FLORIDA BILLS PUSH FOR LICENSING, DEFINITION OF PARALEGALS Companion bills in the Florida Legislature are currently under consideration to make Florida the first state in the country to require licenses for paralegals. The bills require the Florida Supreme Court to develop a licensing and continuing education scheme and make it a felony for unlicensed people to identify themselves...
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Well, isn't this encouraging news? Law firm sends out press release praising its paralegals!"Fayetteville, North Carolina-based law firm Hutchens, Senter & Britton, P.A., which specializes in foreclosure and civil litigation, announced that employees Lesley Cavenaugh, Dianne Dunn, and Aileen Gibson have qualified as North Carolina state bar certified paralegals. All three support the...
What the Michigan State Bar has to say about the utilization of legal assistants: "Article 1, Sec 6, of the Bylaws of the State Bar of Michigan defines 'legal assistant' for purposes of membership in the State Bar Legal Assistant Section as follows:"Any person currently employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency or other entity engaged in the practice of law, in a...
Well, yeah! This is indeed a welcome news article: "Paralegals are critical to improving the reputation of lawyers in the community. The legal profession still suffers from negative stereotypes and some do indeed think we're better off 'at the bottom of the sea,' as the lawyer joke goes. Paralegals can pull lawyers out of this muddy, messy, pool of disrepute by displaying the following...
Like the creativity involved in this paralegal's pursuit of a law degree, but truly enjoyed all the comments following the blog's post : "A Connecticut paralegal has sued the state’s bar exam committee because it won’t let him take the bar, despite his earning a degree from an unaccredited Internet correspondence law school.... "Mel Thompson took law courses at West Coast School of...
Another strong opinion about regulating Canadian paralegals: "Ontario has passed a law that will regulate paralegals. This is good news. Until now, what has it taken to be a paralegal? Call yourself one. That's it. No training required. No liability insurance. No minimum standards. No discipline for bad ones. "I've seen some good paralegals. I've seen some bloody awful ones too. Of...
This news is not a surprise, but it does sound like the battle continues: "Ontario became the first province in Canada to regulate paralegals Thursday, but many in the profession worry they could be forced out of business because they will be regulated by lawyers - the very people they compete against for most of their work. "The Liberal government had to use its majority to out-vote...
Love this news story! "Columbia Falls paralegal Jerry O’Neil and Whitefish attorney Mark Sullivan were the top vote-getters among four candidates for Flathead County Justice of the Peace in the June primary."Now they face off Nov. 7 for the judge job that will expand from part time to full time in January. Incumbent Dale Trigg is not running for re-election. "The Flathead...
Good news about a Seattle firm & its managing partner: "When Russell M. Aoki took a break from college and worked on the maintenance crew of a golf course, he discovered his calling. "Seniors who he met while on the job 'took me aside and encouraged me to go back to school and consider going to law school,' said Aoki, who was recently installed as one of the board of governors for...