What a Paralegal should know about Family Law
(423 Words)
A paralegal who works with a family lawyer must understand various aspects of family law. A paralegal’s exact role varies greatly by job thus the exact facets of the law they need to know will depend on the position.
Family law encompasses many different cases. According to Paralegal FAQ, paralegals may work on cases involving child custody, divorce, child welfare, state and local family law, domestic violence, child support, and marriage contracts. The paralegal may work as a liaison between the lawyer and client.
The first thing a paralegal must know in relation to family law is how to interview a client pertaining to this case. He or she may talk to the client. They may ask details about the case such as specifics of the marriage or parenting. They must carefully and correctly document the interview. If exact procedures are not followed, then problems can occur, so they must understand all of the rules, procedures and regulations regarding this.
A paralegal also needs to know how to investigate a family law case. They should know about the different pieces of evidence that might be necessary. This might include a marriage license or a divorce decrement. They also need to know how to locate missing witnesses that may need to testify in the case. He or she may have to learn how to search for assets that someone is trying to keep hidden. Divorces case often contain such circumstances.
The paralegal should understand the process of serving an individual. It may be his or her job to record this process as well as any problems that occur along the way.
A major part of a paralegal’s job is to aid in Discovery. There are various forms that must be filed in a divorce and other family law cases. These include Requests for Production of Documents and Interrogatories. Paralegals need to know how to create such forms as well as respond to ones that are presented to them.
They also need to know how to file and keep track of all of the different documents related to the family law case. It is vital that everything be organized so that the lawyer has everything at his or her disposal while meeting with the client or judge.
A paralegal may work for a lawyer, the government or a law office. They can provide valuable work that can save the lawyer time and money. It is important that they be well-versed in the various aspects of family law if they will be dealing with such cases.