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: Impartial Inc

"Why a paralegal rather than a secretary"

By RJ

"Why a paralegal rather than a secretary"
by Lyza L. Sandgren

I received an inquiry from an attorney about to go into solo practice regarding what a paralegal could do that could not be done by a secretary. The attorney stated that he was planning to hire ?a bookeeper and either a legal secretary or paralegal.? His understanding was limited regarding paralegal skills and abilities and said that in his experience, ?? most of them have simply been acting as legal secretaries. What can a paralegal do for me that a secretary cannot?" Here's what I wrote.

Thank you for your question and I am delighted to have a chance to respond. This is an oft asked question, and for my money, just shows that attorneys and paralegals need to interact more. It also confirms that paralegal committees within the Bar organizations of each state are necessary if attorneys are to fully utilize, much less understand and standardize, the skills of the workforce they already possess.

In a nutshell, paralegals are usually self-starters who have been trained to think rather than just take orders and type, and whose work is BILLABLE. That law firms continue on a large scale to test a paralegal's typing skills at interview is beyond me. A paralegal could not get through school without the ability to type, and besides, speed typing is the job of a typist. Few typists are willing to tenaciously wade through discovery documents, law books or procedural information to find an answer as will a paralegal. "The Devil is in the details," as they say, and caring about the details is what paralegals are trained and want to do. In fact, paralegals are often as knowledgeable, if not more so, about practice procedures and how to identify substantive issues as are the attorneys.

We did not graduate with a degree from a paralegal studies program or spend years honing our experience and skills on the job as a legal para-professional to end up taking dictation or inputting attorney time sheets. In fact, we usually NEED a secretary, yet I have worked in only a single firm where their paralegals were given secretarial assistance.

During my law firm days, I trained many an attorney in the ways and procedures of intellectual property regularly, and now as President of an intellectual property paralegal service that does IP work for solos and small firms across the country, I still do. The only difference between then and now is how I was and am now treated. Then, I was rarely included in strategy meetings or given client contact and NEVER was asked my opinion. Now, my clients (all attorneys, of course) treat me as a colleague, regularly ask my opinion, and I am often their main client contact as they have discovered my talent for building relationships and keeping clients happy. They have also discovered that I can strategize with the best of them. I believe the main reason for this change is because I am now an independent contractor. I am the same person with the same skills that I was at the law firm but because I went out on my own, I gained a certain respect for taking that initiative. In fact, I began SIPPS because I felt completely stiffled and bored. Had I been treated better, I might still be their employee (not probable but possible).

I also find it interesting that many of my clients have queried me regarding why I don't go to law school, which, of course, misses the point entirely of the concept of the "Team." Law firms like to talk about "team" play, but in truth, they really only consider the "team" to consist of the attorneys. Everyone else is considered annoyingly necessary and/or expendable. It is also the unsavory practice of many law firms to dispense with the support staff in an attorney/staff dispute even when the clear liability is the attorney. Good people are often lost to the firm that always sides with the attorney, no matter his/her competence or the right side of the dispute. But that's another issue.

That is not to say that a paralegal can replace an attorney (even though I've known many who could) but it is to say that law firms of all sizes could be far more cost effective for and attractive to their clients if they used their paralegals in tandem with their attorneys for client contact, research and drafting. Most graduates of both associate and baccalaureate paralegal programs are trained in legal research yet lawyers often don't use even those with experience for substantive research, preferring instead to assign such jobs to inexperienced 1st or 2nd year associates, and bill the client accordingly for twice the time it would have taken a paralegal to reach the same conclusion. We are losing attorneys to the profession due to ridiculously high billable hour demands, yet I've seen paralegals in the same firm sitting idle, even begging for work.

Erin Brockovich was not a fluke. There are a myriad of paralegals on the market today who are just as, if not more, capable than was she. Granted, not all paralegals are created with equal skills and smarts, but then all lawyers aren't either. Some will be more competent than others, which, for my money, was why God created the "temp-to-perm" trial employment situation. As a rule, however, no paralegal goes to such great educational lengths just to sit and type.

Since you are about to strike out on your own, you might want to consider hiring a secretary with bookkepping experience (far more likely) than a paralegal who aspires to the job of typist. Let me know if you are in need of help in finding a paralegal. I have a number of resources that can assist. Thanks again for the opportunity to discuss! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and wish you an equally meaningful extended Holiday season.

Lyza

Lyza L. Sandgren, President/Paralegal
Sandgren Intellectual Property
Paralegal Services ("SIPPS"), LLC
2855 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Rd., Ste. 760-320
Suwanee , GA 30024
Office: 770.339.8181
Fax: 770.277.5772
lyza@sippsonline.com
www.sippsonline.com

Full post as published by Impartial Inc on December 16, 2006 (boomark / email).