Paralegal Definition

GLOSSARY

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What does Paralegal mean?

The term paralegal is used to describe an individual who is employed in a legal services firm under the supervision of qualified lawyers to carry out legal work.

There is no legally recognised qualification of “paralegal” and paralegals are not authorised persons within the meaning of the Legal Services Act 2007. There are several organisations which promote the interests of paralegals by, for example, offering training.

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Applying for a freezing injunction—checklist

Applying for a freezing injunction—checklist Applying for a freezing injunction is not straightforward. Due to the draconian nature of the relief, there are many procedural and substantive hurdles that must be overcome in order to convince a court to interfere with a respondent’s ability to deal with their own assets. Matters are often complicated by the need to act quickly and seek urgent relief so as to prevent the imminent dissipation of assets. The Checklist below is intended as a starting point, listing various key matters which you should consider with your client when preparing for and making the application. It is designed for use in a pre-issue, without notice application for a domestic or worldwide freezing injunction against a proposed defendant. For more detailed, general guidance on applying for a freezing injunction, see Practice Notes: • Freezing injunctions—guiding principles • Freezing injunctions—the application Pre-application considerations Before making an application for a freezing injunction it is important that the client fully understands and is prepared for the scale of the...

Preparing for a remote hearing in international arbitration—checklist

Preparing for a remote hearing in international arbitration—checklist When preparing for a remote (virtual) hearing in arbitration proceedings there are many logistical and practical considerations to be taken into account, planned and, often, budgeted for. This Checklist should help ensure the key aspects of a remote hearing have been considered in advance so the process runs as smoothly as possible. This Checklist refers to both fully-remote hearings (when all participants are appearing remotely) and hybrid hearings (when some of the participants are present at the same location while the others are appearing remotely). Where relevant, specific considerations in relation to those two forms of hearing are set out in this Checklist. While they can bear different meanings and some practitioners have preferences for one or the other, the terms remote and virtual are used interchangeably for the purposes of this Checklist. This Checklist contemplates the requirements of merits, rather than procedural, remote hearings, although some of the points made will be relevant to both hearing types. This Checklist assumes that...

Pensions News Analysis—Brexit toolkit [Archived]

Pensions News Analysis—Brexit toolkit [Archived] ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note sets out links to relevant News Analysis on Brexit published by the Pensions team and available in the Brexit toolkit. It is not maintained and is for background information only. Pensions Brexit News Analysis Date News Analysis Brief description of News Analysis 14 July 2020 An attractive regime for governing jurisdiction post-Brexit The UK recently requested to join the Lugano Convention 2007 (Lugano Convention), which is the UK’s preferred regime for governing questions of jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments with EU countries post-Brexit. These rules will be critically important for all parties when they consider which jurisdiction clauses to include in their contracts. Oliver Browne, Sebastian Seelmann-Eggebert and Thomas Watret, partners and associate at Latham & Watkins LLP explain what the Lugano Convention is, provide an update on recent developments in the accession process, and highlight some important differences between the Lugano Convention and the current regime. 13 July 2020 Retained EU law and lower...

Privilege and intellectual property

Privilege and intellectual property Privilege—the basic principles This Practice Note outlines some of the issues that general privilege principles raise for IP practitioners, along with particular statutory IP privilege rules to be aware of. It is not designed to set out the general law of privilege but it is worth expanding on some basic principles. Privilege arises from the need for a client and lawyer to have candid communications on how to protect the client’s interests, without those being discloseable to an opposing party or to the court. While the following are not the only types of privilege, the two main types to be concerned with in the IP sphere are ‘legal advice privilege’ and ‘litigation privilege’. The rules of each, as evolved through case law, can have very different practical effects. These two types of privilege are sometimes collectively called ‘legal professional privilege’ but this language is confusingly similar to ‘legal advice privilege’ and so will not be used again in this note. Understanding the differences between legal...

Discover our 37 Practice Notes on Paralegal

Pro bono opportunity assessment form

Pro bono opportunity assessment form Every pro bono opportunity should be assessed against this checklist to get a clear understanding of whether it is the right type of project, case or initiative for our organisation. A: Opportunity details Summarise the pro bono opportunity [Insert brief details, eg to form an ongoing partnership with the local legal advice centre and provide volunteer lawyers to help run a legal advice clinic] How did this opportunity arise? [Insert details, eg one of our trainee lawyers used to volunteer at this advice centre and has been approached by her contact to see if the organisation would be interested in providing it with ongoing support] Does this opportunity tie into the organisation’s values and ethics? ☐ Yes☐ No Will this opportunity help the organisation achieve any of its strategic goals? ☐ Yes—state which goal(s)☐ No Is the customer/client an existing customer/client? ☐ Yes—enter customer/client name☐ No B: Scope and resource requirements What is the scope of this pro bono opportunity? [Describe what...

Recognised training contract—trainee solicitor [Archived]

Recognised training contract—trainee solicitor [Archived] ARCHIVED: This Precedent has been archived and is not maintained. From 1 September 2021, candidates can only qualify via the training contract route if they satisfy the SRA’s transitional requirements. Otherwise, they must qualify via the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), for information on which see Practice Note: The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Recognised Training Contract dated [insert date] Parties 1 [Insert name of firm] [of [insert address] OR an LLP incorporated in [England and Wales] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at [insert address]] (the 'Firm'); and 2 [Insert name of trainee solicitor] of [insert address] (‘you’). 1 Purpose of the contract 1.1 The purpose of this contract is to set out the principal duties and responsibilities of the Firm and of you in accordance with the SRA Standards and Regulations (the ‘Standards and Regulations’)[ and the guidance for law firms published by the SRA]. This contract also contains the particulars required for a written statement under section 1 of...

Dive into our 7 Precedents related to Paralegal

Does qualifying work experience for the solicitors qualifying examination need to be paid work?

Does qualifying work experience for the solicitors qualifying examination need to be paid work? This Q&A considers whether work experience must be paid in order for it to count towards the Solicitors Qualification Examination (SQE) requirement for Qualifying Work Experience (QWE). What is QWE? In order to qualify as a solicitor under the SQE, a candidate must: • have a UK degree in any subject (or a qualification or experience that is equivalent to a degree—this would include a solicitor apprenticeship) • pass two SQE assessments, and • complete two years’ full-time (or full-time equivalent) QWE See Practice Note: The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). QWE is real life experience of providing legal services. It can be obtained from working in up to four different organisations providing legal services, and these do not need to be authorised training providers. According to the SRA, QWE could include, eg: • placements undertaken as part of an undergraduate degree • work in voluntary or charitable organisation, or a law centre

Can a paralegal exchange contracts for residential purchase?

Can a paralegal exchange contracts for residential purchase? This question considers the capacity of a paralegal to exchange contracts for a residential sale and purchase. It is common practice for exchange of contracts to take place by telephone in accordance with the Law Society Formulae for exchanging contracts by telephone (the Formulae). The process of exchange generally, and the use of the Formulae more specifically, will involve the giving and/or accepting of undertakings (eg, to forward the respective signed parts of the contract to the other party on the day of exchange). The Law Society Formulae state they can only be used by ‘solicitors [and] those licensed by an appropriate professional body to undertake conveyancing’. No mention is made of paralegals. Furthermore, whether the

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USA—state of the states’ AI legal ethics landscape

Law360 : Generative artificial intelligence platforms (ranging from ChatGPT to more specialised legal tools) have numerous applications in the legal profession.

Corporate Crime weekly highlights—6 June 2024

This week's edition of Corporate Crime weekly highlights includes analysis of the ongoing extradition case of Julian Assange, of the expansion of the criminal investigation into the Post Office Horizon scandal and of the fact that the new failure to prevent fraud offence is unlikely to become law before 2025. Also included is news of the passing of Scottish legislation that will automatically exonerate sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted due to the faulty Horizon IT system, of the National Crime Agency's role in uncovering a bribery scheme in Moldova that helped criminals avoid detection by Interpol’s Red Notice system and of the sentencing of money launderers for a £1m fraud following an investigation by National Trading Standards.

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