Tom Stephenson

In the first of a three part series for CuroLegal , I take a closer look at whether or not law firms can benefit from employing a Paralegal or Legal Assistant.

If you open up the dictionary and look up either legal assistant or paralegal, you will find the following description: “Warning…these positions including the following duties: receptionist, office manager, accountant, support staff and quasi-lawyer – without the fancy degree and six-digit student loan debt.” You see, attorneys rely on legal assistants and paralegals to be their right-hand man (or woman). The relationship an attorney has with their legal assistant and/or paralegal is forged due to the demands of our industry. It is pivotal that a legal assistant or paralegal is the point of contact for all issues. With that kind of responsibility, it is no wonder that some of these professional relationships last for decades.

How does one become either a Legal Assistant or Paralegal? There are two routes that most individuals take: formal education or hands-on experience.

Formal Education

There are currently 268 ABA-approved paralegal education programs in the United States. Most of these programs are two-year associate degrees offered through a local community college. However, there are also four-year universities that offer the same program with the completion of a bachelor’s degree. Additionally, there are also a number of post-baccalaureate certificate programs that are targeted for individuals with a bachelor’s degree in any field who are looking to change career paths. For a further explanation of the different types of degrees, you can visit http://www.nala.org/paralegaleducation.aspx .

Hands-on Experience

Some law firms will hire individuals with a passion for the legal industry that may not have worked as a legal assistant or paralegal before. Often times, these individuals have previous administrative experiences that can easily be translated into a legal assistant or paralegal role. With this type of training, most attorneys will train and mentor their legal assistant or paralegal on best practices within the legal industry and how they prefer their practice to be run. However, with this type of training also comes the risk that the attorney may be too busy to train their legal assistant or paralegal. In such cases, a legal assistant or paralegal at times will be thrown into the kitchen and be told to prepare a four-course meal based on trial and error.

What does a Legal Assistant or Paralegal do?

Legal assistants and paralegals are tasked with duties ranging from: · answering the phones; · creating and maintaining client files; · researching case law and legal statutes applicable to a particular case; · drafting pleadings and motions on all jurisdictional levels; and · everything in between.

If you find yourself doing these tasks instead of working with your clients, you should consider hiring an assistant.

____________________________

CuroLegal is a first-of-its-kind advisory organization within the legal industry to help lawyers with the operational functions required in running a law firm. CuroLegal works with lawyers to help them become more efficient and profitable by planning and streamlining their overall organization. In addition to the consulting services, CuroLegal offers a full range of services aimed to implement the strategies identified as key for a high-performing firm. CuroLegal was founded out of a desire to help legal professionals become more efficient and productive at serving their clients and developing a successful and fulfilling law practice. CuroLegal seeks to empower lawyers to provide clients with the full value of their expertise without being weighed down by the stress of keeping up with administrative, technology, and other operational aspects of running a successful law practice. For more information, please visit CuroLegal or call us at 800.406.7336

Tom Stephenson

New York, New York, United States

5K followers 500+ connections

View mutual connections with Tom

Welcome back

Email or phone

Password

Forgot password?

or

New to LinkedIn? Join now

or

New to LinkedIn? Join now

About

Experience

Legal.io

-

-

-

-

-

-

View Tom’s full profile

People also viewed

Daniel Farris

Pieter Gunst

Colin Levy

Tommie Tavares-Ferreira

Zack Barnes

Mary O'Carroll

CAT CASEY

Anne Bitzegaio

Olga V. Mack

Marie Widmer

Deisha (déjà) Vazquez

Nicola Shaver

Anuj Shah

Sarah OUIS

Hannah Konitshek

Irene Pertsovsky

Lisa Lewis

Jo Vong

Leanne Knowlden

Yu Jin Kang

Explore collaborative articles

Others named Tom Stephenson in United States

Tom Stephenson

Tom Stephenson

Tom Stephenson

Tom Stephenson

Tom Stephenson

New York, New York, United States 5K followers 500+ connections

See your mutual connections View mutual connections with Tom Sign in Welcome back Email or phone Password Show Forgot password? Sign in or New to LinkedIn? Join now or New to LinkedIn? Join now

About

Experience

Legal.io

-

-

-

-

-

-

View Tom’s full profile

People also viewed

Daniel Farris

Pieter Gunst

Colin Levy

Tommie Tavares-Ferreira

Zack Barnes

Mary O'Carroll

CAT CASEY

Anne Bitzegaio

Olga V. Mack

Marie Widmer

Deisha (déjà) Vazquez

Nicola Shaver

Anuj Shah

Sarah OUIS

Hannah Konitshek

Irene Pertsovsky

Lisa Lewis

Jo Vong

Leanne Knowlden

Yu Jin Kang

Explore collaborative articles

Others named Tom Stephenson in United States

Tom Stephenson

Tom Stephenson

Tom Stephenson

Tom Stephenson

New York, New York, United States

5K followers 500+ connections

View mutual connections with Tom

Welcome back

Email or phone

Password

Forgot password?

or

New to LinkedIn? Join now

or

New to LinkedIn? Join now