Paralegal Job Description

The paralegal job description outlines the role of a professional responsible for helping attorneys organize and prepare various legal materials for impending cases and trials. Their primary responsibilities include creating affidavits and letters, speaking with clients and attorneys about specifics of cases, and managing various files for various legal proceedings.

The paralegal job description should also highlight other key responsibilities that the individual does, including taking care of internal paperwork, interacting with clients, interviewing people, gathering statements, and performing other practical responsibilities.

Paralegals are involved in a significant amount of legal work, and they can be found in law firms, the public sector, and the private sector. A paralegal's primary responsibility is to assist attorneys in their work. They participate in many different facets of the legal industry as a result.

Paralegal Job Description: Overall purpose of the job

Assists attorneys by organizing records, producing legal documents, contacting expert witnesses, and more.

Paralegal Job Description: Primary duties

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Creates affidavits, court papers, and other paperwork for lawyers by arranging affidavits, letters, and other documents per the rules established by the court.
Maintains and organizes papers in a paper-based or digital filing system by labelling documents for simple retrieval.
Prepares for meetings with clients, attorneys, and other professionals by gathering pertinent case documents and information.
Submits court documents to the clerk by ensuring all pleadings or statements are complete following court regulations.
Assists in trial preparation by arranging exhibits and assisting with other required tasks.
Drafts pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, real estate closing statements, and other legal documents by integrating the required sections, clauses, and provisions depending on the document type.
Conducts investigations into the facts and laws on cases, looks through public records, and uses other resources to prepare cases and identify causes of action by speaking with clients and witnesses to acquire comprehensive case information and timelines.
Oversees and plans legal office activities, such as serving subpoenas by ensuring that subpoenas contain accurate information and instructions.
Collects and evaluates laws, rulings, legal codes, documents, and other information by searching legal databases, libraries, and online sources for pertinent information.
Requests testimony from witnesses by utilizing subpoenas.
Maintains the law library's accuracy by keeping track of legal volumes.
Performs research, gathers information, and creates legal arguments by analyzing case specifics, speaking with experts, and comprehending pertinent problems.
Prepares and submits court documents by ensuring that submissions contain all required data and exhibits.
Arrange and store the paperwork associated with closed and open cases by labelling documents with the case number or name, the client's name, and the attorney's name.
Keeps track of changes to the legal system and promptly updates stakeholders by advising staff and attorneys on how to apply new legal requirements.
Obtains witness statements by posing unbiased, open-ended questions encouraging comprehensive narratives from the witnesses.
Meets with claimants and experts by organizing meetings at mutually convenient times and locations
Manages a caseload of customers by keeping a structured case management system to keep track of all client information.
Helps lawyers prepare for court by examining the case files to ensure everything is structured and orderly.
Shows up for court by taking thorough notes on the proceedings to update the case files and serve as a reference.
Presents applications to courts by briefly summarizing the most important relevant facts, procedural history, and legal arguments.
Charges customers by issuing invoices on the dates specified in retainer agreements.

Related: Chief of Staff Job Description

Paralegal Job description: Educational Qualifications

A Bachelor's Degree in paralegal studies is required to gain the practical skills required for the position, such as using case management software, conducting client interviews, and producing legal papers.

Paralegal Job description: Experience Required

At least two years of experience in a paralegal role is required to become familiar with processes and gain competence in fundamental paralegal activities.

Paralegal Job Description: Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics (KSAO)

Knowledge

Knowledge of a legal database program is needed to arrange client file folders.
Knowledge of Microsoft Office, specifically Outlook, Word, and Excel, is needed to produce templates, spreadsheets, and calendar deadlines for managing client information, case budgets, timekeeping, and billing records.
Knowledge of the principles and techniques for conducting legal research is needed to create proper legal paperwork.

Skills

Excellent communication skills are needed to communicate with clients and clarify legal matters.
Good time management skills are needed to efficiently accomplish work and adhere to deadlines for filing, responding to requests for discovery, clients, and attorney turnaround.
Research skills are needed to assemble all pertinent case information, documentation, and testimony.
Good negotiation skills are needed to reach an agreement with clients.

Abilities

The ability to manage many caseloads or tasks is needed to execute many active cases' tasks at once.
The ability to work well in a busy, collaborative atmosphere is needed to collaborate closely with legal representatives, assistants, and other support personnel.

Conclusion

The paralegal job description shows off the job of a specialist who assists lawyers by doing research, writing documents, handling cases, interacting with clients, and carrying out various legal and administrative activities. In essence, these experts support attorneys to ensure effective case progression.

Frequently Asked Questions about Paralegals

Q: A Paralegal reports to whom?

A: Paralegals often answer to attorneys and lawyers within a law office. Some paralegals work for private, smaller firms with only one attorney. They often carry out lesser chores related to court cases and other legal obligations while working with this attorney. Attorneys now have more time and energy to concentrate on more important legal issues.

Some paralegals work for larger law companies that have a significant number of attorneys on staff. Since paralegals sometimes support multiple attorneys concurrently, they may need to possess strong multitasking abilities to plan and manage tasks for various attorneys efficiently.

Q: What distinguishes a Paralegal from a Legal Assistant?

A: There are some significant variations between paralegals and legal assistants in terms of their education and skill sets, even though they both do many of the same tasks, and their titles are sometimes used interchangeably. While most Legal Assistants don't need a second degree after high school, many Paralegals must complete a two- or four-year degree to work in the field. Paralegals often specialize in higher-level legal work while most legal assistants focus on more routine administrative responsibilities.

With their broad knowledge and skill set, paralegals can perform tasks including gathering information for trials, speaking with witnesses or other attorneys, or creating statements or arguments that attorneys can read aloud in court. Most of the work that legal assistants undertake is more administrative, such as scheduling client meetings, filing, and organizing paperwork.

Q: What kinds of paralegals are there?

A: There are numerous varieties of paralegals who operate in numerous settings. Corporate paralegals support attorneys in creating legal business papers like shareholder agreements, stock option plans, financial reports, and employee contracts. For various trials, litigation paralegals compile and arrange client papers and conduct research. Before a trial, they will also write settlement agreements and send paperwork to the court.

Additionally, some paralegals could focus on a specific area of law, such as corporate in-house counsel, family law, personal injury, or real estate law. If they are employed in a specialized field, they must possess in-depth knowledge of that field to carry out more complex responsibilities.

Q: How to become an excellent paralegal?

A: To consistently sort, manage, and file diverse client documents, a superb paralegal needs to be organized. Since they frequently use various applications to arrange information and input data, they should also have excellent computer abilities. One must have excellent verbal and written communication skills to work effectively with clients and attorneys. These writing abilities are also necessary to prepare and edit legal documents.