Ethical Roles of Paralegals
Paralegals
In the practice of law, lawyers always seek the help of paralegals depending on the nature of their cases to help them in the conveyance of their legal services. Paralegals are very important in a legal setting; these are the people who help the lawyers to maintain and organize case files, research legal cases and also prepare contracts and other legal documentation (Johnstone, 2003). A paralegal does not necessarily need to be exceptional knowledgeable like a lawyer, but they require to have some basic law understanding which is important for them to do their work effectively. The common requirements of paralegal associate or bachelor’s degree and a paralegal studies certificate, this requirement is in regard to education though; there are other key traits that an effective paralegal should possess and they include;
Organization and keenness on details
A legal case in a court room is normally laid out in a sequential manner in order for it to tell the story as it happened and effectively pass the message that the lawyer is looking forward to deliver to the court. A paralegal is perceived as the detail specialist in a legal team, he or she is the individual that is expected to do research on the case and provide important information from their research that will help out in the case. The lawyers rely on the paralegals to keep all the case notes, files and any evidence which is should be systematically categorized for easy retrieval and use (Johnstone, 2003). It is hence very important for a paralegal to be highly organized and efficient when it comes to time keeping.
Flexibility and precision
As legal cases play out, there are changes that come about and more evidence always requires being sort. This burden of finding new resources and information is always placed on the paralegals regardless of whether they have other duties or tasks they are supposed to do, they hence have to always be flexible and ready to adapt to the changing tasks and the needs of the clients in the legal field (Samborn, 1996). The paralegal field is stressful especially since there are a lot of demands from different people and paralegals regardless of this are expected to deliver accurate detailed information at all time. Lawyers are always expected to move quickly depending on the case requirements meaning that they do not have the time to go through all the data that is provided to them and they trust the paralegals to fact check the evidence they provide to them to ensure that all is okay and that there no mistakes that could affect the case (Nollkamper, 2004). If a paralegal does not counter check his or her findings for accuracy, this can be damaging to the lawyer and the case at large. A paralegal should always have the calm attitude so that they are able to meet all the demands and complete their tasks effectively to avoid any legal problems (Nollkamper, 2004).
Independence
Most of the paralegal duties are normally reading through case files and other documents trying to find useful information for the cases that they are involved in. This means that most of their work time is spent autonomously for effective research which requires a paralegal to be independent. Paralegals are always expected to know their way around their respective duties and they have to deliver quality work within a certain time frame depending on the case that they are working on. The lawyers have very little time to offer more than the basic directions; paralegals have to be very sharp to get the little lessons that are offered to them (Samborn, 1996). Lawyers always expect the paralegals to quickly understand the basic directions and produce results; paralegal should always have basic computer skills that will help them conduct their research and communicate effectively with the rest of the team (Hudson Jr., 2018).
Ethical guidelines that should be followed by paralegals
While practising law, paralegals are often faced by the illegal practice of law, this basically happens with new paralegals that are not much conversant with the legal procedures and guidelines of assisting the attorneys. The paralegals often find themselves dealing with the clients on a one on one basis which may prompt them to do things that they are not supposed to do as paralegals and this basically become an illegal activity in the law practice. New paralegals should possess the key foundational knowledge in regard to the legal system and all the legal information sources which would be important in gathering information that is grounded on operative and efficient research strategies (Johnstone, 2003).
A new paralegal can perform client consultations and maintain broad contact with the clients after they have established who they are in the case and their role as paralegals in the case with the clients. As the paralegal researches on the case details, the client contact should always be supervised by the lawyer who will help the paralegal to determine the appropriate referential laws that are best suited for the case that they are working on (Nollkamper, 2004).
A paralegal that is not sure about the case specifics should always locate and arrange for an interview with witness in order to effectively prepare the most suitable case details and reference materials. While doing this, the witness should always be made aware of the functions of the paralegal to ensure that they are ethical in their roles.
Paralegals should ensure that they critically evaluate every piece of information that they get and apply it meritoriously to resolve any ambiguous issue that comes about with the case. This requires the paralegal to always be able to distinguish between what is ethical and what is not when it comes to usage of information (Samborn, 1996).
Ways to avoid unauthorized practice of law by paralegals
Paralegals can sometimes engage in unauthorised law practices when their lawyers do not effectively supervise their roles in a case. Lawyers in this case always leave the paralegals with duty of offering advice to the clients and making some decisions that are wrong according to the law. This leads both the lawyer and the paralegal to engage in activities that are unethical according to the legal law (Roper, 2007). To avoid this from happening, the paralegals should always acknowledge their roles as paralegals and understand that they do not have the right to do certain things which are the responsibilities of the lawyer such as;
- Initiating a client lawyer relationship
- Providing of legal advice to clients
- Signing any legal papers on behalf of the clients
- Making any charging fees for rendering legal services
- Taking part in the legal proceedings on behalf of the client
Paralegals should always ensure that they identify themselves and their roles as paralegals with any parties that they interact with (Roper, 2007). This will help the parties understand that the paralegals cannot offer any form of legal advice because it would constitute to unauthorized practice of law. In a case where the paralegal offers any advice, he or she should always ensure that they mention their source for instance cite the lawyer as the source of legal advice which helps the clients get the lawyers views on a case (Hudson Jr., 2018).
Main role differences between lawyers and paralegals
Paralegals and attorneys work hand in hand while preparing for case trial, but their roles on the case are very different because of the high legal credentials of the attorney as compared to the paralegal. The first major difference is the fact that a paralegals does not have a law practice license like that of the lawyer hence his or her role is basically providing research and managing case records while the lawyer represents the clients in court. Attorneys have the role of offering direct guidance to the clients and also file extensive variety of papers on behalf of the clients (Hudson Jr., 2018).
During the preparation of the case, the paralegals have the tasks of completing certain roles that are similar to those of the clients but there are resolute restrictions that preclude paralegals from delivering certain services. An attorney for instance establishes the attorney client relationship and the paralegal are further not allowed to offer any legal advice to the client (Roper, 2007).
The attorney is the only one allowed to represent the client even though the paralegal does all the research and often has all the case details. Paralegals do not have the right to defend or take any deposition even signing of any legal document that requires to be filed in court (Roper, 2007).
References
Hudson Jr., D. L. (2018). Supervision is key to effective employment of paralegals. ABA
Journal, 104(1), 19. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=127119776&site=ehost-live
Johnstone, Q. (2003). Unauthorised Practice of Law and the Power of State Courts: Difficult
Problems and Their Resolution. Willamette L. Rev., 39, 795.
Nollkamper, P. E. (2004). Fundamentals of law office management: Webtutor on blackboard.
Place of publication not identified: Delmar.
Roper, B. D. (2007). Practical law office management. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar
Learning.
Samborn, H. V. (1996). Conflicts and confidences. ABA Journal, 82(6), 24. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=9606205159&site=ehost-live
