The Paralegal in the Legal System

Question 1

Legal Assistant Clerk (Paralegal Clerk) Define

Answer 1

Performs clerical tasks that do not require

substantive knowledge or litigation skills.

Question 2

Legal Assistant (Paralegal) Define

Answer 2

Performs factual research, document analysis,
cite checking, drafts pleadings, administrates
trusts and estates, and handles other
substantive tasks that do not require a law
degree.

Question 3

Senior Legal Assistant (Senior Paralegal) Define

Answer 3

Supervises or trains other legal assistants; may

be a specialist in a particular area of law.

Question 4

Supervising Legal Assistant (Supervising

Paralegal) Define

Answer 4

Spends approximately half their time working
on cases and the other half supervising other
paralegals.

Question 5

Case Manager Define

Answer 5

Supervises or directs legal assistants on a large
case, such as major litigation or corporation
transaction.

Question 6

Legal Assistant Manager (Paralegal
Manager, Paralegal Administrator, Director
of Paralegal Services) Define

Answer 6

Recruits, interviews, and hires legal assistants,
and helps train and monitor paralegal
assignments, helps administer budgets and
billing requirements of legal assistants.
Text equivalent

Question 7

assigned counsel: definition

Answer 7

A court-appointed attorney who will represent an indigent person

Question 8

billable hours quota

Answer 8

A 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 9

contingent fee

Answer 9

A fee that is dependent on the outcome of the case (the fee is also called a
contingency)

Question 10

continuing legal education (CLE)

Answer 10

Training in the law (usually short-term) that a person

receives after completing his or her formal legal training

Question 11

independent contractor

Answer 11

One who operates his or her own business and contracts to do work for others who do not control the details of how the work is performed

Question 12

Leveraging

Answer 12

Making profit from the income-generating work of others

Question 13

Overhead

Answer 13

The operating expenses of a business for which customers or clients are not
charged a separate fee

Question 14

paralegal fee

Answer 14

A fee that an attorney can collect for the non-clerical work of his or her paralegal on a client case

Question 15

rule of three

Answer 15

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 paralegal’s salary

Question 16

statutory fee cases

Answer 16

Special circumstance legal cases, such as employment discrimination,
environmental and anti-trust. In statutory fee cases, the judge is given authority to order that the
losing side pay all the legal fees of the winning side.

Question 17

traditional paralegal

Answer 17

A paralegal who is an employee of an attorney

Question 18

transactional paralegal

Answer 18

A paralegal who helps an attorney provide legal representation in
client transactions such as contracts and incorporations

Question 19

unauthorized practice of law

Answer 19

Engaging in acts that require either a license to practice law or
other special authorization by a person who does not have the license or special authorization

Question 20

NALA

Answer 20

National Association of Legal Assistants

Question 21

NFPA

Answer 21

National Federation of Paralegal Associations

Question 22

ABA

Answer 22

American Bar Association

Question 23

SCOLA

Answer 23

Standing Committee on Legal Assistants (founded by the ABA)

Question 24

LAMA

Answer 24

Legal Assistant Management Association

Question 25

AAfPE

Answer 25

American Association for Paralegal Education

Question 26

ALA

Answer 26

Association of Legal Administrators