Paralegal Licensing and Regulation

Paralegals, also known as legal assistants, work under an attorney or lawyer to perform research, type up legal paperwork, perform initial client interviews, find and interview potential witnesses, handle case related investigations, perform follow-up interviews with clients and witnesses, and attend some legal meetings (will executions, real estate closings, and courtroom trials.) Paralegals can bill for their time, though they do not make as much money as a practicing attorney.

Many paralegals are members of NALA (National Association of Legal Assistants) and follow a strict code of professional conduct. These rules include:

1. Legal assistants can never handle jobs that are meant for attorneys only nor can then act without first advising the attorney for whom they work. They must always make sure the client is aware that they are a legal assistant and not an attorney.
2. Legal assistants must always be discrete and maintain integrity at all times.
3. Legal assistants may only handle tasks under an attorney's supervision and the attorney must always take full responsibility for the work a legal assistant has completed.
4. Legal assistants cannot engage in any criminal activity, set fees, or represent a client in a courtroom setting.
5. Legal assistants are also bound by the bar association's code of ethics and conduct.

Legal assistants are not regulated in many states. You can simply perform the work without being licensed. There are exceptions to this rule. Some states like California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, New Mexico, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington and then some Canadian provinces are enforcing more restrictions.

California strives to create some form of licensing or regulations at a state level. In 2000, California decided it was time to differentiate between a paralegal and a legal assistant. The group (CAPA) decided that paralegals must by definition receive continuing education credits every few years. It also decided that those who failed to do so would be barred from calling themselves paralegals. If they continued to do so, they would be fined heavily.

While California does not require paralegals to be licensed or certified, they do now require LDA (Legal Document Assistants) to be licensed. This has led to intense debate. Some LDAs have been handling all job functions for years.

To become certified in California, one must enter CAPA's (California Alliance of Paralegal Associations) certification program that requires a set number of credit hours, requires a computerized certification exam. The exam must be passed with a score of 90% or higher. If you have worked for a licensed attorney (with three years of his or her own work experience) for at least three years by 2004, you are automatically grandfathered under this changed in law. This had led to many conflicts, however. CAPA delayed their certification program and currently their website gives little information to the paralegal who wishes to become certified.

By current law in these states, paralegals must:

1. Complete an ABA accredited paralegal certificate program that requires 24 credit hours.
2. Complete a baccalaureate degree and have one year of legal experience under a lawyer who has worked in California for at least three years.
3. Hold a high school diploma.
4. Take an additional four hours of continuing education course that focus on ethics every three years. Courses must be approved by the State Bar.
5. Take an additional four hours of continuing education courses that focus on general or specialized law every two years. Courses must be approved by the State Bar.
6. Those who only prepare legal documents may not use the term paralegal.

Until these demands are met a paralegal may never:

1. Establish an hourly rate for the research they provide for a client.
2. Engage in any unlawful conduct.
3. Talk a person into making an investment, product, or service for which any income can be received by that person and/or the paralegal.
4. Handle any legal work for a person other than an attorney.
5. Provide any legal advice.
6. Draft or explain a legal document for a person other than the attorney for whom the paralegal works.
7. Offer legal consul or advice.
8. Represent a client in court.
9. Act as a "runner" or "capper" (a person who acts as a lawyer's agent).
10. Solicit new clients for a lawyer.

Some rules are vague enough that they leave a paralegal and his or her attorney wondering exactly what his or her job now details. Many paralegals are now so confused as to what job duties they may perform without being certified that attorneys are handling heavier workloads. In California, the CPLAA (California Paralegal Legislative Advocacy Alliance) is trying to fix the problems that have been created. Other states are undergoing the same process.

Until these states can enact a system that works, there is no faith that licensing helps fix the system. Instead, many feel that it is making legal work more difficult. Paralegals are less happy in their jobs and soon the paralegal system faces serious setbacks if a measure that benefits all cannot be found.