Paralegal 1 – Flashcards
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Two basic kinds of rules or laws
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Substantive and procedural
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Substantive law
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Those nonprocedural rules that govern rights and duties, e.g., the requirements for the sale of land and the elements of battery
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Procedural law
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Those rules that govern the mechanics of resolving a dispute in court or in an administrative agency
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Approximately how many Americans have legal problems?
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52 percent
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What are the 5 major institutional players in the development of paralegalism?
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National federation of paralegal association(NFPA) National association of legal assistance(NALA) American Bar association standing committee on paralegals(SCOP) Your state bar association Your local paralegal association
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What is the difference between the NALAS view of certification and NFPAS view?
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NFPA opposes certification for entry-level paralegals and those with no paralegal experience. Where as NALA offers entry-level certification
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Continuing legal education
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Training in the law(usually short term) that a person receives after completing his or her formal legal training
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Passed NALAS certification exam for entry-level paralegals
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CLA(certified legal assistant)
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A paralegal who meets requirements for NALAS advanced certification is called
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ACP( advanced certified paralegal)
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ABA
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American bar association
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What is ABA?
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A voluntary association of attorneys; no attorney must be a member
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How has the bar association affected the development of paralegalism?
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The publication of research on paralegals, the establishment of a voluntary program of approving paralegal schools, and the creation of an associate membership category for paralegals
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Name 14 categories of paralegal associations
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1)nationwide 2)statewide 3)region wide encompassing more than one state 4) region wide within a state 5) countrywide 6)citywide 7) theme specific 8)division of a bar association 9)association of associations 10)schoolwide 11) association that is manager focused 12)association whose membership is limited to paralegals 13) association whose membership consists of paralegals, legal secretaries, and other non attorneys. 14) foreign
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Traditional paralegal
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A paralegal who is an employee of an attorney
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Independent contractor
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One who operated his or her own business and contracts to do work for others who do not control many of the administrative details of how the work is performed
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What are some of the major titles that employers use for traditional paralegals
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Paralegal, legal assistant, professional legal assistant, legal service assistant, paralegal specialist, paralegal assistant, law specialist, legal analyst, legal technician, legal paraprofessional
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Distinguish between a generic and a specific title of a paralegal
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If a law firm has a relatively large number of paralegals it might call it by specific title such as paralegal 1, project clerk, case clerk
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Nurse paralegal
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A nurse who has become a paralegal, using his or her medical training to help personal injury
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What is a transactional paralegal?
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Provides paralegal services for an attorney who represents clients in transactions such as entering contracts, incorporating a business, closing a real estate sale, or planning an estate
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What is a hybrid title?
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When an office wants a paralegal to perform more than one job, paralegal/librarian Paralegal/investigator
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What are some of the main titles used by self-emptied paralegals who sell their services directly to the public without attorney supervision?
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Independent paralegal, freelance paralegal, freelance legal assistant, contract paralegal, legal technician
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What are the three sources of opposition to those who sell their services directly to the public?
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Unauthorized practice of law, the public needs protection from independent paralegals particularly those who lack formal training, most resent the use of the paralegal title because paralegals mostly have gone through rigorous training and are subjected to close attorney supervision on the job
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Unauthorized practice of law
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Conduct by a person who does not have a license to practice law or other special authorization needed for that conduct
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State the two meanings of the title independent paralegal
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1)who sells his or her paralegal services to, and works under the supervision of, one or more attorneys 2) who sells his or her paralegal services directly to the public without attorney supervision
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What six entities have written paralegal definitions? Which are most important?
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1)state legislatures and state courts 2) state bar associations 3) local bar associations 4)the American bar association 5) the national paralegal association 6) local paralegal associations The most important are those written by state legislatures and courts.
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What 3 characteristics are common to most paralegal definitions?
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1)has specific qualifications due to education, training, or on-the-job experience 2) works under attorney supervision 3) performs substantive legal work that the attorney would have to perform if the paralegal was not present
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Substantive legal work
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Nonclerical tasks that require legal experience or training, tasks that justify an award of paralegal fees
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Distinguish between an hourly fee and a contingent fee.
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A contingent fee is dependent on obtaining a favorable outcome of the case, while an hourly fee is determined by how much time is spent on a clients case.
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What is meant by paralegal fees?
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A few that an attorney can collect for the nonclerical work of his or her paralegal on a client case
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Overhead
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The operating expenses of a business (e.g., office rent, furniture, insurance, and clerical staff) for which customers or clients are not charges a separate fee
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Distinguish between T the American rule and the English rule
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Under the American rule clients in litigation pay their own attorney fees. While under the English rule the party who loses the litigation pays the winners attorney fees
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Fee shifting
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The process of forcing one party to pay another's attorney fees and costs in litigation
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Statutory fee cases
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A case applying a special statute that gives a judge authority to order the losing party to pay the winning party's attorney and paralegal fees
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What tasks qualify for paralegal fees in statutory fee cases? What tasks do not qualify?
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Substantive work qualifies and clerical work does not. Substantive work would be preparing pleadings and motions, reviewing transcripts, performing legal research, interviewing witnesses in person, and attending staffings in juvenile cases. Clerical tasks would be typing, scheduling, answering the phone
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Law clerk
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An attorneys employee who is in law school studying to become an attorney or who has graduated from law school and is waiting to pass the bar examination
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What was decided in Missouri v. Jenkins? Why is this a landmark case?
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The loosing party had to pay the total cost of a paralegal. It was a landmark case because the vast majority of federal and state courts have adopted its reasoning for allowing paralegals fees at market rates in statuary cases
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What are contemporaneous records?
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Preferred over time records that are assembled long after the task is performed
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What are the duties of a paralegal coordinator or manager?
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Recruiting and screening candidates for paralegal positions, orienting new paralegals to office procedures, training paralegals to operate software used in the office, training paralegals to perform certain substantive tasks, coordinating assignments of paralegals among the different attorneys in the office
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Lodestar
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A method of calculating an award of attorney fees authorized by statute. The number of reasonable hours spent on the case is multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate
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What factors determine paralegal salaries
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Where you work and your experience
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Name the four major factors that have been instrumental in the emergence of paralegalism to its present state of prominence
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1) the pressure of economics 2) the call for efficiency and delegation 3) the promotion by bar associations 4) the organization of paralegals
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Leveraging
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Making a profit from the income-generating work of others
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Billable hours quota
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A minimum number of hours expected from a timekeeper on client matter that can be charged to clients per week, month, year, or other time period
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Rule of three
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A general guideline used by some law firms to identify budget expectations from hiring paralegals: gross revenue generated through paralegal billing should equal three times a paralegals salary
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Realization rate
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The hourly rate that a law office actually collects from the billable hours submitted by an attorney or paralegal
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What kinda of bar committees cover paralegals?
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Paralegal utilization
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No billable tasks by paralegals
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Recruiting new employees, helping maintain the law library, organizing the offices case files
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Private law firm
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A law firm that generates its income front the fees of individual clients
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Boutique law firm
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A firm that specializes in one area
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General counsel
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The chief attorney in a corporate law department. Also caller a corporate counsel
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Civil service
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Nonmilitary government employment, often obtained through merit and competitive exams
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Jurisdiction
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The geographic area over which a particular court system or other government unit has authority
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Paralegal specialist
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The major civil services job classification for paralegals who work for the federal government and for some state governments
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Indigent
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A person who is without funds to hire a private attorney. Improvised
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Civil
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Pertaining to a private right or matter. Noncriminal; nonmilitary
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IOLTA program
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A legal program that helps fund legal services for the poor with funds that attorneys are required to turn over from interest earned in client trust accounts containing client funds
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Uncontested
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Unchallenged; without opposition
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Pro bono
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Concerning or involving legal services that are provided for the public good without fee or compensation
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Special interest group
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An organization that serves a particular group or cause
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Test case
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Litigation brought to try to create new legal principal or right
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Prepaid legal services
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A plan by which a person pays premiums to cover future legal services. Also called legal plan and group legal services.
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Public defender
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An attorney appointed by the court and paid by the government to represent the poor criminal case.
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Assigned counsel
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A court appointed private attorney in a criminal or civil case
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Freelance paralegal
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Self employed independent contractors who sell their services to attorneys
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Outsourcing
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Paying an outside company or service to perform Tasks usually performed by ones own employees
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Where paralegals work
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1)private law firms 2) law departments of corporations, banks, insurance companies, and other businesses 3)government 4) legal service/legal aid offices(civil law) 5)special interest groups or associations 6)criminal law offices 7)freelance paralegals 8)service companies/consulting firms 9) related fields
