A fine distinction

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of paralegals working in the legal sector at the same time as the market has seen a hardening in decisions by law firms to award training contracts. Meanwhile the Law Society has announced a scoping study into qualifications for paralegals. ILEX Tutorial College offers elements of its legal executive qualification route to those wishing to become paralegals and the Open University provides NVQs in Legal Advice.

At the same time, the SRA has developed desired outcomes for the period of work-based learning proposed to replace the training contract and for “day one” of a solicitor’s career; Skills for Justice offers a series of National Occupational Standards for Legal Advice and the Institute of Paralegals promotes a series of competence frameworks specifically for paralegals.

Attention

So, why this increasing focus on paralegals? Who are all these “paralegals”; what are they qualified to do and does the “para” in paralegal mean “side by side”