What is a Paralegal?

I have had a really tough time writing my blog post for this past week! I honestly did not do much at my internship this week, as nothing too interesting was going on. As I was thinking of what to write about since I had no cool story, I realized that I get the most communication with one of the paralegals at the office.

Going into my SRP, I found myself asking "What exactly is a Paralegal?" I knew that they helped out the attorneys, but I did not know much other than that -- so I am here to tell you. A paralegal, by definition, is a person trained in subsidiary legal matters but not fully qualified as an attorney. No, a paralegal is not a secretary for attorneys - these completely separate, but both important jobs.

Basically, paralegals often do documentation, research, and writing for the lawyers that they work for. For example, they have to write audit response letters for their attorneys clients. These are letters saying how much they company owes in legal fees, and how much they have paid already for the year. One of the main things that I have learned about being a paralegal is that you have to be organized. They usually put everything in labeled binders to be easily found an accessible. Paralegals have many responsibilities that are incredibly vital to the success of the attorneys they work for.

Speaking of binders, one project I had over the week was to help tear all of the papers from a case that settled out of the binders to be shredded. This case, which I believe began in 2010, had at least 1.5 million pieces of paper in it held in huge 5 inch binders (don't quote me on that). In the end 12 trash bins were filled with papers to be shredded (I only filled about one and a half alone). This took up quite a bit of time.

Update on the TV show front:
I should be moving on to watching some of my other shows so I don't run out of time, but I am seriously hooked on suits! I definitely recommend this show! It is pretty dramatic compared to real life and the amount of time they spend in court is way exaggerated, but I find it truly entertaining. Also, I think it does a good job of displaying the difficulty of working in the legal field and how much time work takes up, especially for someone just entering the field.

On a side note, I have decided that in order to gain one more perspective into the media and the legal field, I am going to read a book or two about law. My first choice is John Grisham's "The Pelican Brief." I will write a review/comparison when I have finished it.

Thanks for reading! Talk to you soon.