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Discussion Points About the Profession

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INTRODUCTION

If you ask 10 attorneys for his or her definition of the term "paralegal," you will get 10 different answers. However, the most common points of confusion over the definition of the profession has to do with title and other closely related professions.

For instance, is a legal assistant the same thing as a paralegal? Most, but not all, attorneys would say yes. A few, though, would categorize a legal assistant as being a notch under a paralegal. This is the exception to the rule, though. Notice the title of the two largest paralegal organizations: The National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA), and the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA). Both represent the paralegal profession. Yet they use the terms "paralegal" and "legal assistant" interchangeably.

Don't stress! It's not a test question!



Lecture Notes . . .

One of the discussion points mentioned in this section is the profession of Freelance Paralegals. There are two kinds of freelance paralegals: Those who work for the public directly and those who work for attorneys on a freelance basis.



Freelancing to the Public

It is not recommended that paralegals provide services directly to the public, without the supervision of an attorney. The reason for this is that it would be very difficult not to cross the line of giving legal advice, which only attorneys may do. It is no secret, many bar associations are aggressive in their attitude towards freelance paralegals.

This is not to say that paralegals are not competent to perform tasks for the public. Many are perfectly competent, but since there are no controls or regulation of such individuals, some freelance paralegals provide services in areas in which they are not competent, and give the profession a black eye. Even if the paralegal is competent, if legal advice is provided, even if correct, the paralegal may be in violation of the law. Thus, we do not recommend that a paralegal freelance to the public.



Freelancing to Attorneys

The good news is despite the concerns listed above regarding freelancing, the real money to be made is not in offering services directly to the public. The real money is in freelancing to multiple attorneys as an independent contractor. Paralegals generally charge anywhere from $25 to $100 per hour, depending on the experience and area of practice of the paralegal. The attorney then bills the client, usually at an even higher rate. The advantage here is the paralegal is covered by the attorney's malpractice insurance, and there is less fear of the unauthorized practice of law since the paralegal is working under the authority of the attorney.



The Paralegal Firm

There is an exciting, and relatively new, development in paralegal employment opportunities. In some cases, a paralegal, or a group of paralegals, starts his or her own business offering paralegal services. However, they hire an attorney as an employee of the business.

At first this may sound like a violation of the ABA rule against an attorney becoming a partner with a non-attorney. However, since the attorney in this case is the employee, and not a partner, it does not violate any rule and is perfectly legal and ethical.

The attorney is hired to supervise the legal questions that arise and review the work product of the paralegals. These businesses often involve niche services such as social security disability, wills and trusts, name changes, and business formations.