Sunday, December 8, 2013
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Rogue Paralegals: Clients Beware--hide your cash, hide your case and your credit cards too!!
A common question I am asked is whether it is just as good to hire an
attorney or a paralegal. This blog will answer this question and
highlight the pros and cons of hiring a paralegal rather than retaining a
licensed attorney.
Attorney v. Paralegal:
Attorney: individuals who have spent at least 3-4 years in graduate school obtaining a Juris Doctorate degree after they obtained a bachelor degree, at least 4 years in school. After these individuals receive their Juris Doctorate degree, they will take the state bar examination in their state, and this takes another 6 months from the time that they graduate and find out the exam results. So, the typical amount of time to become a licensed attorney is around 8-9 years. Also, after the person passes the state bar examination, they have continuing educational requirements.
Trained Paralegal: a normal paralegal certificate takes about 1-2 years to obtain. There are great paralegal programs online and in person that prepares a person to draft legal documents and to conduct legal research. These individuals are a GREAT asset to the legal profession, but legally they cannot give out legal advise, only a licensed attorney is allowed to do so. The best paralegals work as a team with attorneys who review their documents so the client is protected.
Rogue Paralegal: The real problem is with these rogue paralegals who have NEVER taken one law school class. They do not know what forms to fill out, what legal arguments to raise, and what legal theories are coming into play. Bottom line: they are just taking advantage of the "poor people" and taking their hard earned money.
Unfortunately, there are these rogue paralegals who just are great smooth talkers (should have been used car salesmen) and charge big bucks to mess up a case that an attorney will later on need to take on in order to correct what this rogue paralegal has done.
Pro's of Trained Paralegals:
1. For simple documents to be prepared, such as a simple will, simple non contested divorce, simple child custody agreement, paralegals are a great cost saving alternative. However, even if it is simple legal task, please ensure that the paralegal has an attorney working with them to review the end product. We have taken over cases where even trained paralegals have messed up. In one instance, we saw one paralegal draft a marital settlement agreement in a long term marriage (over 10 years) and terminated spousal support, where the person could have received spousal support until death or remarriage. That was one costly mistake for the client, and we were hired to undo the paralegals mistake. So, the client thought they would be saving $$ by hiring the paralegal and ended up paying an attorney more money to undo the paralegal's mistake.
Con's of Paralegals:
1. They are not licensed and have no board overseeing their level of competence. They can be completely incompetent, but talk a good game--but this is a costly mess for the client. We have seen some paralegals ask for $5,000.00 to draft a simple motion, and a licensed attorney would have charged about half of this amount, and completed the task correctly.
Pro's of Licensed Attorneys:
1. Not only do you get what you pay for, but you get the job done right with a licensed attorney in your particular field of law that you need legal help with. Licensed attorneys have paid their dues and know their business. A licensed attorney is able to work with a trained paralegal, and this is a win-win situation for the client. Not only does the client get great savings, about $100.00 per hour as opposed to the attorney's billable rate of $250-$400 per hour, but also the client will get correct legal advise. Also, the licensed attorney is governed by their state Bar association.
Con's of Licensed Attorneys:
1. Some are too high, but if you get a great attorney/paralegal team, you can save money and have your legal case done right.
Therefore, the next time you need to hire a legal representative, the best is to hire an attorney who has a paralegal on staff to save you billable hours. The worst situation is to hire a rogue paralegal who calls themselves such names as "Last Name" and Associates, and you believe you are hiring an attorney but it turns out to be a rogue paralegal who will take your hard earned $$ and run out of the country, literally--we've known them unfortunately.
These Rogue Paralegals are climbing in your wallets and taking your hard earned cash--hide your money, hide your case, and your credit cards too.
AttorneyKaren is a legal advisor and is ready to answer your legal questions today.
Attorney v. Paralegal:
Attorney: individuals who have spent at least 3-4 years in graduate school obtaining a Juris Doctorate degree after they obtained a bachelor degree, at least 4 years in school. After these individuals receive their Juris Doctorate degree, they will take the state bar examination in their state, and this takes another 6 months from the time that they graduate and find out the exam results. So, the typical amount of time to become a licensed attorney is around 8-9 years. Also, after the person passes the state bar examination, they have continuing educational requirements.
Trained Paralegal: a normal paralegal certificate takes about 1-2 years to obtain. There are great paralegal programs online and in person that prepares a person to draft legal documents and to conduct legal research. These individuals are a GREAT asset to the legal profession, but legally they cannot give out legal advise, only a licensed attorney is allowed to do so. The best paralegals work as a team with attorneys who review their documents so the client is protected.
Rogue Paralegal: The real problem is with these rogue paralegals who have NEVER taken one law school class. They do not know what forms to fill out, what legal arguments to raise, and what legal theories are coming into play. Bottom line: they are just taking advantage of the "poor people" and taking their hard earned money.
Unfortunately, there are these rogue paralegals who just are great smooth talkers (should have been used car salesmen) and charge big bucks to mess up a case that an attorney will later on need to take on in order to correct what this rogue paralegal has done.
Pro's of Trained Paralegals:
1. For simple documents to be prepared, such as a simple will, simple non contested divorce, simple child custody agreement, paralegals are a great cost saving alternative. However, even if it is simple legal task, please ensure that the paralegal has an attorney working with them to review the end product. We have taken over cases where even trained paralegals have messed up. In one instance, we saw one paralegal draft a marital settlement agreement in a long term marriage (over 10 years) and terminated spousal support, where the person could have received spousal support until death or remarriage. That was one costly mistake for the client, and we were hired to undo the paralegals mistake. So, the client thought they would be saving $$ by hiring the paralegal and ended up paying an attorney more money to undo the paralegal's mistake.
Con's of Paralegals:
1. They are not licensed and have no board overseeing their level of competence. They can be completely incompetent, but talk a good game--but this is a costly mess for the client. We have seen some paralegals ask for $5,000.00 to draft a simple motion, and a licensed attorney would have charged about half of this amount, and completed the task correctly.
Pro's of Licensed Attorneys:
1. Not only do you get what you pay for, but you get the job done right with a licensed attorney in your particular field of law that you need legal help with. Licensed attorneys have paid their dues and know their business. A licensed attorney is able to work with a trained paralegal, and this is a win-win situation for the client. Not only does the client get great savings, about $100.00 per hour as opposed to the attorney's billable rate of $250-$400 per hour, but also the client will get correct legal advise. Also, the licensed attorney is governed by their state Bar association.
Con's of Licensed Attorneys:
1. Some are too high, but if you get a great attorney/paralegal team, you can save money and have your legal case done right.
Therefore, the next time you need to hire a legal representative, the best is to hire an attorney who has a paralegal on staff to save you billable hours. The worst situation is to hire a rogue paralegal who calls themselves such names as "Last Name" and Associates, and you believe you are hiring an attorney but it turns out to be a rogue paralegal who will take your hard earned $$ and run out of the country, literally--we've known them unfortunately.
These Rogue Paralegals are climbing in your wallets and taking your hard earned cash--hide your money, hide your case, and your credit cards too.
AttorneyKaren is a legal advisor and is ready to answer your legal questions today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)