Part of the value of a legal assistant is that their exact role and responsibilities can vary depending on the specific needs of a law firm. However, the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) classifies legal assistants as individuals whose work includes certain administrative and secretarial tasks to assist a lawyer, with some tasks overlapping those of a paralegal. These paralegal duties include legal research if the person has sufficient training and experience. If you`re considering a legal assistant, be sure to look for a candidate who has experience in areas that are particularly valuable to your law firm. The goal is to find a legal assistant who can handle tasks that are not sustainable, effective or impossible for a lawyer. The right legal assistant should help you make your practice stronger, more efficient, and more profitable. The average remuneration of legal assistants varies – as for lawyers – depending on factors such as field of activity, experience and place of residence. For example, paralegals who work in metropolitan areas (where the cost of living is higher) and some states typically receive higher salaries. Paralegals and paralegals assist lawyers directly and may need to supervise other legal staff, such as legal secretaries or case workers. Paralegals can be trained on the job in some jurisdictions, but are increasingly required to obtain diplomas or certifications through post-secondary paralegal programs. A legal assistant must be able to juggle multiple tasks at once, have excellent communication skills, exercise good judgment, and keep records and procedures confidential. We explored the answer to the question “What is a legal assistant?” earlier in this blog post. While the terms “legal assistant” and “paralegal” are often used interchangeably, the roles of today`s paralegals and paralegals are different.
In fact, it wasn`t until 2020 that the American Bar Association (ABA) revised its definition of a paralegal to remove the term “legal assistant.” As described in the previous section, legal assistants perform routine tasks on behalf of lawyers. For law firms where lawyers spend a lot of time on administrative work, hiring a legal assistant can improve the efficiency of the law firm. A legal assistant may remove these administrative tasks from a lawyer`s task list. Lawyers can then spend more time on billable work. A legal assistant may work with one or more lawyers at the same time, depending on the size of a law firm and the number of cases handled. While paralegals can perform many support and administrative tasks on behalf of a lawyer, paralegals are limited in what they can do. We are looking for a motivated legal assistant to ensure the smooth running of the office and effective case management. They offer a wide range of legal services under the supervision of a lawyer. No matter how you find a freelancer, it`s also important to make sure you have a good process to make it easier for a legal assistant to work with your business. Effective law firm processes are especially important if your legal assistant works remotely.
Adding paralegals to your cloud-based practice management system makes it easy to collaborate with legal assistants, whether they`re in the office or remotely. While these statistics give a general idea of the average salary of a legal assistant, it is important to note that the BLS does not differentiate between the two roles. However, Indeed`s data shows that paralegals tend to earn less per year than paralegals. The average annual salary for a paralegal in the United States is $44,229, compared to $51,239 for a paralegal. Since many paralegals focus on one area of expertise, law firms may find a paralegal with experience working with lawyers in their specific area of law. The need for paralegals and others in this field is growing faster than in other professions in the United States. As demand increases, so do the skills required for this position. As part of a paralegal job description, expect a list of required skills, including: Simply put, a paralegal is a lawyer who does the work – usually administrative – on behalf of a lawyer.
Wondering what a legal assistant does every day? Clerkship is a busy day. In this role, a person assists a lawyer with routine tasks that allow court proceedings to proceed while ensuring that everyone stays informed. Specifically, a legal assistant is likely to perform the following duties on a regular basis: Legal assistants generally do not require formal training beyond a high school diploma or GED. However, many are pursuing additional legal studies (e.g. a legal assistant certificate) or gaining legal training in the workplace. Legal assistants assist lawyers in a variety of tasks, including legal research, document preparation and review, communicating with clients, preparing for hearings, trials and meetings, and organizing and maintaining records. A high school diploma is required to become a paralegal, and most paralegals have an associate`s degree or certificate in paralegal studies. Legal assistants are usually highly organized and detail-oriented and have strong communication skills. With that in mind, if you`re a lawyer who often wastes time due to tedious administrative work, working with a legal assistant can relieve you of essential, but not billable, tasks. If your firm uses Clio Manage, adding additional users such as legal assistants to your practice management workflows (here`s a simple step-by-step guide) makes collaboration on administrative tasks such as invoicing, scheduling, and document management seamless and efficient.