Paralegal Courses

The Paralegal Institute, founded in 1974, is one of the oldest and most-respected accredited paralegal schools in the Nation offering paralegal training. In a paralegal institute you will learn that legal assistants and paralegals are individuals who assist lawyers in the delivery of legal services. Legal assistants and paralegals cannot give legal advice to consumers of legal services. Legal advice may only be relied upon if given by an attorney. All states require attorneys to be licensed and most have statutes imposing penalties for the unauthorized practice of law. Paralegal courses and paralegal classes will drill this into you. It is imperative to remember that legal advice is not one of the job requirements. Do you still want to know how to become a paralegal?

The legal assistant concept began to develop in the late 1960's when law firms and individual practitioners sought ways to improve the efficient and cost effective delivery of legal services. Other factors entered into the development of the legal assistant field including the growing volume of work due to increased public awareness of legal remedies.

A legal assistant may perform any function delegated by an attorney, including but not limited to the following:

· Conduct client interviews and maintain general contact with the client, so long as the client is aware of the status and function of the legal assistant, and the legal assistant works under the supervision of the attorney.
· Locate and interview witnesses.
· Conduct investigations and statistical and documentary research.
· Conduct legal research.
· Draft legal documents, correspondence and pleadings.
· Summarize depositions, interrogatories and testimony.
· Attend executions of wills, real estate closings, depositions, court or administrative hearings and trials with the attorney.
· Author and sign correspondence provided the legal assistant status is clearly indicated and the correspondence does not contain independent legal opinions or legal advice.
· Professionally, a paralegal's time for substantive legal work (as opposed to clerical or administrative work) is billed to clients much the same way as an attorney's time, but at a lower hourly rate.

College Smart Links

Automotive Engineering
Topics covered in this article: Automotive engineering and design, automotive engineering universities, automotive engineering schools, automotive engineering school, automotive engineering programs

Dental Colleges
Topics covered in this article: Dentistry camp, dental classes, dental education, dental course, dental colleges

Technical Colleges
Topics covered in this article: Technical colleges, technical schools, tech schools, technical course, tech colleges