Some Things
You Should Know:
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- Many law firms in many states now not only employ paralegals
BUT will bill you for their paralegal's time--anywhere from
$75 to $150 an hour.
- In many larger law firms, you will spend most of your
time with your attorney's paralegal--not your attorney.
In some cases, clients don't even MEET their attorneys until
their court date. This is rare though.
- For many legal matters, such as bankruptcy, law firm
patrons will be given a lengthy 'packet' or 'questionnaire'
to fill out. This questionnaire asks the client ALL of the
same information that is in the documents your attorney
will 'prepare' for you. For example with bankruptcy, this
lengthy 'questionnaire' asks you all the same financial,
budget, asset, and liability questions that the bankruptcy
forms ask. If you filled out the 'questionnaire' yourself,
you practically did your own bankruptcy documents, keeping
in mind of course, that all of the information contained
in the 'questionnaire' must be inserted into the correct
place on each of the many bankruptcy court forms or your
bankruptcy may be dismissed.
To Use
a Paralegal Or Not?
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More often than ever before, people are using paralegals
to assist in their less complicated matters. Paralegals can
offer many benefits, such as price.
Technically, a 'paralegal' is a trained legal assistant supervised
by an attorney. A 'paralegal' who works on their own is called
an 'independent paralegal' because they are not supervised by
a lawyer.
Statistics show in some states about 75% of divorces and
60% of bankruptcies are done without lawyers. Many of these
do-it-yourselfers have chosen independent paralegals instead.
What can an independent paralegal do for you? A paralegal
is more than a clerical person. S/he is familiar with local
forms, local rules, and has knowledge about local processes.
An independent paralegal can NOT give you legal advice, represent
you in court, or choose your forms for you. Many paralegals
also do not file your forms at the court for you or "prepare"
your paperwork. Paralegals may avoid these activities in order
to protect themselves from being charged with the crime "unauthorized
practice of law" (UPL). Instead the paralegal may provide information,
perform typing, proofreading, and give other assistance.
In some states, independent paralegals can become licensed
and registered. This shows, once again, the popularity of their
services. For example, in California, independent paralegals1
or 'Legal Document Assistants' must be registered with the county
and possess a bond.
"Paralegal" Defined by the
National Federation of Paralegal Associations: Choose a
paralegal who has at least a 'Paralegal Certificate' which proves
s/he is trained. Ask if the paralegal's training program was
ABA-approved. The most reputable paralegal training courses
are approved by the American Bar Association.
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"As defined by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations,
a Paralegal is a person, qualified through education, training
or work experience to perform substantive legal work that
requires knowledge of legal concepts and is customarily,
but not exclusively, performed by a lawyer. This person
may be retained or employed by a lawyer, law office, governmental
agency or other entity or may be authorized by administrative,
statutory or court authority to perform this work. Substantive
shall mean work requiring recognition, evaluation, organization,
analysis, and communication of relevant facts and legal
concepts. "
An independent paralegal is not employed by a law firm or
supervised by an attorney. An independent paralegal does not
give ‘legal advice’ or ‘practice law.’
How Do
I Choose a Good Independent Paralegal?
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Check sites such as
divorce360.com for referrals. Choose a paralegal service
that is established. You can do this by making sure they are
licensed with the state and have no
Better Business
Bureau complaints nor listed on
www.ripoffreport.com.
 Be
sure to ask the paralegal what exactly their fees cover. Do
they charge an hourly rate? Does their flat rate include providing
you with self-help information? Will they be filing your paperwork
for you? Does the paralegal's fee include the court filing fee?
Choose a paralegal service that makes reputable do-it-yourself
materials available to you. There are numerous trustworthy self-help
legal publishers: Sphinx (By Sourcebooks), Self-Counsel Press,
Career Press, InfoAmerica, Bradford, Alpha, Nova, Nolo Press,
Washington Legal Blank & Do It Yourself Documents, LLC.
Choose a paralegal service that advertises honestly. Ads
that say, "Divorce Preparation Just $75" are hard-to-believe
for a reason. These types of ads usually refer ONLY to divorces
where there are no children, no property, no debts and will
still have hidden fees. Beware of websites that claim
they have been in business for years, you can go to Yahoo and
type their name into the search and then click on the cached
link and from there Yahoo will allow you to view history of
the website by clicking the Internet Archive link. Yahoo
keeps records of all pages its crawler has cached.
Choose a paralegal who belongs to a professional association.
Some of the most notable associations for independent paralegals
are: Independent Paralegal Association, California Association
of Legal Document Assistants, Arizona Independent Paralegal
Association, and Independent paralegal Alliance of Florida.
Choose a paralegal who recognizes the possibility that some
situations may require an attorney. A trustworthy paralegal
will not hesitate to tell you when your situation is beyond
the scope of a non-attorney. A good paralegal will even help
you find an affordable alternative. Do It Yourself Documents
has a long list of attorneys that we recommend on a regular
basis. On average a half dozen times a day we find ourselves
recommending/suggesting that someone seek the advice of an attorney
for their individual situation.
Your
State's Bar Association
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Download a list
of available in-office and online services. View
with
Adobe or with
Word. |
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