The Profession
What is a Paralegal?
The current definition used by WSPA and NFPA is: A paralegal is a person qualified through education, training, or work experience to perform substantive 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. The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook offers some detailed information about the paralegal profession.
NFPA has compiled a listing of many commonly shared duties of paralegals in a variety of legal specialities. If you are a current or prospective paralegal student, be sure to check out their Paralegal Responsibilities web page.State of the Profession
The paralegal profession is a relatively young one. Although there have long been clerks and secretaries who did occasional substantive legal work, it wasn't until the early 1970's that law firms began to hire and/or designate personnel to specifically perform substantive legal tasks which otherwise would have been done by attorneys.
The profession has evolved and matured a lot since those days, but there continues to be a lot of controversy over issues that impact our profession. Some of these issues are new, some have been argued for many years, and some may never be fully resolved. But anyone intending to pursue the profession for any length of time should become familiar with these issues and ongoing developments. One way to keep up with changes is to read WSPA's newsletter, Findings and Conclusions, and NFPA's quarterly magazine, Paralegal Reporter. Both of these publications will report the latest changes which affect the profession in Washington and around the nation.
In addition, we will try to cover the most significant issues in this web site, so check back from time to time to keep up with the latest on the rules, cases, and legislation which may affect your future.
Some of the issues currently facing Washington paralegals are:
Model Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and Guidelines for Enforcement
(updated 9/06/06)If you are interested in the issue of non-lawyer regulation, you might want to join the Regulation Issues list serve or become part of the active Regulation Committee. For more information you can contact the Regulation Committee Chair listed below.
Brian Haberly
Regulation Committee Chair
206.318.6712 direct
© 2006 Washington State Paralegal Association; all rights reserved.