CURRENT STATUS OF PARALEGALS IN LAW OFFICES IN THE UNITED STATES AS SEEN BY ATTORNEYS-LAWYERS, LEGAL SECRETARIES, AND PARALEGALS WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM

The research was designed to determine the current status of paralegals in law offices in the United States as seen by: (1) attorneys-lawyers, (2) legal secretaries, and (3) paralegals. Curricular implications for developing paralegal training programs in four-year colleges and universities were also part of this problem. Subjects were members of the National Federation of Paralegal Associations and lawyers and secretaries who work with paralegals.;A pilot study was conducted to test the reliability and validity of the preliminary questionnaire. A revised questionnaire was mailed to 1,145 NFPA members. A questionnaire for one member of each group was included. There were 249 useable responses from paralegals, 144 from attorneys-lawyers, and 131 from legal secretaries.;Subjects were asked to respond to items concerning: size of law offices; titles for paralegals; legal advice given by paralegals: salary, general status, value, training, and quality of work of paralegals; access to secretarial assistance; responsibilities and functions of paralegals; subject areas covered in paralegal training; and level of supervision that paralegals require.;For each item, a chi square analysis was made to determine if significant differences existed among the three groups, among NFPA regions, or both. Means were calculated to determine average law office sizes and average salaries and to rank functions, responsibilities, and subject areas.;Major findings of this study are: (1) Fifty-five percent of NFPA paralegals are employed in law offices with 5-39 law partners. (2) "Legal assistant" is the most descriptive title. (3) Seventy-eight percent of all participants agree that paralegals are not allowed to give legal advice. (4) The current salary range for legal assistants is $10,001 to $15,000; average salary is $11,200. (5) Eighty-six percent indicate that paralegal wages come from straight salaries. (6) Eighty-four percent of participants view the status of legal assistants as being above the level of legal secretaries. (7) Training is a determining factor in gaining status for paralegals in law offices. (8) Most paralegals receive their training from formal programs designed for paralegals. (9) Sixty-seven percent of all participants view the paralegal's work as "excellent;" fifty-five percent say the paralegal is "essential" to the operation of law offices. (10) Sixty-three percent of all participants indicate legal assistants have equal standing with law partners for secretarial assistance or have their own secretary or assistant. (11) A majority of participants indicate a distinctive difference in the role of paralegals and that of legal secretaries. (12) Fifty-four percent of the lawyers indicate that paralegals require event-by-event vigilance of their work. (13) Tasks usually performed by legal assistants are: prepare and process routine legal documents, do preliminary drafting, do investigation--litigation assistance, and do indexing. Tasks the legal assistant should not perform are: appear in court, give legal advice, and counsel clients. (14) Functions often performed by legal assistants are: prepare deeds and forms, search and check public records, index documents and prepare digests, prepare pleadings, do detail work, and make investigations. Functions never performed by legal assistants are: take dictation for transcription, do receptionist work, plan for office machinery, hire and supervise nonattorney staff, do bookkeeping and accounting work, type data and communication, do librarian work, and do income tax work. (15) Subject areas that should be covered in training programs for legal assistants are: law library and legal research, law systems and courts, litigation, acquaintance with standard forms, ethical and professional practice problems, business communication, and contracts.