What Does a Paralegal Do?

What Does a Paralegal Do? … for attorneys and lawyers, and also their job duties?

From Attorneys.org - a place to locate an attorney or lawyer.

Local attorneys often require help in their cases due to overflow of work, especially if they have an established name in the market. The paralegal helps a senior attorney in the delivery of legal services during all small and big stages of a case.  There are many important tasks that can be handled by a paralegal. He would be required in the hearing trials, closing preparation and corporate meetings.

A paralegal basically works as support staff collecting and analyzing information that may be required for the case. All functions delegated by the local attorneys can be performed by the paralegal are many fold.
It is his duty to find relevant witnesses for the case and interview them. This also includes analyses of     the interview. The paralegal not only interview the witness but also the clients. He also ensures that they are in contact with each other and coordinate whenever required.

Another main duty which falls under the profile of a paralegal is to conduct legal research as and when required for a case. He is the one also goes for leading, legal documents and drafting correspondence.
He also makes the testimony does depositories and provide interrogatories summary. He also prepares real estate closings, court hearings, administration, trials and attends to wills execution.
The paralegal can only perform the above mentioned tasks and cannot present the case in court.

Paralegals can work under local attorneys in a law firm, with a paralegal firm or as  a freelancer. A paralegal salary is approximately $38,000 in a law firm. Paralegals can also be employed in government departments, real estate companies, corporate legal departments and insurance companies. They may be required to do research for bankruptcy, family, criminal, litigation, labor, immigration, real estate, employee, insurance, intellectual property, medical malpractice and environmental issues.

Documentation is a large part of the role of the paralegal. He should be able to find things and present them along with the supervising attorney. The skills of a paralegal in research and investigation are extremely important as well as readily understanding of all legal terms. Paralegal studies are available within undergraduate, graduate and college certification courses.

An internship during their studies is very valuable. Most attorneys employ paralegals and train them on job. Many will hire college graduates who do not have any legal knowledge but with training they can become experts and very helpful to the attorneys in performing their duties.