a general guide intended to aid paralegals and attorneys. The enumeration of these rules does not mean there are not others of equal importance although not specifically mentioned. Court rules, agency rules and statutes must be taken into consideration when interpreting the canons. Definition: Legal assistants, also known as paralegals, are a distinguishable group of persons who assist attorneys in the delivery of legal services. Through formal education, training and experience, legal assistants have knowledge and expertise regarding the legal system and substantive and procedural law which qualify them to do work of a legal nature under the supervision of an attorney. In 2001, NALA members also adopted the ABA definition of a legal assistant/paralegal, as follows: A legal assistant or paralegal is a person qualified by...
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...Final Project: Math Used in the Paralegal Profession Misty Kenter Kaplan University MM150 Prof. Mowen May 21, 2011 INTRODUCTION This paper is on what kind of math I will be using in my chosen profession. My chosen profession is the paralegal profession. I know that I will not need to know a lot of math for this profession. As a paralegal professional I will be using math every day. I will be using math for everything from keeping track of billable hours to estimating damages in a lawsuit. I will need to know basic math, basic algebra, and first year algebra. Basic math and basic algebra consists of addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, decimals, percentages, and negative numbers (www.xpmath.com). First year algebra consists of using formulas (www.xpmath.com). In this paper I will explain in detail the math that I would use in the four different types of law offices for a paralegal professional that I am interested in. These types of law offices are family law, civil litigation, probate and estate law, and criminal law. Family Law In a family law office I would use basic math and first year algebra. I would be using addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and a formula set by the courts to calculate child support and spousal support payments. I also would be using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to figure out how much the marital property is worth and how much each party would get if the clients decide to sell the property...
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...Having a job and having a career means two different things to me. For the last three years I have held a job as a customer service rep. For me in this field I really don’t see much growth unless you are willing to be a very extreme and repetitive person. I have learned in the last two in a half years of being in this profession that it is not something I would continue to do. To compare what I am in school to do and what I have done over the last two in half years is a big difference. Far as the customer service field I can say that it is job security and that I have benefits but not much more. I don’t have leadership that is really driven for the best other than meeting quotas and stats. I have the repetitive and simplicity of the job and the same atmosphere. I have given my all and best to my current job and everyday grow to hate it more. For the most part the atmosphere is very open to any type of person to work in the field. There is not much that goes into screening for a customer service position. Which for me I feel makes for a not to safe environment. I have meet some great people who work at my current job but they are not happy with the overall working conditions either. The pay is not the best and not may incentives that are given to strive to be better. The opportunity for promotion is given not because of your job performance but more for if management feels that you are a good candidate or not. So for me this is not a good job or working situation for me at all...
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...The Paralegal Profession and Ethics Based on the reading for this week, describe the role of a paralegal and the skills necessary to be a paralegal. Why are these skills important? Are paralegals able to represent clients? What is attorney-client privilege and how does this relate to the role of a paralegal? Summarize the Biblical Model as presented by Professor Bern. Post: The role of the paralegal: I would say that the role of a paralegal is primarily to assist an attorney, law office, or government agency. But there can be other roles as well that are less common, such as but not limited to assisting individuals in matters involving the social security administration. The roles of the paralegal and what duties they perform can vary widely from the common conception of working under an attorney or law firm by preparing for hearings, trials, meetings, real estate closings, helping draft documents, and even maintaining financial records; to working for federal, state, or local government agencies collecting and analyzing data for internal use as well as preparing information for use by the general public. Thomas F. Goldman & Henry R. Cheeseman, The Paralegal Professional 4, 5 (3rd ed. 2011). The skills of the paralegal: The skills of a paralegal very widely depending upon the type of work the paralegal is specialized in or engaged in. But there are some common skills shared by most paralegals and are very important. These common skills are also known as soft skills...
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...The movie Erin Brockovich is based on a true story of a heroic paralegal, who uncovers that a California utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, polluted the ground water around Hinkley, California. Pacific Gas and Electric Company used Hexavalent Chromium to control corrosion in their cooling tower. The wastewater dissolves the Hexavalent Chromium from the cooling towers and then discharges to unlined ponds at the site. This wastewater went into the soil and contaminated the ground water. The families who lived in that area had no suspicion that their illnesses were the result of the water contamination. Everything started when Erin gets some medical records from a real-estate file. As the story unfolds, Erin is using a direct approach with her appearance, dedication, kindness and hard work to unveil a massive water contamination cover-up. Also, there are a few ethical issues arising in this movie about her appearance and the approach that she is choosing to find the truth. She is convincing her attorney Mr. Masory to take the risk and fight against the big corporation. Erin Brockovich took an unconventional path to her profession, uses her fabulous looks to persuade, all while maintaining the professional conduct. First of all, Erin became a paralegal by forcing her way to Mr. Masory’s office to extort a job from him. In order to get a job at Mr. Masory’s office, her path was to act like a new staff member. Next, Erin starts to research and investigate...
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...NATIONAL FEDERATION OF PARALEGAL ASSOCIATIONS, INC. MODEL CODE OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND GUIDELINES FOR ENFORCEMENT PREAMBLE The National Federation of Paralegal Associations, Inc. ("NFPA") is a professional organization comprised of paralegal associations and individual paralegals throughout the United States and Canada. Members of NFPA have varying backgrounds, experiences, education and job responsibilities that reflect the diversity of the paralegal profession. NFPA promotes the growth, development and recognition of the paralegal profession as an integral partner in the delivery of legal services. In May 1993 NFPA adopted its Model Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility ("Model Code") to delineate the principles for ethics and conduct to which every paralegal should aspire. Many paralegal associations throughout the United States have endorsed the concept and content of NFPA's Model Code through the adoption of their own ethical codes. In doing so, paralegals have confirmed the profession's commitment to increase the quality and efficiency of legal services, as well as recognized its responsibilities to the public, the legal community, and colleagues. Paralegals have recognized, and will continue to recognize, that the profession must continue to evolve to enhance their roles in the delivery of legal services. With increased levels of responsibility comes the need to define and enforce mandatory rules of professional ...
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...Rashann Melton Degree and specialization: PhD in Criminal Justice – General Specialization • Personal/Professional Goals Each day I enter into a court room, I am reminded about the gift of the judicial system. This system teaches the importance of understanding one's rights. My daily contribution is evidenced by my passion for criminal justice and the understanding of my protective capacity. Being currently employed as a Family Court Paralegal (Child Support Division/Juvenile Delinquency) has prepared me for the next step of obtaining my doctorate. Daily I am collecting, retrieving, and analyzing information, drafting, filing, and serving legal documents such as discovery and motions as well as managing and organizing cases. Deciding to return back to school is never an easy decision, but I believe I can one day contribute to the future minds that wish to study criminology. I recently had a daughter and I often think about the society in which she is now a member. The other day I voted and I took my daughter along to witness our beautiful system of democracy at work. I am interested in graduate school to advance my career and to obtain the additional skills to empower a world unknown of its ability. In October of 2010, I had to honor to help the attorney I was working with in assisting her with a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) to present to the other attorneys for their quarterly training. In 2011 I was a recipient of the NYC Law Department Legal Assistant Achievement...
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...The ethics rules governing conflicts of interest are based on the duties of loyalty and confidentiality. These duties are threatened when a paralegal has an interest that is adverse to a client’s, whether personal or business one. A lawyer is responsible for ensuring paralegal conflict of interest does not exist. p. 68. NALA code of ethics Canon 8 states a paralegal must disclose to his or her employer or prospective employer any pre-existing client or personal relationship that may conflict with the interests of the employer or perspective employer and/or their clients. p. 204. A long standing rule strongly disfavors gifts from clients to lawyers, therefore the same rule applies to a paralegal. The inherent conflict in a lawyer’s dual role of adviser to a client and recipient of a gift from a client establishes this disfavor. A paralegal should be aware of this conflict leading to a challenge to the gift or allegations of unethical conduct. Especially in the case of a substantial gift from an elderly or otherwise vulnerable client. The supervising attorney would recommend the client seek advice from an independent counsel and ask the paralegal to refrain from working on the gift document. A will or trust is potential for undue influence, fraud, and overreaching. Courts frequently void both inter vivos (during life) and testamentary (after death) cases, even without showing of undue influence. An attorney may be subject to discipline for accepting such gifts (ABA Model Rule 1...
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...organizations out there for an individual to join or become affiliated with. Each would benefit every individual differently according to their education and/or work field. Houston Metropolitan Paralegal Association (HMPA) is amongst one of these organizations. The (HMPA) was founded in 1973 it was formerly the Houston Legal Assistants Association. The Houston Metropolitan Paralegal Association (“Association”) is a professional organization maintained for the benefit of its members, the legal profession and the general public. (http://houstonparalegals.org/page.asp?p=About%20Us:%20Code%20of%20Ethics. (HMPA’s) goal is to promote the professional advancement of legal assistants in Houston. Members of this organization have dues that they would pay. Being a member of this organization would have a great deal of benefits. A law firm, student studying to be a paralegal, or a legal assistant can be a member of this organization. Keywords: Houston Metropolitan Paralegal Association (HMPA), legal assistants, paralegals, CLE’s, membership, attorney, benefits, law office Houston Metropolitan Paralegal Association According to the State Bar of Texas of Directors, and the Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas, adopted a new definition for “Paralegal:” a paralegal is a person, qualified through various combinations of education, training, or work experience, who is employed or engaged by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency, or other entity in a capacity...
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...applicable, the area of specialization. One of the jobs I would like to obtain would be a family law paralegal. Family law paralegals typically work for private firms or government agencies that deal with domestic relationships, such as marriage, children, and parents. Family law encompasses such matters as prenuptial agreements, same sex domestic partnership, divorce, adoption, establishing paternity, child custody, child welfare and domestic violence. The second job title would be Real Estate paralegal. Real estate paralegals work alongside lawyers, helping with any preparation regarding property sales. Real estate paralegals are responsible for preparing documentation necessary to any case, including real estate purchases or sale closings. This may also include reviewing amendments, leases, subleases or purchase assignments. It is important for paralegals in this specialty area to be able to accurately work on items such as title insurance and tax bills. In addition to working with lawyers, real estate paralegals may also coordinate with landlords, housing managers or other real estate personnel. 2.List the skills needed for the job, taken both from the job description and your own analysis of the job. Be sure to list at least five skills, three of which are specific skills in the legal profession. The skills needed to work within Family and Real Estate start off with a Paralegal basic background which includes an associates or certificate. Certain electives are to work directly...
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...Ethics and Professional Responsibility Study Unit By Michael Wilson, Esq. Reviewed By Brian Bastyr, Esq. About the Author Michael Wilson is a freelance writer and college instructor who has had wide legal and educational experience. He graduated with his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Kentucky in 1976 and three years later received his law degree from the same school. He has been a partner in a law firm, a solo practitioner, and has done work in General and Family Mediation. He has also been a fulltime instructor in Paralegal Studies at Sullivan College, Lexington, KY, where he has taught such classes as Legal Research, Advanced Legal Writing and Appellate Practice, and Wills and Estates. He was given the “Teacher of the Year” award in 1997. Mr. Wilson has also had a number of papers published on legal topics in both scholarly and popular journals. About the Reviewer Brian Bastyr is a senior attorney editor for West Group, a legal publishing company. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law. He is currently a member of the Illinois bar, and has published a number of articles in legal journals. All terms mentioned in this text that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Use of a term in this text should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service...
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...Paralegal – A Career of a Lifetime The paralegal field has evolved into a profession that requires preciseness and a basic degree of knowledge. According to one source, a paralegal is a professional who assists attorneys in their work. These individuals perform many different functions in law offices, although they cannot perform duties considered to be within the practice of law. (What is a paralegal / what does a paralegal do?, 2015) Paralegals have been around since the 1970’s when Attorneys realized basic file and research needed to be performed by lower salaried workers. (A short history of paralegals, 2015) By hiring paralegals it freed time for the attorneys’ to perform other duties. Paralegals have become the arms of an attorney, and...
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...As advances in law technology revolutionize today’s legal landscape, the role of the legal professional has evolved. The automation of legal processes has prompted lawyers, paralegals, legal secretaries and other legal professionals to become proficient at an ever-increasing array of word processing, spreadsheet, telecommunications, database, presentation and legal research software. Law technology has impacted every aspect of the legal field, from law firm and corporate practice to courtroom operation and document management. Law Firm Technology In law firms, electronic billing (“e-billing”) is gradually replacing traditional paper invoices. Technology has also become an important legal marketing tool and new law firm websites and legal blogs spring up daily in cyberspace. Electronic case management has also changed how documents are handled. Firms are now storing voluminous case files electronically and employing databases to track, edit, search, distribute and archive documents. Bickel & Brewer, a Dallas-based law firm, illustrates the extent technology has changed legal processes. “We image virtually everything that comes into the office…every single piece of paper, even a note…then we send the images to our 24-hour staff in India,” says William Brewer, III, the firm’s co-founder and co-managing partner. This system helps organize all firm data and provides a constant universal backup to the firm’s onshore docketing system. Corporate Technology Technology is equally...
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...Vicken Hagopian Nita Harbaugh Kaplan University Vicken Hagopian has been a criminal lawyer for 21 and a1/2 years. His trial win to loss ratio is six to three. He specializes in cases involving drug trafficking, sales, and personal use cases along with identity theft and financial crimes. He attended California State University Los Angeles for four years; completing and obtaining his bachelors degree in business administration; minoring in pre-law and finance. Throughout his four years at CAL STATE LA, he maintained a 3.2 Grade Point Average, which was not sufficient in, and of itself to have, him accepted at any of the ABA accredited law schools. After receiving rejection letters from every law school that he applied to, a friend of his advised him of State Accredited law schools, a law school system founded by former California Court of Appeal Chief Justice Bernard Jefferson targeting minorities who have low GPA’s and an inability to attend law school on a full time basis. The requirements of admission being very few, Mr. Hagopian was able to enroll at the University Of Los Angeles School Of Law. In fact, at the time of his attendance, the dean of the school was Justice Bernard Jefferson himself. Due to the rigid prerequisites required by ABA law school, Mr. Hagopian was almost unable to practice law, which in turn would have been a sad loss for people who need an advocate for their rights and freedom. A man named Bernard Jefferson came up with the idea of state accredited...
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