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paralegal

Category: Legal
Reports To:      

Job Description/Responsibilities
This position requires you to assist lawyers by researching law, investigating facts, and preparing documents.  You will also be expected to direct and coordinate the activities of law office employees.

Qualifications/Skills
To succeed at this job, you must be proficient in appraising and inventorying real and personal property for estate planning; filing pleadings with a court clerk; preparing affidavits of documents and maintaining document files; and researching and maintaining databases.

Education/Background
A Bachelor’s degree and/or paralegal certificate is required, with two to four years’ related experience.  Strong computer, organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills are necessary.

Please send [résumé and salary history/requirements] to:      

Job Description

paralegal

Category: Legal
Reports To:      

Job Description
Assists lawyers by researching law, investigating facts, and preparing documents.  Directs and coordinates the activities of law office employees.

Qualifications
•	Strong computer and organizational skills necessary.

•	Bachelor’s degree and/or paralegal certificate required, with two to four years’ related experience.

•	Strong verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills are critical.

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Duties
Percentage
of Job	Exemption
Classification	Duty	Essential Function	
     %	Non-Exempt	Researches and analyzes law sources, such as statutes, recorded judicial decisions, legal articles, and legal codes.	Y / N	
     %	Non-Exempt	Prepares legal documents, including briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and deeds, for review, approval, and use by lawyers.	Y / N	
     %	Non-Exempt	Appraises and inventories real and personal property for estate planning.	Y / N	
     %	Non-Exempt	Files pleadings with court clerk.	Y / N	
     %	Non-Exempt	Prepares affidavits of documents and maintains document files.	Y / N	
     %	Non-Exempt	Investigates facts and laws of cases to determine causes of action and to prepare cases appropriately.	Y / N	
     %	Non-Exempt	Maintains databases by organizing document control; designs retrieval systems; supervises the summarization, coding, and storage of documents; and updates system.	Y / N	
     %			Y / N	
     %			Y / N	

Exemption Analysis
Paralegal certification may generally be obtained through a two-year (or less) specialized course of study.  This does not qualify as a prolonged course of study that is contemplated by the Learned Professional (541.301) exemption.  The Learned Professional exemption does not apply.  Nor does the Administrative (541.200) exemption apply; as the duties are not directly related to management or general business operations.  Some of the terminology of the proposed 541 regulation led many observers to believe that paralegals would qualify for 541.301 exemption, but the final rule makes it clear that this occupation continues to be non-exempt.  An exception would be a paralegal who is also a Learned Professional (e.g., engineer) and who utilizes the professional expertise in the performance of specialized paralegal work.  See 541.301(e)(7).

In some instances, the administrator or office manager of a large law practice has paralegal certification and supervises, among others, the paralegals.  Executive (541.100) exemption then becomes a possibility, especially if the individual has hire/fire/promotion authority or recommendation capability, and the other requirements of 541.100 have also been met.  See also 541.700 and 541.102, 541.103, 541.104, 541.105, and 541.106.

Note: The Department of Labor (DOL) lent support and explanations to classifying paralegals in an opinion letter (FLSA2005-54).  Remember, opinion letters are situation-specific and should be used for informational purposes only.  In this case, the DOL reiterated that without a specialized education that correlates to specialized job responsibilities, no exemptions apply for paralegals.  It went on to say that not even an MBA with an accounting degree is exempt, because they aren’t necessarily performing tasks specifically relating to business or accounting.  But the DOL did point out that if a paralegal had an advanced degree in another professional field (e.g., engineering), and was hired to apply his/her advanced knowledge in that field as a primary duty of the paralegal position, then that person could qualify for the Learned Professional exemption.

Category Decision
The duties and responsibilities for this position have been analyzed.	
Manager:	Date:	
On that basis, this position has been judged to be        Exempt          Non-Exempt.	

Interview Questions

paralegal

Category: Legal
Reports To:      

	What experience do you have conducting legal research?  Tell me about your most and least successful assignments.
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	Tell me about a time you had to put in extra effort on a legal research project.  What were the results?
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	1	2	3	4	5

	What do you like most about working in a law office?  Least?
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	1	2	3	4	5

	Describe your familiarity with word processing and database software.  
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	1	2	3	4	5

	Do you have a preference among legal-oriented programs?
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	1	2	3	4	5

	What career goals have you set for the next five years?
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	Evaluate: Applicants’ answers will tell you what type of commitment they’re willing to make.
	1	2	3	4	5

	How do you keep informed about what’s happening in your field?
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	1	2	3	4	5

	Have you recently attended any conferences or seminars in the legal field?  What did you get out of them?
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	1	2	3	4	5

	How have you juggled simultaneous “high priority” assignments from two different lawyers?
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	1	2	3	4	5

	What makes you stand out among your peers?
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	1	2	3	4	5

Additional Questions
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Overall Impression
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Average Rating
1	2	3	4	5

Your Recommendation
	Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information

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Print Name

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Signature

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Date

APPLICANT COMPARISON FORM 

Date:      
	Evaluator:      	
Position:      		

Once you have completed the interview process, transfer the notes and rating tallies you completed to the chart below.

Candidates’ Names	Average Rating	Recommendation	Overall Impression	
1.      	1	2	3	4	5		Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information		
2.      	1	2	3	4	5		Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information		
3.      	1	2	3	4	5		Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information		

Candidates’ Names	Average Rating	Recommendation	Overall Impression	
4.      	1	2	3	4	5		Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information		
5.      	1	2	3	4	5		Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information		
6.      	1	2	3	4	5		Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information		
7.      	1	2	3	4	5		Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information		

Candidates’ Names	Average Rating	Recommendation	Overall Impression	
8.      	1	2	3	4	5		Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information		
9.      	1	2	3	4	5		Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information		
10.      	1	2	3	4	5		Hire
	Do Not Hire
	Second Interview
	Need More Information		

Comments:      

Evaluator’s Signature: