Paralegals assist lawyers by researching legal precedent, investigating facts, or preparing legal documents, conduct research to support a legal proceeding to formulate defense, or to initiate legal action.
Tasks for Paralegal
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The Paralegals prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing system.
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The Paralegals prepare for trial by performing tasks such as organizing exhibits.
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The Paralegals prepare legal documents, including briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing statements.
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The Paralegals meet with clients and other professionals to discuss details of case.
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The Paralegals file pleadings with court clerk.
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The Paralegals gather and analyze research data, such as statutes, decisions, and legal articles, codes, and documents.
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The Paralegals call upon witnesses to testify at hearing.
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The Paralegals investigate facts and law of cases and search pertinent sources, such as public records, to determine causes of action and to prepare cases.
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The Paralegals direct and coordinate law office activity, including delivery of subpoenas.
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The Paralegals keep and monitor legal volumes to ensure that law library is up-to-date.
Knowledge for Paralegal
The Paralegal needs knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. The Paralegal needs knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process. The Paralegal needs knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming. The Paralegal needs knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Work Activities
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The Paralegal uses computers and computer systems including hardware and software to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
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The Paralegal observes, receives, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
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The Paralegal organizes, plans, and prioritizes work. They know that they must develop specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish their work.
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The Paralegal communicates with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
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The Paralegal provides information to supervisor to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
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The Paralegal complies, codes, categorizes, calculates, tabulates, audits or verifies information and data.
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The Paralegal enters, transcribes, records, stores, or maintains information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
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The Paralegal develops constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintains them over time.
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The Paralegal must keep up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
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The Paralegal identifies the underlying principles, reasons, or facts or information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
Abilities
The Paralegal needs the ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. The Paralegal needs the ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. The Paralegal needs the ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. The Paralegal needs the ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand. The Paralegal needs the ability to see details at close range within a few feet of the observer. The Paralegal needs the ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. The Paralegal needs the ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules for example patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, or mathematical operations. The Paralegal needs the ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
The Paralegal needs the ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways. The Paralegal needs the ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. The Paralegal must have the ability to talk to others to convey information effectively. They need the ability to understand the implications of new information for both current and future problem solving and decision making.