Five Things You Might Not Know about the Paralegal Working Your Divorce Case

We can’t give legal advice– Since we are usually the first ones that clients speak to when they call the office, we are continually asked what they should do in certain situations. A paralegal with many years of experience will probably know the answer, but we cannot legally give the client advice on what to do. We will always have to go to the attorney and get his advice or opinion and relay that message back to the client or have the client speak directly with the attorney. That is why the attorney has the license and we don’t.
We lose sleep- We really do care and sometimes leaving “it” at work is not possible. When you have cases that are high conflict and last for a long time, we build relationships with our clients whether we mean to or not. This is especially true in family law cases where children are involved. Some of us in this business can relate well because we have similar situations that have happened in our own personal lives.
Paralegals can and do draft most of the initial legal documents on your case. We just can’t sign them. Most attorneys will have the paralegals draft the majority of the initial paperwork then the attorneys read over those drafts and make any necessary changes. This also keeps the cost down for the clients.
Networking/maintaining relationships – A paralegal is on the front lines which makes it is very important for us to network and maintain relationships. It is necessary for us to have and maintain excellent rapport with court staff, experts such as counselors and psychologists, and other professionals such as process servers and private investigators. Without all of these individuals we could not do our jobs and because of these relationships we serve the client better.
Notary- Most, if not all, paralegals, are notaries. Paralegals are routinely asked to notarize documents by attorneys and by clients. If you ever need to get an important document notarized on short notice, your paralegal can provide this service.