What qualities are needed to be a successful paralegal today? (Online Paralegal Courses)

Online Paralegal Courses.

When we talk about law, many of us may only be familiar with the lawyer, but behind the majority of every lawyer, is a hard working paralegal. Paralegal: A person who assists a lawyer in duties related to the practice of law but who is not a licensed attorney (Black’s 1136). John Marinan who is an attorney at Katich, Werse, Petillo, said, "Paralegals are extremely vital to the legal profession. They in many respects are the unrecognized, the lube shall I say, that keeps the wheels of the profession moving."

What qualities are needed to be a successful paralegal today? A successful paralegal should be prepared and flexible, and have an interest in the law. The law is run on many deadlines, papers to be filed and clients to be met with. Lawyers cannot do this alone, and that is where the paralegal comes in.

Over the years, there has been a bit of controversy in the comparison of a paralegal and a legal secretary. Dorothy Secol, a freelance paralegal, said, "The difference is that the legal secretary usually can draft pleadings from models she has drawn before and has kept. The paralegal, in knowing the theory and the law, can draft a pleading from scratch because she knows the legal theorem behind the questions or the action."

Paralegals come with various different educational backgrounds. Lawyers go through such educational training to be who they are, usually seven to eight years. A paralegal on the other hand, may have minimal scholastic training. Some attend a two-year program, while others do a four-year program. Denise Vasil, a paralegal at Katich, Werse, Petillo and a learning assistant in the legal department of Brookdale Community College, said, "It depends on the student. There are a lot of students ready to go straight into a four-year program and stick with it, and there are students right out of high school who do not want to commit to anything that long. They are not sure what they want to do, so a two-year program is good for them. More education will never hurt. More attorneys want to see a bachelors degree."

What does a paralegal actually do in his or her job? Ms. Secol said, "I do everything an attorney does except give advice, set fees and go to court to represent a client. I also do the actual research and drafting of documents." Cindy Lopez, a paralegal and also the founder of NJParalegal.com, said, "The paralegal profession is a lot of research, but you do other jobs; investigating, lots of phone work (depending upon your type of law) and writing and analyzing".

(Online Paralega Courses)


Paralegal
Paralegals
Paralegal job
Online Paralegal Courses
Turbo Tagger