Q: What is a paralegal? What are the educational requirements? Is this a good occupation to pursue?
A: At this time, there is no set standard for a paralegal. It is an occupation that is being developed and defined. Generally, a paralegal is someone who performs legal work but is not a lawyer. Those functions include things like preparing documents for a real estate transfer and mortgage, preparing a will, and representing people in traffic and small claims court and immigration hearings.
It is common in many law offices for a secretary to prepare many of the documents required for a real estate deal, so we could say that many legal secretaries are also paralegals because they do a lot more than type and file. For example, a former secretary of mine now works for the City of Saskatoon prosecuting bylaw infractions.
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Some 4,000 such individuals have formed the Professional Paralegals Association of Ontario. Several such individuals have in the past been charged for practising law without being licensed under the Legal Professions Act.
There have been several studies in Ontario looking at what work paralegals should be allowed to do, their licensing and educational requirements. Currently, discussions are under way between the paralegals association, the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Ontario government about a system of licensing and accreditation of paralegals. Suggested areas that paralegals might be able to handle include small claims court, provincial offences in the Ontario Court of Justice, simple wills, simple incorporations, uncontested divorces and residential real estate deals where there is no mortgage or only one mortgage. Some issues still being considered are whether paralegals should be governed by the law society or their own organization and whether some functions should only be performed under the supervision of a lawyer. The advantage of using a paralegal is that services will generally been more affordable for routine and minor legal matters.
The paralegal profession is probably the furthest developed in Ontario. In some provinces such as Saskatchewan, from where you write, there are virtually no independent paralegals although there are many individuals working in law offices doing legal work under the supervision of a lawyer.
The Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario was formed in 1998. This organization defines a law clerk as “a trained professional doing independent legal work … under the direction and guidance of a lawyer and whose function is to relieve a lawyer of routine administrative matters and assist him in more complex matters.” The term legal assistant is also used to describe such individuals.
In British Columbia, notary publics are allowed to handle real estate transactions and prepare wills in addition to notarizing documents and swearing affidavits. With the exception of Quebec, notaries in other provinces do not have such powers.
The definition of paralegal work and educational requirements are still being defined. A number of vocational schools and community colleges offer courses for legal assistants and some gear their programs for preparing paralegals. An example of the latter is Humber College in Toronto, which offers a four year Bachelor of Applied Arts (Paralegal Studies).
Don Purich is a former practising lawyer who is now involved in publishing, teaching and writing about legal issues. His columns are intended as general advice only. Individuals are encouraged to seek other opinions and/or personal counsel when dealing with legal matters.