Why Are Paralegals Important

A 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 and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible. Paralegals are important because they can either help to make a case or to break case. Paralegals have a long to-do list, depending the kind and size of the firm they work with, which either can be short or long. The to-do list includes making sure the lawyer has everything they need for their day on the job, researching opinions and ideas for the case the lawyer is working on, keeping up the office etiquette, keeping up with important events that occur, and draft legal

court documents needed for the court to keep a case in progress. These things also include keeping the firm clean and becoming one with the lawyer in the mental mindset. The relationship between a paralegal and a lawyer is like a marriage; the more dependable a paralegal is to the lawyer, the more trusting and valuable a paralegal is to them. Paralegals will always have a new challenge to conquer and there’s something new to try each day. A paralegal’s day may be long, busy, and non-stop, but it is never boring. Each morning a specific routine a paralegal must follow in order to make a productive and good day for everyone in the firm.
The biggest part of being a paralegal is looking for research on a case.

This is an important part of not only being a paralegal but for putting a legal case together for the lawyer. Research is the key to finding the right piece of information for a case, whether big or small. The right research of information can either win a case or have the case dismissed from court. Back in the day when legal industry started using paralegals, legal research itself was a long and strenuous process. They would have the go the a library and spend hours upon hours looking for books and reading for hours on end until they found an idea from a previous case already heard in court. In this day and age now, computers can cut the time of looking for the right book and finding the right case in half. Books are still useful to find old cases that haven’t programmed or can’t be programmed into the computer. Legal research can become important to the paralegal because they want to be sure the lawyer knows what to say in court. In order that to be assured; the paralegal has to create the right ideas using the research being found from the case, “While it’s ultimately up to the attorney to decide the case’s direction, what you tell that attorney based on your legal research findings can have a big impact on how things play out over time.” (Web 1). The kind of legal research includes but not limited to interviewing clients and witnesses of a case, gather evidence of any kind to support the client for

the case, the legal research of laws, regulations and the legal articles and code of conduct of laws that applies to local, county, state, and federal laws.
There is a certain level of etiquette that needs to practice anywhere you, especially in the office.

All paralegals must practice a high level of office etiquette because no matter communicate with the firm through email, phone call, in person etc. it is part of a business and it would be bad for business if there is no manners or respect. Professional appearance can bring a lot of qualities of confidence, positivity, authenticity, and more. When it comes to determining what business etiquette is needed in a law firm, one thing is certain that practicing etiquette in a law firm is like practicing it in a business. In a law firm, you have the essential business etiquette practiced that is practiced daily at any kind of business, but also legal and ethical etiquette. For paralegals and lawyers, special rules are applied for law firms to follow. In South Carolina, there is a professional code of conduct that lawyers and paralegals must follow in order to keep business moving. For paralegals, they can do everything for the lawyer except practice law and appear in the court room. The South Carolina Bar gives this definite meaning of practice of law, “The practice of law is more than just appearing in court on behalf of a client. Though no concise definition of practice of law exists, certain characteristics make it more likely that the Court will view certain conduct as the practice of law (Web 2).” Paralegals must also have the moral ethics to ensure that the lawyer does break

their own ethical rules when practicing law.
Many ways that a paralegal can keep a lawyer from malpractice is keeping up with their deadlines, calendar and schedule everything a lawyer has to for that day and future dates so they miss them. Remind them of the important dates at least every other day so the lawyer doesn’t forget. The lawyer-client relationship must be kept on a strictly business level but at the same time a caring one as well so the client doesn’t think that they are treated like the law firm doesn’t care about their case. Lawyers must have good client relations with each case they have because every malpractice claim begins with a disappointed client. Paralegals need to make the client think the lawyer cares about them and their case in various ways. Technology and the law can also get a lawyer and paralegal in some hot water when ethical issues when using technology. When using technology in a law firm, two concerning issues can arise in ethical conduct, competence or negligence of a legal professional and client confidentiality. Attorneys and paralegals are responsible for any and every documents prepared whether by paper or computer especially if there were mistakes. That is why preparing and triple checking document and legal research is extremely important, or not only the lawyer will get sued or lose their job but the paralegal and other legal professionals will become unemployed as well. Paralegals have a duty to safeguard all information about case whether small or big, especially electronic information. When following ethical and moral protocol, a paralegal can handy to a lawyer from malpractice and a bad reputation in the legal industry.
A day today life of a paralegal can be long and busy, with little relax time and turbulent obstacles to overcome on a daily basis. A paralegal must become a super human to overcome those day-to-day obstacles. Not only do they have law related work but they also have to do essential administrative duties that secretaries perform. For paralegals, do this job is not all it’s cracked up to be, “Unlike attorneys, paralegals do not have to be certified or licensed to call themselves paralegals. According to the American Bar Association, a person earns the paralegal designation either by completing a paralegal educational program, working under the supervision of a licensed attorney (doing substantive legal work), or a combination of both. (Hill1).”