Intro to Paralegal
Billing rates for paralegals range from
$60-$155 an hour
Example of substantive law:
A law prohibiting employment discrimination
An example of procedural law
A law requiring that a complaint be filed to begin a lawsuit
The APC designation means that
A legal assistant has passed a test demonstrating competence in a legal specialty
Professional association responsible to setting educational standards for Paralegals
AAfPE
A larger card inserted in the filing cabinet in the place of a temporarily removed file is called
An out card
In larger firms the paralegal manager or legal assistant manager is
And employee who is responsible for overseeing the paralegal staff and paralegal professional development
The first step to opening a new file is to
Assigned the case a file number
The latest information technology trends and which files and programs are stored online so they are accessible from any computer or smart phone or tablet connected to the Internet it's called
Cloud based computing
Mixing together a clients funds with the law firm's funds called ___ is one of the most common ways in which attorneys reach their professional obligations regarding client funds
Commingling
Substantive law is law that:
Creates legal rights and legal obligations
Billing more than one client for the same billable time
Double billing
Employment policies relating to compensation employee benefits performance of valuation employment termination and other rules of the workplace are usually spelled out in an
Employment policy manual
Paralegals typically obtain their training through:
Experience and education
Sexual harassment is a form of
Gender based discrimination
The paralegal advanced competency exam PACE can be taken by paralegals who
Have at least 2 years of work experience and meet specific educational requirements
Marta meets with her attorney, Norm, to incorporate her florist shop. The bill for the attorneys services is 1,500- 3 hrs at $500/hr this is an example of
Hourly fee
As a general rule clients pay __ and our bill monthly for time spent on the case by the attorneys are illegal personel
Hourly fees
First formal paralegal program began?
In late 1960's
Backing up data with external hard drive's or off site services
Is an important thing to do
Legal analysts is critical to a paralegals duties because:
It is integral to helping lawyers formulate arguments
The term paralegal is often used interchangeably with the term:
Legal assistant
A ___ is a form of business organization that normally allows lawyers doing business as partners to avoid personal liability for the malpractice of other partners
Limited liability partnership
Which of the following professional organization agree on a definition of a paralegal?
NALA & ABA
Most paralegals find employment by what means?
Networking
Time spent on tasks such as administrative work staff meetings or performance reviews is
Nonbillable time
Employee who handles client billing procedures manages day today operations of the small law firm by making sure of this run smoothly and sufficient supplies are on hand
Office manager
How many paralegal education programs exist
Over 1,000
___ is a business entity in which the shareholders are members of the same profession purchase the corporation stock on the farm share in the profits and losses in proportion to the number of shares their own and have a limited personal liability
Professional corporation
A __ is a signed document staring that the attorney or the law firm has been hired by the client to provide legal services and that the client agrees to pay the fees set forth in the contract
Retainer agreement
Can be found in a standard forms file
Retainer agreements real estate forms bankruptcy petition's computerized filing forms
When a case is closed, original client documents are usually
Returned to the client
One who purchases corporate stock or shares and becomes a owner of the corporation is known as
Shareholder
Original client documents
Should never be altered
You destroy files no longer needed by
Shredding
The max time period within which specific types of legal actions may be brought to court is set by
Statue of limitations
Employees who provide clercial, secretarial or other support to the staff are called
Support personnel
Law firms keep track of billable time by requiring legal professionals to submit time slips and usually require attorneys or paralegals to generate a minimum number of billable hours per year the reason for requiring a minimum number of billable hours is
That the financial well being of the firm depends on the number of billable hours generated by its employees
Paralegals may discuss client information with
The group working on the case
A sole proprietorship is
The simplest form of a business in which one individual owns the business
Which of the following is true of paralegals?
They may not practice law
A(n) ___ is a record documenting, for billing purposes, the hours or fractions of hours that an attorney or paralegal worked for each client, the date on which the work was performed, and the type of work that was undertaken
Time slip
When the fees charged to the client very depending on the results of the representation for example whether a lawsuit is lost one or settled it is called
Value billing
Files containing copies of research projects, legal memoranda, and various case related documents prepared by the firms legal professionals are known as
Work product or reference materials files
Once a clients file is closed
You still have an obligation to maintain confidentiality
