Paralegal Job Skills and Duties

Paralegal Job Skills and Duties

What is a Paralegal?

Duties

Assisting lawyers

Correspondence

What Paralegals Cannot Do

Recognition

Skills

Schooling

Secretarial

Legal Documents

Paralegal Job Duties and Skills

There are many different job duties that a paralegal performs on a day-to-day basis, and because of this there are many skills that the paralegal really needs to have in order to be as efficient as possible. First, it will be important to look at what kinds of duties a paralegal is expected to perform. Once these have been discussed, the skills that the paralegal needs in order to perform these duties will be addressed. Then, these can be tied together in the conclusion so that a more complete picture of what a paralegal generally does and what he or she must know can actually be seen.

Duties of a paralegal include many common things that would be expected, as well as some that are not generally thought of. The main duty of a paralegal, which is rather general, is to assist the lawyers (or lawyers) with whatever they need. However, this is not a specific idea of what a paralegal really does. More specifically, a paralegal performs the tasks that involve correspondence, research, and other law-related issues that do not require lawyers to perform them. Paralegals cannot give legal advice, represent someone in court, file appeals, or do anything else with a specific case that a lawyer has to do. However, paralegals can transcribe information from the clients and the lawyers at their meetings, create correspondence that goes to the client and the court, and perform legal research that will provide precedent for the case that the lawyer is working on.

These duties are very important, and often much of the 'legwork' of a case is done by a paralegal (or a team of them on a very large case). These individuals do not usually get the kind of recognition that a lawyer receives, but if they work for a good lawyer that knows what they are worth, they will be treated very well and also financially compensated appropriately for all of the work that they perform. They are the behind-the-scenes people that get the work done and keep the office moving forward, even if most clients do not realize that they are there and are not aware of how much they actually contribute to the cases that the lawyer handles with that particular firm.

As for the skills that a paralegal must have, these are also very important. Paralegals must attend schooling so that they are qualified to perform their duties. In general, however, paralegals must be able to type quickly and accurately and they must be able to answer phones, make calls, and perform filing and other secretarial duties. Paralegals are not secretaries, however, and they have many more skills that relate directly to law. For example, they have a strong understanding of legal terminology. Many individuals struggle with what a legal document actually says because of the wording, but a paralegal must be able to read and interpret these documents if they are to be helpful to those that employ them. In addition, paralegals also must be able to research the law and find what they need to know to help determine whether a client has a case. Knowing how to look these things up properly can help the lawyers that they work for greatly.