tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531961815684918690.post1346657718877433552..comments2021-10-02T06:56:27.421-05:00Comments on Paralegalese: Who Should Set and Control Paralegal Standards?ParaMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08519414199965242231noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531961815684918690.post-16089486766544478772009-12-07T22:28:14.006-06:002009-12-07T22:28:14.006-06:00You make a good point, Undercover-Princess. In a p...You make a good point, Undercover-Princess. In a perfect world, I would agree with you. However, in today's world, three years of law school and a license, while necessary to practice law, do little to teach law students how to use their staff. And there is very little consensus among lawyers as to what constitutes paralegal work. The ABA definition of a paralegal is broad and vague. I believe our goal should be collaboration. While lawyers inherently help define our roles and responsibilities, most lawyers, having never been paralegals themselves, are lacking the perspective of someone who has worked in this inbetween world. <br /><br />To use a cliche comparison, the roles of nurses may be defined by doctors in many necessary ways; nevertheless, nurses themselves are in control of their roles in a meaningful way. Likewise, I don't believe paralegals are setting standards in these associations just for the heck of it. We do so as a meaningful contribution to our field. I believe the men and women in these organizations participate and discuss not because it feels important but because it IS important. Our voices are necessary contributions to the discussion of the roles and responsibilities of paralegals. <br /><br />Lastly, we have to take control of defining our careers. While attorneys exist who are interested in defining the roles of paralegals and creating true standards, the vast majority are understandably only concerned with defining the roles and standards of their own paralegals while holding true to the already well-established standards for attorneys. And many of those individual attorneys have no idea where to start when setting ethical and educational standards for their staff. This is not because they don't care or because they are ignorant. It is simply because without well-established pre-set standards or years of painful trial and error, it is difficult to expect them to just know.ParaMelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08519414199965242231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531961815684918690.post-63676829204263812322009-12-07T20:11:37.694-06:002009-12-07T20:11:37.694-06:00Nice, but I do not think that we can "relinqu...Nice, but I do not think that we can "relinquish" anything from the very people that supervise us. I think it is a wonderful thing that we have set our own standards through organizations and just our own personal ethics, but we are not attorneys. Since attorneys are ultimately responsible for our actions it makes sense that they would be the individuals that help define the role and responsibilities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com