Rice Business Report July 2019 Rice Business report2xxzzzasa | Page 7

Paralegals: The Real Power of Attorney
By: Stacie Quinn
President, Houston Corporate Paralegal Association
May 14, 2019
Over the past decade, the desire to hire talented paralegals has
been a focus of in-house law departments and law firms. Com-
panies are able to depend on paralegals for work requiring insti-
tutional knowledge and law firms can bill their clients at a less
expensive rate when paralegals are utilized. Paralegals have the
ability to complete most tasks in a law organization as long as
the Canon’s set forth in the Code of Ethics published by the
State Bar of Texas, Paralegal Division are followed. Namely, the
Canon’s state that the paralegal cannot practice law and must abide by ethical conduct. The role of the
paralegal adds value to the attorney’s they support. A few of the tasks that can be performed include, but
are not limited to, interviewing clients, scheduling appointments, preparing documents, assisting with dis-
covery and performing legal research.
Attorneys should view the paralegals in their offices as an investment to their practice. A talented parale-
gal can anticipate what is needed in each case and can prepare the attorney at the on-set. This can be a
valuable quality for the attorney so that they can focus on the case or assignment. In order to develop and
sustain paralegals in this capacity, the attorney must delegate assignments that allow the paralegal to
grow. While this can be challenging for the attorney, it will be beneficial when the properly trained parale-
gal understands the processes and procedures. The paralegal’s ability to work on matters independently
will develop skills that will be useful for the attorney. The paralegal will be able to complete non-
substantive assignments, which will give the attorney more time to prepare the case.
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