Currently, a paralegal certification is not a precondition to get the job, but most people choose to learn the ropes and get the certificate. In the last fifty years, the number of paralegals has grown, and the demand for new paralegals is always there. Lawyers need someone that can do the job and they need professionals that know the business and what it takes to win a case.

Not a Must

Getting a paralegal certification is not a must, but some will say it actually is. According to them, paralegals who pass the certification process bring more value and  skills such as data research, capacity, professional ethics, knowledge of laws and conventional legal processes, professional writing and higher communication abilities.

Also, they argue that lawyers would prefer to hire those who have learned and gone through professional training because it shows seriousness and long-term thinking. There is always competition, and just as in any other job, the best one wins.

Salary Differences

While the paralegal certification is a not a precondition for working in law firms or for the government as a legal assistant, the fact that a person has a certificate that can prove his or her knowledge can increase the salary to 50% more than an uncertified colleague. It can even change the way they are introduced in front of costumers and other paralegals.

These claims make sense and have been proved a few times in the past in other professions that don’t necessarily require certification.

Formality and Paralegal Certification

Law firms cannot list their paralegals as their legal assistants if they have no certification. By having the “certified paralegal” next to your name, you can get the appropriate recognition and jobs. Most law firms will not list you if you haven’t gone through the certification process, and you can’t blame them. They want their clients to trust them and to know that they are handled by the best. Listing an uncertified paralegal can ruin that trust.

There are two leading national agencies offering designations to paralegals who meet voluntary regulation specifications:

• National Association of Legal Assistants – NALA. They offer a certified legal assistant examination. The exam is actually a 2-day examination that will designate those who pass as Certified Legal Assistant or Certified Paralegal. They call it CLA and CP. Both of the designations are trademarks owned by NALA.

• National Federation of Paralegal Associations – NFPA. They offer the PACE – Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam. The exam contains several legal topics and will last four hours. If you pass the exam you are called a PACE-Registered Paralegal and have the “RP” designation.

Fight Your Way Up

Just like lawyers, paralegals fight their way up the ladder to get best cases and more money. The job is demanding, and uncertified paralegals are sometimes offended by others who don’t recognize them as professionals, even if they have much more knowledge and experience than the young lawyer sitting next to them.

Not having the certificate might cause a few problems in the future, if certifications become a must-have requirement. We are not prophets and we can’t see the future, so all we can do is make sure we are covered and work hard to make our dreams come true.

Paralegal certification is needed. You don’t want to submit resumes and find out that all the “good” jobs have been taken by certified paralegals. By getting the certification you will be more recognized and you will be able to ask for more money as a professional. Law firms will chase you instead of you chasing them. There are more than 1,000 colleges and universities in the United States alone that can give you the desired certification and help you start on a new career.

An original invention or creative work that makes a business or product special and valuable in the marketplace is most likely considered intellectual property. The definition of intellectual property covers several tangible and non-tangible entities such as music, writings, ideas, inventions, logos, slogans, sounds and designs. Protecting intellectual property enables an individual or business to retain the competitive edge developed as a result of the original idea or work.

Intellectual Property Definition

The Stopfakes.gov website defines intellectual property as “any innovation, commercial or artistic, or any unique name, symbol, logo or design used commercially.” Intellectual property has two components. First, intellectual is a creative effort, and second, intellectual property has commercial value. When an individual or company creates a business idea, an invention, a logo, a symbol or design, this creative effort may be protected by intellectual property law. Additionally, original song lyrics and music, slogans and website content are also considered intellectual property and may be protected under intellectual property laws.

What Does Intellectual Property Mean?

Intellectual property is protected based on the type of creative effort. For example, an invention or business idea is protected by a patent. A slogan or other authored work may be protected by copyrighting the work. The trademark may also be used to protect authored work, but also encompasses logos, sounds and even colors. For example, the “3M” numeral and letter is a trademark and a protected identifier for the 3M Corporation. Though there is nothing special about the numeral “3“ or the letter “M,” when they are combined, they compose the 3M trademark, and this trademark is protected by law.

Intellectual Property Rights

If a business or individual creates a unique idea or work product, or if the business or individual has improved upon an existing idea or product, that business or individual has the right to protect the idea, invention or creative effort from others taking, selling, using or appropriating the work product or idea as their own. The way to protect the intellectual property depends on the type of idea or work product in question. Different methods may be legally invoked to protect the intellectual property of the business or individual. For example, patents are utilized to protect inventions. Copyrights are used to protect written works and trademarks protect symbols, logos and other designs that identify a specific business or product.

Intellectual Property Protection

The intellectual property of a business or individual may be legally protected, and in many cases, this protection extends beyond the borders of the protection-granting country, as is the case with copyrights. Some protections are only applicable in the originating country, such as patents.

Depending on the type and form of the intellectual property, different legal protective approaches are employed. Patents are utilized to protect inventions. Copyrights are employed to protect original authored works, either published or unpublished. Original authored works include music, dramatic works, literary works and other original recorded forms of expression.

There are four areas of law concerning the protection of intellectual property. These areas are patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets. Legal professionals may specialize in one particular aspect of intellectual property protection, or may work with clients in all four areas. Read the rest of this entry »

Real Estate Law

Real estate law is very specific and the transactions that take place must be done so in a very methodical and specific manner. Most law offices that handle real estate transactions specialize in this branch of law, making it their entire practice. A real estate paralegal has specific functions within this type of firm, some of which are regulated by the states in which they work.

Real Estate Paralegals

A real estate paralegal will find that their two main job duties will be in research and document completion. Due to the high amounts of paperwork associated with this type of job, any paralegal that works in this industry will need to be highly organized and able to meet strict deadlines.

On a typical day, a real estate trained paralegal can expect to:

• Perform title research on properties – For a real estate transaction to be completed successfully, the title to the property must be clean before the next purchaser can assume ownership. A paralegal will often be required to research the title of a property, tracing it back to the inception of the property being for public sale and make sure that each time it has been sold it was done so correctly and that there are no hidden owners or liens against the property.

• Research zoning issues –  Commercial purchases may require the property to be zoned for business, even if it is in residential areas. Zoning applications and hearings may be the sole responsibility of the paralegal, depending on the law office. Attorneys representing corporate clients often have the law firm complete all necessary steps to secure zoning changes before a property is purchased.

• Apply for permits and licenses on behalf of their client if construction will be performed on the property. If the property is vacant and the client intends to build, often the paralegal will apply for all the necessary permits and licenses to have the land cleared, electricity and sewer brought in, as well as having building permits approved.

• Create transaction documents for the attorney to approve – Paralegals often create all the documents and contracts associated with real estate purchases. Even if state provided forms are used, the attorney will have the paralegal prepare them for their final approval.

• Have documents signed by clients – Paralegals are often in charge of obtaining all necessary signatures on transaction documents before the final closing occurs.

• Notarize closing documents – Depending on the state, some paralegals can notarize and finalize the losing paperwork of a real estate transaction without the attorney being present. If all the documents were agreed upon prior to the closing, the paralegal acts as the Notary and officiates and files all documents.

• File documents with the appropriate court division – Different transactions will require different forms to be filed with the court.

• Order surveys on properties – All properties will require a survey to be performed. Some properties may already have a survey, but depending on how old the survey is, may require another.

• Contact government officials about property questions – If a client is seeking to purchase land currently owned by the government, or if a government body is trying to acquire land through eminent domain, a paralegal may be required to interact with officials to assist in the case.

• File notices in newspapers on foreclosures, purchases and zoning changes. Most real estate transactions, other than purchasing a private home, require public notice. Paralegals are responsible for posting the correct information in the newspapers to comply with this law.

• File paperwork with banks regarding purchases or foreclosures. Because most property that is purchased is done so with the assistance of a mortgage, the banks and lenders are almost always involved with the lender. Paralegals will need to work with lending institutions on many levels during the process.

• Meet with clients and prescreen their needs before they meet with the attorney (see: interviewing techniques – paralegal and client). Before any transaction takes place, the client must first contact an attorney to represent them. When they make contact, a paralegal will interview them and prepare the client and the attorney for the first scheduled meeting between the two parties.

This is just a sampling of the different job responsibilities you may encounter each day in a real estate law office. Your actual duties will depend on the case you are representing and cab be seen in the post about the paralegal job description. Read the rest of this entry »

At first glance, freelance and independent paralegals have a lot in common and may appear to be the same. Both work for multiple attorneys and serve as their own bosses (whether they have a paralegal certificate or not), choosing their work schedules and jobs to take on. But a fundamental difference between these two types of paralegal work makes a big difference in how each conducts business.

Freelance paralegals can be hired by any attorney office, but they perform all their paralegal work under the supervision of an attorney, unless regulations, court rulings or other legal decisions override this requirement – these exceptions can be complex. Work completed by a freelance paralegal is legally valid and is recognized as the work of the attorney performed by a paralegal.

Independent paralegals, on the other hand, typically perform their work without the supervision of an attorney. This distinction sometimes gives them the title of document preparers or forms practitioners, depending on where they are working. Rather than being work assigned by and overseen by an attorney, independent paralegal work is more clerical in nature and can be produced for any member of the public who chooses to pay for the work. Many times, independent paralegal work is not considered legally substantive.

Paralegals who are freelanced are a great benefit to firms that have in-house paralegals and legal assistants but occasionally need extra help when working on large cases or projects. This work can range from short-term projects requiring only days of work to months-long cases that provide consistent income for months.

One of the big disadvantages of being a salaried paralegal is that you may be asked to put in long hours at the office, sometimes working well into the night while helping a lawyer on a case. This can be a strain on your lifestyle and be exhausting without giving you the benefit of additional pay. Heavy workloads can still occur as an independent or freelance paralegal, but you have more control by choosing what projects you will work on for a client. You can also decide to charge by the hour, so that your overtime work will net you extra compensation.

Still, there can be drawbacks to being a paralegal out on your own. Freelance and independent paralegals have to be skilled at handling attorneys when they are uptight, impatient or otherwise difficult to handle. A paralegal working on his or her own needs to have strong communication and interpersonal skills to make the working relationship with clients a strong one.

Another hassle that sometimes arises is tension with other paralegals working for an attorney’s office: Freelance paralegals will often have to work in concert with other paralegals employed in-house, and some of these employees may become concerned that a freelanced paralegal could steal one of their jobs if the work is superior. For this reason, freelanced paralegals are encouraged to emphasize to other members of an attorney’s office that they are happy with their current work situation.

Although freelanced and independent paralegals are often in high demand and can be employed by a single company for long stretches of time, this work is not always consistent, and lulls in employment are a reality for some paralegals. Planning for these lulls is important to running your own practice successfully.

Paralegal work, whether freelance, independent or in-house, can pay well when done full-time (see the paralegal salary). According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Services, about 29 percent of paralegals are not employed by attorney’s offices or law firms. The middle 50 percent of paralegals can earn between $36,000 and $59,000 annually. As an independent or freelance paralegal setting your own pay rates and hours, these annual earnings can go up or down depending on how you choose to run your own personal practice.

Although independent and freelance paralegal work may seem like an attractive field to new paralegals, it’s not the best approach to paralegal work if you are just starting out in the business. Building your clientele can be difficult without hands-on experience and training at an established law firm. Your best approach to establishing yourself as an independent or freelance paralegal is to work as an in-house paralegal for a law firm, developing your skills and experience. Once you have a substantial background as a professional paralegal, you can consider leaving the company and establishing yourself as a paralegal-for-hire.