Talk:Paralegal

ANSI/NCCA Comments in US Certification Section
What is the purpose of the rather significant comments concerning lack of ANSI/NCCA approval for the major industry certification standards in the US paralegal profession? There are a number of non-"approved" industry certifications that are used in the United States (I will not presume to speak for other countries) in many different professions, and the real purpose of those comments seems to be to dismiss voluntary paralegal certification as something that doesn't mean anything. The comparison to unaccredited university degrees seems particularly inappropriate and off-topic for this article. Please consider removing and/or reducing this portion to, at maximum, a single sentence. 108.64.125.7 (talk) 20:24, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

Paralegals in Ontario, Canada
Paralegals have been licensed by the Law Society of Upper Canada since 2008 (under the mandate of the Ministry of the Attorney General) to represent their own clients in court and provide legal services at various courts and at Agencies, Boards, Commissions and Tribunals, once they have completed the regulated educational parameters, concluded the mandatory internship, passed regulatory exams, and acquired the mandated liability insurance.

In addition to be legal services providers (on their own), they can also work for paralegal or law firms, as employees or contractors. They are authorized to offer legal services in the same way as lawyers, are officers of the court (i.e. considered a formal part of the legal system) and are subject to government-/court-sanctioned rules of conduct. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.250.121.123 (talk) 17:14, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

Paralegals section name
This should be removed. It is an insulting quote ''' A Paralegal is a non-lawyer who assist lawyers in their legal work.

Paralegals are not lawyers. They are not authorized by the government or anyone to offer legal services in the same way, nor are they officers of the court (i.e. considered a formal part of the legal system), nor are they usually subject to government-/court-sanctioned rules of conduct.''' —Preceding unsigned comment added by 221.127.26.212 (talk) 09:48, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but the tone of the section "Paralegals in todays fast paced world" is unprofessional and sounds more like a promotional brochure for becoming a paralegal.

I don't want to just go in and delete it, but...   Any thoughts?

December 8, 2005: It seems that since I extensively edited and expanded this article in August, it has become the target of vandalism and a magnet for advertisements. I have today deleted an advertisement paragraph inserted for Humber College Paralegal Program. If someone wants to write about Paralegals in Canada, or England, that's fine and welcome. But what I saw was nothing but an inappropriate undisguised advertisement in the middle of my Levels of Education section. A section about Canadian Paralegals or English Paralegals should be added separately and should conform to the standards of the encyclopedia.

The new paragraph on the AAIP is almost an advertisement as well, but I let it stand because it's close enough, though I probably could be made a bit more "encyclopedic." If someone feels otherwise, or the Wikipedia staff thinks it's an ad, then delete it.

By GestaltG, the Paralegal in Pittsburgh

Proposed inclusion of the history of Paralegals
September 16, 2006: H. Lee Turner and Elizabeth L. Turner are credited with the creation of the Paralegal system in the United States. H. Lee Turner was first ABA Chairman of the Special Committee on Legal Assistants when it formed in 1968 which was approved as a new practice area. One principle driver was H. Lee Turner's ability to handle 100 trial cases at once, but with paperwork that exceeded his personal ability to manage. Elizabeth L. Turner reviewed her husband's workpapers and together, they co-created the paralegal workflow system in their office at 3900 Broadway in Great Bend, KS. Another key enabling feature was that in the rural town of Great Bend Kansas, college-educated housewives wanted to engage in work with intellectually productive challenge. They were the first employees in the paralegal system. H. Lee Turner's 1972 ABA film introducing Lay Assistants is available at https://vimeo.com/133306311. James Brill's statements crediting H. Lee Turner for helping found this profession are available at http://collegeoflpm.org/fellows-corner/in-memoriam/lee-turner. H. Lee Turner's bio is available from http://www.tfarms.com/media/bios/H_Lee_Turner/index.html.

Contact Chase.Turner@TFarms.com

July 22, 2010: The following is text from the US Senate hearing of 1974 where a direct reference is made to H. Lee Turner's employment of paralegals, and a reference to an earlier published article ""Elective Use of Personnel in the Office, XI Law Office Economics and Management (1970)"

http://www.archive.org/details/paralegalassista00unit

=
Page 210-211=============== Prior to examination and suggestion of the ways in which paralegals may contribute to prepaid legal services, consideration of the proven effectiveness of paralegals within private law practice and the public sector is in order.

H. Lee Turner, past Chairman of the ABA Special Committee on Lay Assistants for Lawyers, has structured his private law practice on the principle that "no lawyer performs work that can be handled by a person less skilled than himself."

In 1970, Turner and Balloun, located in Great Bend, Kansas, utilized three (3) attorneys and twenty-three (23) paralegals in the firm's general trial practice primarily directed towards negligence defense, workmen's compensation actions, and the area of product liability. In addition, thirty percent (30'%) are the practice was concentrated in diffuse business and probate law."'

Analyzing these specific areas of his practice. Turner suggested that legal functions previously handled by attorneys could be taken over by lay persons of "legal specialists". Thus, defense litigation could be handled by trial specialists and deposition specialists, with the former preparing pleadings and interrogatories for attorney approval and the latter scheduling the dates of depositions and forwarding instructions to defense witnesses. Trial preparation such as assembly of exhibits and drafting of pretrial orders also fell within the purview of the trial specialists.

Determination of the client's situation in a plaintiff's personal injury case, previously considered strictly within the domain of the attorney, is an important function which Turner partially delegated to paralegals.

Briefly outlined, the initial client interview process was handled by the attorney, who determined if any conflicts of interest were present.

Following a summary of the facts the attorney decided whether or not the case should be handled by the firm and if so, the necessary fee arrangements were completed. The client was then interviewed by a paralegal to determine past medical history, facts of the liability and damages of the present accident and present medical history. Using the report of the paralegal, the lawyer then reviewed the situation and conducted a short follow-up interview with the client. The file was ultimately returned to the paralegal for follow-up, progress memoranda, and calendaring of deadlines.

It is important to stress that the above-described process was conducted under the supervision of an attorney, as set forth under Canon 3 of the Code Of Professional Responsibility and Code of Judicial Conduct.

The Code's ethical consideration EC 3-6 provides that a lawyer often delegates tasks to lay persons, including legal paraprofessionals, which is proper providing that : the lawyer maintains a direct relationship with his client, supervises the delegated work, and has complete professional responsibility for the work product. This delegation enables a lawyer to render legal service more economically and efficiently.

England: Legal Executives and Paralegals
Is a Legal Executive in England and Wales equivalent to a paralegal in the US? Legal executives in England and Wales must undergo a training course set by the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) and are strictly different from legal secretaries. I don't know if the term "paralegal" is ever used in England and Wales, and I think it would be useful to clear up this point in the article, which doesn't really mention any jurisdictions outside the US. Walton monarchist89 11:03, 8 March 2006 (UTC)


 * No, in England a legal executive is a type of lawyer along with solicitors and barristers.71.163.195.52 23:57, 15 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I am sorry, but I have never heard of a "legal executive." Take a look at the definition of a paralegal and what paralegals do at work, and see if the description of a paralegal matches up with what you call a "legal executive."  I know that we don't have anyone with that title here in the United States.  I'd be interested to know if you guys call Paralegals "legal executives."  Stiles 01:58, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

What a patronising response Stiles, I'm sure Walton is quite capable of making such a comparison under their own initiative. I think Walton was wanting to know if there is a similar accredited qualification in the USA, equivalent to Legal Executive. We do have Paralegals here in the UK, however, it is usually a title reserved for graduates in law firms awaiting training contracts to qualify as a solicitor. I will add more to the article regarding this in due course. Michaeltyne 10:29, 3 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I did not mean to come off as patronising. That wasn't my intention.  Thank you for answering his question.  Stiles 21:26, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

For what it's worth, paralegal is definitely used in England. When I recently used a solicitor, paralegals were amongst the people listed in the information about how much each level of practitioner would cost per hour... i.e. the price list! – Kieran T  (' talk ') 00:16, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

FailedGA
Lead is too small, see WP:LEAD, references is only a few external links, I'm positive that books can be found, Thanks --Jaranda wat's sup 20:41, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

Copyvio
It appears that a large of sections in this article are copyvios from http://www.paralegalcertification.biz/Paralegal-Titles.asp and related articles on that page. (No copyright notice, but it is a commercial site, since it has google ads). I'm going to do my best to remove the infringing sections and the article will have to be reworked from there. Peyna 14:13, 25 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I decided to hold off on this until I can be more certain this is a copyvio; it does smell like one (lack of links, identical content, etc.), but my concern is that the site I referenced may be some kind of wikipedia mirror that isn't properly acknowledging that. Peyna 14:17, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Since it appears someone else looked over this and agreed with me (from their edits to the page and the copyvio page), I've gone ahead and removed the other potentially infringing sections. Peyna 11:57, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Unnecessary and/or innaccurate sentence
I'm a huge fan of L&O, but this sentence just doesn't make sense:
 * When opposing counsel on the television program Law & Order dramatically produces a motion and brief from his or her coat pocket or briefcase at the proper moment, it is often the case that a team of unnamed paralegals, law clerks, and/or junior associate attorneys had a lot to do with it.

Oh? I could have sworn that the prop people were involved. The conflation of television and reality is jarring and misleading. Is this sentence (and the rest of the paragraph it's in, under Paralegals in literature and television) even necessary? 76.27.94.3 (talk) 21:48, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

Criminal Background
Is there a restriction on a person's previous criminal background that would prevent him/her from becoming a Paralegal? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.99.163.63 (talk) 15:56, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Amendments to page
UK225 17th November 2008

Hello All. Firstly, as a new-boy to Wikipedia, apologies in advance if I have stepped on any toes or made changes in an inappropriate way. Cock-up not conspiracy!

As you'll have seen I made quite a lot of changes to the paralegal page. I was going to post on here first to see if people thought it was a good idea/okay, but seeing there have been so few posts over the past three years I didn't (obviously).

The main change I made was to turn the page from a US page to an international focus. The paralegal profession is now so international/widespread that the page needs to reflect that: especially as the American model (tied to the traditional legal/judicial system and regulated/validated by it) is not one that is being widely followed. For something so international we can't have America vs the world.

Of course I have left in 99.9% of what was already there - not for me to delete things if at all possible - but I hope the new page will be of wider relevance to most readers. As to the UK part, I amended it more heavily as it was badly out of date (mentioning a government department that no longer exists), often off-topic; wrong (saying that anyone can practice any type of law) and something of an advert for the National Association.

Again apologies if I have broken boundaries, but I think the article is better now.

--IP from 09/23/11-- FYI i removed the paralegal demand is growing due to its context (sounds off-beat for a wikipedia article) and also because the source is a deadlink — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.224.220.108 (talk) 23:21, 23 September 2011 (UTC)

Likewise, I made a factual correction to the section on Paralegals in Canada; the previous version stated that paralegals may apply to be a Commissioner. My correction amended this to reflect the change in 2013 that paralegals are now Commissioners by virtue of office and no longer must apply. My "boo boo" was referencing a page I wrote on it - my first edit on Wiki, did not know that was either prohibited or discouraged. In hindsight, I probably should have just referenced the Attorney General. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Quantumlegal (talk • contribs) 07:07, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Links to German Wikipedia
In the German legal system, two different technical terms apply: Rechtsanwaltsfachangestellter and Rechtspfleger - I added a link to Rechtspfleger, but I am not sure if this violates any rules of editing (I am not experienced in Wikipedia editing...)

Please use this info as appropriate, thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.184.128.17 (talk) 14:36, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

POV-check
This article ought to be given a POV-check. It seems almost like a sales pitch at times of how great a career becoming a paralegal can be, how much you can earn, how the profession as a whole is on the up and up, yadda, yadda. 188.192.88.59 (talk) 21:55, 25 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I agree, there was a lot of that stuff. Myself and others have since cleaned all of that garbage off.--TDJankins (talk) 00:10, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Spam
Creeping spam has lead to a lowering of the standards for links from this article. Let's clean it up and keep it so. Bearian (talk) 20:15, 11 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Concur. Unfortunately, most paralegals (the persons most likely to edit this article) aren't exactly the brightest bunch, so it's going to be a pain in the neck keeping out the spam.  (I know a few really bright paralegals but they're extremely rare.) --Coolcaesar (talk) 06:01, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

Whoever you are with this last comment, I take exception. Most of my friends are paralegals and run their own departments in law firms. One is a partner. All the others are fee-earners probably bringing in more revenue than some associate solicitors. All are highly quaified with either law degrees and NALP Level 7 Diplomas or LPCs. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mervan44 (talk • contribs) 17:21, 3 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Commenting (06:01, 12 October 2011) on editors and the profession is inappropriate. --Ronz (talk) 18:51, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

The problem with this article...
is that too many people have thrown in their two cents. It is completely unorganized. For example, the section about paralegal regulation in the United States has three paragraphs about a decision in California. I added in the blurb about Florida. Can we not condense the California section into a couple of sentences? I think it would also help if we put all of this information into sections based on country. We have a section for paralegals in the U.S., but then we have sections on paralegals vs. legal secretaries; paralegal regulation; all of which information could be divided up by country. That way when someone wants to know about paralegals in Canada, all of that information is in one place instead of scattered all over the place! Rhythmnation2004 (talk) 14:02, 20 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes, the article needs work. I tried to organize one of the sections, and I added some sub-headings. I converted some citations to footnote form. I did not shorten the "California" material, but at least now it has its own sub-heading.


 * Some of the article reads a little as though it were written from the emotional perspect of para-legals who are bitter because they aren't allowed to do some of the stuff that lawyers do. This may be a Neutral Point of View issue that can be addressed as time goes by. Famspear (talk) 15:01, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

I'm in complete consensus with you guys. There are copious amounts of original research that need to be removed and the article could definitely benefit by more by-country organization. I'll do some work towards those ends.--TDJankins (talk) 04:28, 14 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Why does the Overview's 3 of the 5 paragraphs have mentions of Ontario explicitly? I feel like are needlessly specific for one province when this article's overview should be more generalized with at least a global view, with these Ontario bits put into its own section. NoCitations (talk) 00:54, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Famspear speaks of "bitter" paralegals and yet I sense a bit more bitterness from lawyers engaging in ad hominem attacks on paralegals. Is that really necessary? Does it help consumers better decide based on a more neutral and objective contrast of what paralegals do in a given jurisdiction? Likewise I would prefer a neutral position but I think we can do without the sniping from either side. Quantumlegal (talk) 06:59, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
 * There were some of each of those things (misinformation from bitter paralegals and misinformation from bitter attorneys). I've since done quite a bit of work to clean those things up, but similar things will likely recur in the future.--TDJankins (talk) 00:01, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

additional definition
Is an educated or trained person that helps an attorney perform duties such as case research, drafting documents, meeting clients, gathering information, filing documents and etc. A paralegal is an attorney assistant with legal knowledge without the authority to give legal advice or represent a client in court. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Szugras (talk • contribs) 20:04, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Additional Definition: paralegal- a person with legal skills who works under the supervision of an attorney or who is otherwise authorized by law to use his or her skills;this person performs substantive tasks that do not require all the skills of an attorney and that most secretaries are not trained to perform. Also called a legal assistant — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mmlrglow (talk • contribs) 00:46, 27 February 2015 (UTC)

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