Family Law Paralegal Tips

Good paralegals can handle a litany of tasks like the professionals they are and come out (relatively) unscathed, even in times of crisis, when the preparation of the process has irritated everyone and left patience behind to a limited extent. Our law firm is looking for a family law paralegal for our team. In this position, you will be responsible for conducting legal research, preparing legal documents and performing various administrative tasks around the office. You can also participate in interviews or obtain affidavits from clients. Our ideal candidate has an associate`s degree in paralegal studies and experience in family and divorce law. You must also have excellent research and communication skills, as you will play many roles within our firm. In addition to their impressive skills, they also put together a nice range of tips and tricks that allowed them to not only succeed, but also thrive in this pressure cooker environment. 5. Organize and manage client files.

After a few weeks of stuffing documents into a client`s file, the client tends to become disorganized and may start to take up too much space. Extract files to sort through duplicate documents, organize them for the lawyer, and ensure that everything included in them is a shared task that a family paralegal must complete prior to any hearing or meeting with a client. Family law is one of the most popular areas of law for paralegals, but what exactly does a paralegal do in family law? Below is a description of the 10 most common tasks of a family law paralegal. Corporate law, estate planning, family law, immigration, intellectual property law and real estate law are just some of the areas you can specialize in to increase your market value and earning potential. Have everything written down. The lawyers I worked with in family law were rude and pretended not to say anything. I learned to cover mine with traces of paper. I know that not all lawyers are like that, but even lawyers who oppose it.

Paper follows everything. Details have always been your thing, and you have a knack for remembering details, but good grades can`t be beaten. Good paralegals never go to a law firm without a notebook in their hand – and for good reason. Nothing can replace good note-taking. A chaotic day can turn the best minds into mush, so it`s always in your best interest to take good notes that you can refer to at any time. Good paralegals thrive on taking care of the details that most people would like to gloss-over. Organization, structure and order are part of their DNA, making their skills simply unmatched when it comes to managing mountains of paperwork, paperwork, and correspondence, keeping the team on time, and anticipating the needs of the lawyers they work for. The best money in the paralegal profession comes when you have become not only a competent paralegal, but also a specialist in your areas of law.

A paralegal specialization you gain through experience, education, or a mix of both immediately increases your value and makes you and your skills a hot commodity for law firms operating in this area of law. Lisa Martin is a family law paralegal with the law firm of Hanis Irvine Prothero, PLLC. If you have questions about a family law matter, you can reach them at 253-520-5000 or by email at [email protected]. To become a family law paralegal, you will need an associate`s degree or a professional certificate in paralegal studies. However, many employers will prefer a bachelor`s degree, especially if you have no experience in a legal environment. Since family law is a focused specialization, additional courses are required in certain legal subjects, including probate, divorce and custody. Many aspiring family law paralegals earn their bachelor`s degree in a related field and complete a certification program after graduation to complete the required subjects. In all cases, you need to keep abreast of legal issues relevant to family law. To give another example, the new « stamp duty » holiday announced in July 2020 will certainly greatly affect many families, as it was introduced to help homebuyers during the COVID-19 crisis. Redirect your emotions: Change the trajectory of your frustrated feelings and focus on what`s going well in your life.

Make a list of things you`re grateful for, including the smallest details of abundance (your health, family, friends, etc.). Gratitude is always better than anger. Sticking to an early work schedule is also a good example for the rest of the support staff, making sure you`re ready to go when the lawyers blow around the office and need your help putting everything together for the day`s appearances. Every minute counts if you`re a paralegal, so if you can steal time in the morning to get organized and ready for the day, you`re ready to dive into the chaos that the morning brings and save yourself a good deal of the stress. 2. Appointments and Hearings. A family lawyer is usually very busy, with many calendar hearings and appointments taking up most of the rest of their time, so managing the schedule can be much more difficult than it seems. The lawyer must have free time to work on client files and come back and make phone calls. Hearings can also often be cancelled or postponed and sometimes appear at times when new clients are already expected to meet with the lawyer. This requires either the postponement of the hearing or the postponement of all potential clients. Ensuring that all hearings, processes and appointments are on the calendar and in the right place can be challenging and requires proactive thinking. It can be very helpful to schedule a time at the beginning of the week to review client hearings, records and meetings on the calendar, and to verify that all are still ongoing and have not been postponed.

You can also send audience notifications to customers with audiences in the following week. Proactive calendar management ensures the office runs smoothly and your boss is chosen at the right time. 8. Customer Admission. Client admission may be done by family paralegals when the lawyer is not available or as part of a client`s first meeting with the lawyer. When onboarding customers, potential customers are asked to fill out a form containing basic contact and personal information, as well as a limited amount of information about their particular case. They then meet with a paralegal, a lawyer or both to discuss their case. The goal of client onboarding is to gather enough information from the client so that the lawyer can determine if they want to take over the case and what to do first if they accept it. Get the local rules handy and make sure you have the local forms you need in each folder.

If in doubt, go to the local rules page available for family court or the equivalent in your jurisdiction. What I tell every potential client when they come to the office is, « Don`t be afraid to ask a question. » It is not the job of a lawyer or paralegal to judge someone based on their lack of legal knowledge. Our job is to guide you through a difficult and complicated process. We want our clients to know that they can ask us anything so that they have a clear idea of the progress of their file. A standard job description for a paralegal really doesn`t do this profession justice. We`ve compiled the top 10 paralegal tips and tricks that successful paralegals should have in their professional toolbox. Whether you`re brand new to the field and starting a new job or have been around for years, you`ll certainly appreciate being able to add at least one of these tips and tricks to your repertoire: you never know when an opportunity presents itself, so take a rule from the playbooks of the most successful paralegals and make sure your resume is always updated and ready to go. Be used immediately. You and you alone are responsible for the course of your career, so always keep your eyes and ears open for the next big opportunity. You won`t be the first paralegal to take time for this company after work, and you certainly won`t be the first to reap the rewards of a strong tech skill set.

Document management is a big part of what paralegals should know, so mastering Google Drive and Dropbox should be at the top of your list. So what can clients do to help their lawyers achieve the desired outcome and security? Well, here are four paralegal tips to keep in mind when you get into your case. Here are our top five tips for success in family law, both personally and professionally. Any good paralegal needs time to recharge and refresh. You`ll spend a lot of time in the office when it`s time to get ready for the process, so during off-peak periods, do things that make you happy. Go to the gym, meet friends for a cocktail and make the most of your vacation. You`ll return a happier, more relaxed, and more competent version of yourself. 1. Answer the phone. This is the most common task for many paralegals.

Clients, potential clients, courts and opposing lawyers call all day, and it is the responsibility of paralegals to take calls and escalate them as needed. Most of the time, the lawyer won`t be immediately available for phone calls, so it`s important to get good phone messages when working as a family paralegal. Each message should include the caller`s name, phone number, and a full message that makes sense. Don`t be tempted to believe that if you don`t understand what the appellant wants, the lawyer will. Ask questions and make sure you know exactly what the appellant said and what the lawyer needs to do. Patience, tolerance and a good dose of humility can take you quite far in this profession.