Paralegal

A paralegal is a non-attorney who works under the supervision of a lawyer whose work is usually billed to clients. Paralegals have many job duties, including drafting motions and subpoenas, document review, and filing papers with courts. Paralegals have traditionally dealt more with procedural law than with substantive law.

The National Organizations

There are four national organizations that have shaped the definition and development of the paralegal profession in the United States: The American Bar Association (ABA), the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA, "nala"), the National Federation of Paralegal Associations(NFPA, "naf-pa"), and the American Assocation for Paralegal Education (AAfPE).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The American Bar Association (ABA) was forced in 1968 to recognize the emerging paralegal profession and formed a committee, now known as the ABA's Standing Committee on Legal Assistants, to guide and advise attorneys in their relationship, employment, and tasks assigned to paralegals. The committee currently has both attorneys and paralegals as members. The committee also articulates the ABA's official policies in regards to the employment of paralegals by attorneys and speaks for the profession when various paralegal issues are raised before the supreme courts of the various states. Finally, the ABA offers a voluntary certification program to institutions that provide paralegal education, thereby setting standards for paralegal education.
• The National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) and the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) collectively represent over 30,000 paralegals and legal assistants across the United States and have served as the voice of the professions before the courts. However, these two organizations have been in competition in the rhetorical battle in shaping the definitions of paralegal and legal assistant. The National Federation of Paralegal Associations prefers and officially sanctions the use of the term "paralegal," while if the National Association of Legal Assistants were to agree, it would have to change its name.
• The American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE) is composed of institutions and instructors of paralegal education programs and seeks to level the field of paralegal education standards and introduce consistency.

An interesting side note to the development and struggles of the paralegal profession for recognition and distinction was the recent controversy over whether paralegals and legal assistants should be considered "exempt" or "non-exempt" employees under the overtime pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The issues in this argument are extremely complex, and both major paralegal and legal assistant organizations published official stands on this issue, but overall, it appears that most firms and employers prefer to treat paralegals as "non-exempt" employees.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Competing Official Paralegal Definitions

It is interesting and instructive to compare the competing definitions promulgated by the various national organizations:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The American Bar Association defines a paralegal or legal assistant as "A legal assistant or paralegal is a person qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible." Under this definition, the legal responsibility for a paralegal's work rests directly and solely upon the lawyer.
• From the NFPA website, the National Federation of Paralegal Associations offers the following definition: "A Paralegal is a person, qualified through education, training or work experience to perform substantive legal work that requires knowledge of legal concepts and is customarily, but not exclusively, performed by a lawyer. This person may be retained or employed by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency or other entity or may be authorized by administrative, statutory or court authority to perform this work. Substantive shall mean work requiring recognition, evaluation, organization, analysis, and communication of relevant facts and legal concepts."
• From the NALA website, the National Association of Legal Assistants offers the following definition: "Legal assistants, also known as paralegals, are a distinguishable group of persons who assist attorneys in the delivery of legal services. Through formal education, training and experience, legal assistants have knowledge and expertise regarding the legal system and substantive and procedural law which qualify them to do work of a legal nature under the supervision of an attorney." In 2001, NALA adopted the ABA's definition of a paralegal or legal assistant as an addition to its definition.