Women Paralegals in Personal Injury Firm Not all legal work demands a law degree. Paralegals perform many of the same jobs as lawyers, with the exception of those that are considered to be practicing law. Due to the male dominance view within the law profession, there are more female paralegals than female lawyers (concept of gender inequity) (Diner, 1998). Even though, lawyers are held responsible for the legal work, they often assign many of their jobs to paralegals. Yet, they “can do most things…that associates would do, except go to court, take depositions, give clients opinions or sign pleadings” (Samborn, 2003). For this reason, I interviewed a female paralegal, who by chance is my cousin that works in Bergener Mirejovsky personal injury …show more content…
It was also founded in Feinberg’s research study that “due to the dramatic differences in billing rates between associates and paralegals…the more specialized and complex legal work” is handled by paralegals (1994). Also, Samborn stated that: “hiring paralegals is very profitable because it means compensation and overhead are lower, and the firm has lower recruitment and human resources costs” (2003). This was also seen in Reskin’s article, lawyers in firms that hire paralegals “earn more than those in firms without paralegals” (1984). Yet, in Levin’s article, it was mentioned how such jobs are mostly consisted of minorities and women (2009). This is so because they are want to help others and that they come into this profession with the mindset of helping the people in their communities (Gorman & Sandefur, 2011). As discussed in Stover’s article, lawyers and paralegals have a change in their values and expectations from 1L to 3L (1997). Their values change “from public service and altruism to ‘interesting,’ ‘challenging’ work” (Stover, 1997). At the same time, their expectations changes throughout this three-year process. During the first year they “’hate’ corporate law”, and by the second year it becomes “interesting” and challenges them and once they get summer jobs they assimilate the idea that “corporate legal work is ‘creative’” and that they must “’specialize’ in legal practice” (Stover, 2016). This is true because even my interviewee started off that way of hating corporate law and now finding it challenging and staying there since she first started interning there in February 2016. When asked what made her want to stay there for so long, her response was that “my goal is to become an attorney and I wanted to see if this is what I want to do and since I had a good experience here I did not
A Paralegal is defined by the American Bar Association as a person, qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible. Paralegals work under direct supervision of an attorney and follow the same ethical rules of the ABA as a lawyer does. ABA Rule 5.3, states that a lawyer must give such assistants appropriate instruction and supervision concerning the ethical aspects of their employment, particularly regarding the obligation not to disclose information relating to representation of the client, and should be responsible for their work product. Per the State B...
Wasserstrom considers a few options with in his discussion concerning a multitude of aspects faced by lawyers. "The lawyer's situation is different from that of other professionals. The lawyer is vulnerable to some moral criticism that does not as readily or as easily attach to any other professional." Thi...
It is unfortunate that accidents that result in injuries are a part of life. Further more it is also unfortunate that often the party responsible for said accident do not feel compelled to offer compensation to the party affected. However in spite of this, there is still hope for the injured party thanks to personal injury lawyers. They are tasked with representing their clients who suffered from these events while making sure that their clients receive the compensation that they deserve. Ultimately personal injury lawyers play a big role with regards to safety initiatives by helping those injured, which is something that we all should aspire to do.
The main idea was to regulate the career and set the standards to which a person who recognized him or herself as a paralegal had to satisfy. It then became apparent, that the members of this association were adamant to define a line from those who were clerks, assistants or secretaries to those who had the proper training and experience in the field. That movement prompted other organizations to be fo...
Miller, Roger LeRoy., Meinzinger, Mary. Paralegal Today: The Legal Team At Work. Clifton Park, NY : Delmar Cengage Learning, 2010. Print
Throughout modern civilization, the American republic is widely known for its dependency upon the realm of business. Equally as vital, looms the ever-present hand of the American law system. “All beings have their laws: the Deity…man his laws” (Montesquieu,1), this statement serves true in founding that law is consistently a necessary portion in society because all society desires law. As a consequence of the continual presence of law, careers aimed to interpret the crevices of laws, and to defend them, are synonymously as necessary in society. Absolutely, the gain of America’s economy is a direct reflection of the lawyers who protect them. Lawyers are a necessity to the nation; serving their purpose as defenders of the law. The system of corporate law is undoubtedly the cornerstone of corporate finance, and as citizens begin to thrive more immensely in a capitalistic nation, legal representation will be the trailblazer to the continuation of the American system of corporations. As I embark upon the journey of excellence into the world of corporate law, I endeavor to change the way business is defended, upheld, and represented.
The paralegal industry has changed over the last thirty years, and according to Kane, “Is one of the fastest-growing professions on the globe”. There is a predicted growth rate of 28% between 2008 and
The paralegal profession developed as legal secretaries assumed additional duties to help attorneys with their workload. The paralegal performs legal tasks under the supervision of an attorney that maximizes attorneys' productivity and cost efficiency in the delivery of legal services. Paralegals work in many different types of law firms, corporations or government agencies in many areas of law (Hollingshead). All duties performed by a paralegal are under the supervision of an attorney who is responsible for the paralegal’s conduct. In fact, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Paralegals define paralegals or legal assistants [used synonymously] as a person qualified by education, training or work experiences, who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, government agency, or other entity who performs specific delegated legal substantive work for which a lawyer is responsible (ABA). In class, we learne...
In this essay, I will investigate and describe a cultural group in my desired field. I will provide details from an interview with a professional person in my field of interest. Gender inequality is still a big issue in law enforcement. Women make up a small percentage in the world of law enforcement. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, there are only thirteen percent of women working in law enforcement in the United States and only five percent are African American (Criminal Justice School Info, 2014). The New York City Police Department hired the first female officers in 1845 and they were called “matrons” (Felperin, 2004). Over twenty years of extensive research has shown that female officers possess a unique style of policing in which they rely more on their interpersonal skills rather than physical strength or force to talk a person down from a violent situation (National Center for Women & Policing, 2013).
Women in Law Enforcement There are many stereotypes that women in the law enforcement field have to face. In order to recruit more women into policing, law enforcement agencies should attempt to overcome the idea that policing is a "male-oriented profession". This paper will cover parts of the history of women police officers, some views and stereotypes of the female officer, job related issues, life outside of the workforce and job satisfaction. It used to be that only nursing, teaching, and clerical positions were open to women. A small number of women worked as correctional officers and their assignments were usually limited to peripheral tasks.
Sheehan, James. The lawyer's lawyer. New York: Center Street, 2013. Print. this book tells me about lawyers about how they differ from other people
Attorneys and their agents are bound by the duty of confidentiality to their clients forever. This means after the case is closed and even after client has passed away. The exce...
show us that women are significantly underrepresented of females in the partnership and ownership of the legal profession. The trend of women owned law firms will hopefully aid the disproportion of the genders within the legal profession. While the number of women owned law firms is growing, as established by The New Yorker’s article, there still are not enough yet to overcome this disparity. These female owned law firms are still a start to end this disparity and Lawyer X claims that “not only is it important for women to be represented in just the legal profession, it is important for them to be represented in its partnership and ownership roles” and hopes that these women owned law firms became a trend to fill this need. As established by Lawyer X, this gender disparity is a well known fact within the profession, both to those who are victims of this gender discrimination and those who inflict it but little is done by the legal profession to address it and fix it.
The Paralegal Professional, A reference to the source of legal information chapter 1 and lettures from class powerpoints.
The Law Society and Bar Council have issued policies to prevent sex discrimination. Solicitors When people need legal advice, they contact a solicitor. Solicitors offer skilled advice on all kinds of legal matters, from buying a house to selling a business. Solicitors can decide whether or not to take a case. Most solicitors provide general advice and do ‘paper work’, e.g. writing letters, drafting contracts and tenancies, conveyancing, wills, divorce petitions.