What Does a Paralegal Do From Day to Day?

A paralegal is a legal professional who does a lot of the same tasks performed by attorneys, although a paralegal is restricted in certain tasks because he or she is not a licensed attorney. For instance, a paralegal is not allowed to give legal advice to clients or present cases in court.

Although the question begs, what does a paralegal do from day to day? A paralegal's duties will differ depending on what type of law firm or corporation he or she works for, but the paralegal profession, regardless of the type of law, will likely include a lot of legal writing. Paralegals are often responsible for drafting contracts and agreements related to their area of law.

Here are some examples of different types of paralegal professions and what some of their duties may include:

Real Estate Paralegal
The duties of a real estate paralegal may include reviewing due diligence items for real estate property, drafting contractor agreements, drafting lease, rental, and sales agreements and other real estate related tasks. If a paralegal works in the legal department of a large corporation, then there may be duties involving the leasing of retail and office space, advertising and billboard space, and similar commercially related tasks. Real estate paralegals may also be involved with working in environmental law if the firm or company specializes in real estate development.

Entertainment Law Paralegal
Entertainment law is a subspecialty of business law, but, like with any subspecialty, there are paralegals who choose to specialize. Entertainment law paralegals will likely draft talent, distribution, and work agreements, become involved with music talent negotiations, and other types of agreements that are common to the entertainment industry. As with any type of paralegal profession, discretion is a key component of legal work, and entertainment law is no exception.

Probate Paralegal
A probate paralegal will be heavily involved with matters related to estates such as wills, trusts, deeds, beneficiaries, insurance, and similar items. Probate paralegal may need to interact with a variety of other industries, such as financial and insurance firms. A probate paralegal will need to be comfortable working with people from all backgrounds and even people who may have lost a loved one recently.

Nurse Paralegal
A nurse paralegal may work at a law firm that specializes in medical malpractice or perhaps in an insurance company. Nurse paralegals are valued because of their experience in the medical field. They are often relied on to read and comprehend medical reports and insurance claims. Some nurse paralegals transition into becoming legal nurse consultants. Legal nurse consultants are contracted by law firms and companies to help understand cases that involve injuries, medical malpractice, and other medical related cases.

From the above summaries, it becomes apparent that it is difficult to give a clear answer to the relatively simple question: what does a paralegal do? Paralegal duties vary from one area of law to the next and certainly vary from day to day and case to case.

Gloria Franklin runs http://www.paralegalcareerpath.com, a comprehensive website that seeks to answer the questions revolved around the paralegal profession. She cover topics related to paralegal salaries, common paralegal duties, paralegal work skills, and more.