1 - Intro to Paralegal Career

Question 1

continuing legal education (CLE)

Answer 1

training in the law (usually short term) received after completing formal legal training or becoming employed

Question 2

certification

Answer 2

process by which a non-government organization grants recognition to a person who has met the qualifications set by the organization

Question 3

traditional paralegal

Answer 3

paralegal who is an employee of an attorney

Question 4

transactional paralegal

Answer 4

provides paralegal services for an attorney who represents clients in a transaction (e.g. planning an estate, incorporating a business, closing a sale)

Question 5

independent contractor

Answer 5

self-employed person who operates their own business and contracts to perform tasks for others

Question 6

freelance/contract paralegal

Answer 6

works as an independent contractor under the supervision of, and is accountable to, a lawyer

Question 7

independent paralegal

Answer 7

a) independent contractor who sells paralegal services to and works under the supervision of one or more attorneys
b) independent contractor who sells paralegal services directly to the public without attorney supervision

Question 8

sole practitioner

Answer 8

an attorney who practices alone (no partners or associates)

Question 9

document service provider (DSP)

Answer 9

a) a non-attorney without attorney supervision who provides legal document assistance to those representing themselves
b) someone who helps others prepare or process documents

Question 10

unauthorized practice of law (UPL)

Answer 10

a) using or attempting to use legal skills to help resolves a specific person’s legal problem when the assistance is provided by someone with out a license to practice law and when the assistance requires a license or other authorization
b) a non-attorney’s performance of tasks in a law office without adequate attorney supervision when those tasks are part of the practice of law
c) delegating tasks to a non-attorney that only an attorney can perform

Question 11

paralegal

Answer 11

a) a person who performs substantive legal tasks on behalf of others when those tasks are supervised by an attorney who would be required to perform these tasks if the office did not have a paralegal
b) a person with legal skills who works under the supervision of an attorney or who is otherwise authorized to use those skills; this person performs tasks that do not require all the skills of an attorney and that most secretaries are not trained to perform

Question 12

fees

Answer 12

amount charged for services rendered

Question 13

paralegal fees

Answer 13

fees an attorney can collect for non-clerical work of the attorney’s paralegal (covers substantive legal work done by the paralegal for the client)

Question 14

contingent fees

Answer 14

fee paid only if the case is successfully resolved in litigation or settlement, regardless of hours spent on the case (contingency)

Question 15

defense contingent fee

Answer 15

fee for the defendant’s attorney that is dependent on the outcome of the case (negative contingency)

Question 16

court costs

Answer 16

charges or fees (paid to and imposed by the court) that are directly related to litigation in the court (e.g. court filing fees)

Question 17

engagement letter

Answer 17

identifies the scope of services to be provided by a professional and the payments to be made for such services

Question 18

American rule

Answer 18

each party pays own attorney’s fees regardless of who wins

Question 19

English rule

Answer 19

losing side in litigation must pay winner’s attorney fees (loser pays)

Question 20

fee-shifting

Answer 20

requiring one part to pay another party’s attorney and paralegal fees because of prior agreement, bad faith, or special statute

Question 21

bad faith

Answer 21

dishonesty or abuse in one’s purpose or conduct

Question 22

frivolous

Answer 22

lacking merit, a legal position that cannot be supported by a good faith argument based on existing law or on the need for a change in existing law

Question 23

aggrieved

Answer 23

injured or wronged part and thereby entitled to a remedy

Question 24

statutory-fee cases

Answer 24

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

Question 25

remedy

Answer 25

a means by which a right is enforced or the violation fo a right is prevented, compensated for, or otherwise readdressed

Question 26

amicus curiae brief

Answer 26

an appellate brief submitted by a non-party who obtains court permission to file the brief setting out its views on how the case should be resolved (“friend of the court” brief)

Question 27

lodestar

Answer 27

a) method of calculating an award of attorney fees authorized by a statute (number of reasonable hours spent on the case X prevailing hourly rate in community for similar work by attorneys)
b) other factors considered above the lodestar in setting the fee: quality of representation, any delay in receiving payment, and risk at the outset of litigation that the prevailing attorney will receive no fee

Question 28

billable

Answer 28

pertaining to those tasks requiring time that can be charged to (and paid by) the client

Question 29

time keeping

Answer 29

recording time spent on a client matter for purposes of billing and productivity assessment

Question 30

contemporaneous

Answer 30

existing or occurring in the same period of time; pertaining to records that are prepared regarding events as they are occurring or very shortly thereafter

Question 31

leveraging

Answer 31

making profit from the income-generating work of others

Question 32

billable hour quota

Answer 32

minimum number of hours expected from a timekeeper on client matters that can be charged (billed) to clients per week, month, year, or other time period

Question 33

rule of three

Answer 33

a) general guideline used by some law firms to identify budget expectations from hiring paralegals
b) gross revenue generated through paralegal billing should each 3x a paralegal’s salary (ex. salary $40,000 - billing rate $100/hr - billings $120,000

Question 34

attorney attestation

Answer 34

signed statement by an attorney that a paralegal applying for membership in an association meets one or more of the criteria of the association, the most common of which is that the paralegal performs paralegal duties

Question 35

realization rate

Answer 35

percentage of total client billings of an attorney or paralegal that the office actually collects (collection realization rate)

Question 36

billing realization rate

Answer 36

further breakdown of timekeeper’s billable and non-billable hours (percentage of timekeeper’s total office time that is billable)

Question 37

overhead

Answer 37

the operating expenses of a business for which customers or clients are not charge a separate fee

Question 38

assigned counsel

Answer 38

a court-appointed attorney who will represent an indigent person