Do you have a paralegal working in your firm? It can be tempting not to give them the recognition they deserve, particularly if it appears to reduce costs. However, giving your Paralegals formal recognition can encourage loyalty and provide status. Here Amanda Hamilton at the National Association of Licenced Paralegals discusses the benefits of giving paralegals due recognition.
In addition, encouraging them to join a professional body such as NALP (National Association of Licensed Paralegals) and giving them the opportunity to gain paralegal qualifications (for example, through NALP Training), will add credibility to your organization and give the right impression to potential customers.
Paralegals are defined as ‘persons who are trained and educated to perform certain legal tasks, but who are not qualified solicitors, barristers or chartered legal executives’.
Some work for solicitors, others for barristers and in-house legal departments, but more and more, Paralegals are working for themselves. For example, in specialist areas like tenant evictions or small claims for money owed. For a legal firm, having access to registered, specialist Paralegals can allow you to offer a wide range of services. These Paralegals may be employed within your firm, or contracted on a freelance basis.
Paralegals are no longer just graduates who cannot find training contracts or ‘would be’ solicitors; for many the Paralegal Profession is a genuine career path option.
Attracting and retaining top talent is always a challenge – but by offering formal recognition for your Paralegal staff, and perhaps allowing them days off for training, you can attract better applicants and retain your best people.
Everyone likes to be recognized and rewarded for the work they do – this is one way to achieve that. On the flip-side, ignoring the status and contribution of your ‘non-qualified solicitor staff’ may lead to a talent exodus as staff look for fulfilment elsewhere – perhaps by setting up their own independent practice. It is therefore in the solicitors’ best interests to properly recognize the value of their paralegal staff and their status.
For Paralegals working within your firm, there are bespoke nationally recognized qualifications to help them hone their skills and knowledge – building their confidence and increasing the services you offer to clients.
Plus, if your Paralegals are suitably trained and qualified, there is the opportunity to delegate more work to them. This can free you up to take on more clients – or perhaps have an afternoon off now and then!
Paralegals can do virtually everything that a solicitor can do, including, but not limited to, assistance in a matrimonial matter; helping with a claim if a client is being taken to court over a debt or needs to take a third party to court to recover a debt; taking action against an employer through a Tribunal; writing a Will or obtaining a Lasting Power of Attorney in respect of a relative; housing and welfare matters. You could also apply for ‘Police Station Accreditation’ for your Paralegal staff so that they can assist clients who have been arrested for a minor criminal offence and need representation.
However, it is important to remember that there are certain activities that are designated ‘reserved activities’ and these must be performed by a qualified solicitor. For example: automatically having the right to represent someone in all courts, the conveyancing process (i.e. buying and selling property) and some probate activities (i.e. sorting out a person’s estate (assets) after they die).
Apart from this, there is plenty of scope for a Paralegal within your firm not only to advise and assist a consumer, but also to gain a Licence to Practise in order to do so.
