First of all, we should know exactly who is a paralegal. A paralegal is an assistant to an attorney or a lawyer. A paralegal does the research work for his employer. He gathers information, analyzes them, summarizes them, and then presents them to his attorney. A paralegal attends corporate meetings on the behalf of his employer. He coordinates client meetings. He carries out the day-to-day function of trials and hearing. He coordinates all the loose ends for his lawyer. He fills in all the forms and makes sure that all the documents are in order.
There are many things are to be considered before hiring a divorce paralegal service. Let us discuss them one by one:
Prerequisites of hiring a Divorce Paralegal service
Hiring a paralegal for divorce can be considered only if all the following requirements are met by the clients:
- There should be divorce by mutual consent only.
- There should be no children involved.
- There should be no long-term financial obligations to be settled.
- There should be no major distribution of property be involved.
Once the above requirements are met, next comes qualities that one should look for in a Divorce Paralegal or Legal Document Assistant.
Qualities of a Divorce Paralegal
- A Divorce Paralegal should be well qualified to handle the case.
- A Divorce Paralegal should be registered with the proper authorities.
- A Divorce Paralegal should be presentable.
- A Divorce Paralegal should be prompt in answering the phone calls and emails of his clients.
- A Divorce Paralegal should have a well-organized office workplace.
- A Divorce Paralegal should behave well with his fellow workers and employees.
- A Divorce Paralegal should have a sympathetic ear for his clients.
- A Divorce Paralegal should be an assistant to a very good divorce lawyer so he has more work experience.
Things a Divorce Paralegal can do for his clients:
There are many functions which a Divorce Paralegal can perform such as:
- A Divorce Paralegal can file the case on behalf of his client in the court of law.
- A Divorce Paralegal can properly fill the forms of his clients.
- A Divorce Paralegal can make sure that all the documents are presented properly.
- A Divorce Paralegal can make sure that all needful pieces of evidence are presented before the court of law.
- A Divorce Paralegal will remind you of all the important dates well in advance so as to help his clients clear their schedules.
- A Divorce Paralegal will cost way less than a divorce lawyer so should be very cost-effective.
Things a Divorce Paralegal cannot do for his clients
A Divorce Paralegal cannot perform following functions as he is not a lawyer.
- A Divorce Paralegal cannot appear in front of the court.
- A Divorce Paralegal cannot give legal assistance to his clients.
- A Divorce Paralegal cannot contest a divorce court case
- A Divorce Paralegal is not a lawyer so his area of expertise is very limited.