THE PROFESSIONAL PARALEGAL © 2009 JACKIE PAULSON

The Professional Paralegal

THE PROFESSIONAL PARALEGAL © 2009 JACKIE PAULSON

INTRODUCTION

The proper definition of a paralegal as defined by NFPA is a paralegal is a

person, qualified through education, training or work experience to perform
legal work that requires knowledge of legal concepts and is customarily, but
not exclusively, performed by a lawyer. This person may be retained or
employed by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency or other entity or
may be authorized by administrative, statutory or court authority to perform
this work. www.paralegals.org

PARALEGALS perform the same functions as an attorney except those

generally prohibited by UPL (unauthorized practice of law statutes).

Paralegals cannot:

1. Accept clients
2. Set legal fees
3. Give legal advice
4. Represent clients in court

It is essential that a paralegal:

• Recognize and evaluate relevant facts and legal concepts

• Organize, analyze, communicate and administer
• Resolve conflicts negotiate and relate well with various types of
persons, often when these persons are in distress.

THE INTAKE PROCESS

A Paralegal may be in the room as the attorney is interviewing the client and
take notes.

It is important to make sure the client can bring all important documents for
the attorney in order to access proper legal evaluation by the attorney. If
the client does not have all proper documentation it is important to tell the
client to bring them as soon as they possibly can. Most clients are not sure
of all their legal rights when they call an attorney or make a free consultation
with an attorney for the first time. If you want your case to be best
evaluated it is helpful to bring all the necessary paper work to the initial
client interview.
THE PROFESSIONAL PARALEGAL © 2009 JACKIE PAULSON

CONFIDENTIALITY

All office personnel, including volunteers, paralegals, and law office

personnel must not talk about the client, the case or give legal advice. That
is for the attorney only. “What you hear in the office stays in the office.”
The client may give legal consent to disclose their information and in that
case it is authorized.

The duty of confidentiality continues after the lawyer client relationship has
terminated.

The only time confidences can be broken is when there is intention to

commit a future crime.

It is permitted for the lawyer to delegate functions to the paralegal so long as

the lawyer supervises the delegated work and retains responsibility for their
work this is not breaking UPL (Unauthorized Practice of Law).

What does a paralegal say when a client wants advice about their
case? As a general rule whenever the client starts to give some of the
“facts,” that is entering into forbidden territory. The proper answer is, “you
will have to speak to an attorney, and I am not able to give legal advice.”

ILLINOIS NOTARY DUTIES

THE PROFESSIONAL PARALEGAL © 2009 JACKIE PAULSON

A Notary acts as an official, unbiased witness to the identity and signature of

individuals who appears before you. The Notary signature is evidence that
the notary observed the person sign the document and that notary
confirmed the identity of the signer before notarizing the document.

The person must sign the document in the Notary’s presence and have
produced identification such as a valid Driver’s license which is the most
commonly form of identification used today. The notary will log or journal the
transaction to confirm notary serves performed which must be carefully kept.
It is helpful to have the inkless stamp for a proper thumb print to be used to
store evidence in the Notary Journal.

NOTARYS CANNOT

1. Notarize unsigned documents

2. Execute a notary’s certificate containing a statement they know is
false.
3. Perform any actions with intent to deceive, such as predating or
postdating a document.
4. Authenticate the signature of an individual who did not personally
appear before the notary at the time of the signature.
5. Perform a notary’s act when the notary is a party to, or directly or
peculiarly interested in the transaction.
6. The Notary shall respect the privacy of each signer and not divulge or
use personal or proprietary information disclosed during execution of a
notaries act for other than an authorized official purpose.
7. The Notary shall seek instruction on notarization, and keep current on
the laws, practices ad requirements of the office.
8. Cannot notarize for yourself if you are a Notary.
9. Questions or comments can be emailed to:
organizzedjunkie@gmail.com
10.Jackie Paulson © 2009 All Rights Reserved