The challenge a paralegal has working with lawyers is magnified when a paralegal is working for a small law firm.
In small law firms, paralegals may be underutilized doing mostly clerical or secretarial work while the first year associate does paralegal work. Another problem paralegals face is that lawyers may not clearly articulate what it is they want their legal support staff to do. The latter is the problem I face every day.
A discovery I made recently is that paralegals are trained to draft many documents, take intake, organize files, discovery, evidence, etc. We are even able to help lawyers with conducting legal and factual research to help ensure there is enough evidence to support the claim.
In essense, a good paralegal program, ABA Accredited, will give the paralegal much more knowledge than a law student fresh out of law school.
And I am also discovering the joy of law without being a lawyer.
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