Organisation in Focus - September 2006

The Institute is a wholly independent, not-for-profit, professional body created to provide paralegals with recognition, standards, training, accreditation, regulation, support and career development.

Incorporated in 2003 as the Paralegal Association, the government granted it institute status in 2005, with its application being supported by (amongst others) the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

The Institute is keen to correct the confusion within the legal profession about who is a paralegal. It uses the term ‘paralegal’ as the general professional description for non-lawyers (i.e. people who are not solicitors or barristers) who work in, or with, the law - regardless of job title. 

There are some 500,000 paralegals in the UK, of which about 10% work in law firms.

Most paralegals outside of the legal profession are employed as administrators, caseworkers, complaint handlers, compliance officers, etc. But regardless of job title, if they spend a significant amount of time applying, administering, interpreting, monitoring, enforcing or advising on the law then they may also be a paralegal.

Members of the Institute work in most industries and professions.  Examples of paralegal jobs include:

- Caseworkers

- Claims assessors

- Company secretaries

- Contracts managers

- Court staff

- Enforcement officers

- Health & safety officers

- HR administrators

- Insurance claims staff

- Investigators

- Law clerks

- Probation staff

- Regulatory body staff

- Trading standards staff

All paralegals have one thing in common - they are qualified through education, training and/or work experience to perform substantive legal work that requires knowledge of the legal system and legal concepts.  Frequently, but not always, paralegals do work that might otherwise be performed by a solicitor or barrister.

Members can join the Institute in one of three main categories:

Student:                     studying, but not practising

Associate:                  practising paralegal

Fellowship:                 This confers Certified Paralegal status and is open to experienced practitioners

Corporate memberships are also available.

Members have to comply with a Code of Conduct and undertake Continuing Professional Development. 

The Institute is actively involved in diversity work, working to remove some of the subtle barriers that stop many bright people from BME communities entering the legal profession. The institute’s work on diversity includes:

 

• Partnering the Commission for Racial Equality to produce the 2006 Paralegal Awards (see www.paralegalawards.org) which celebrate both diversity and professional excellence. Nominations for the awards are now open and sponsorship opportunities are available.

 

• Hosting an ‘off the record” lunch so that various organisations such as the Black Solicitors Network, Society of Asian Lawyers, Legal Services Commission, the Law Society, the Bar Council, Association of Muslim Lawyers and others could speak fully and frankly to the Department for Constitutional Affairs

 

• Working with a variety of concerned organisations to try and create an excellent and relevant diversity training programme to offer to firms with a significant portion of the income going into a diversity fund to pay for other diversity initiatives

 

• Being a member of the Carter Diversity Group

 

• Establishing a new national training framework, the first part of which tackles the lack of entry routes into the profession for BME would-be lawyers/paralegals.  From September 2006, schools and Colleges of Further Education nationwide will be able to offer a fully vocational BTEC in Law & Legal Work. This is government subsidised, and written with the intention of making students highly employable. The BTEC does not have textbooks – students work through real life case files instead.  

 

• Being fully supportive of the work of the Black Lawyers Directory (BLD).

 

• Writing to all Colleges of Further Education, legal recruitment companies, university law schools, local law societies and others about making the magistracy more diverse and inviting BME students to consider becoming part-time Citizens Advice volunteer advisers. 

 

• Working on a national schools mooting competition that will particularly focus on schools in BME communities

 

For more information about the Institute, please visit www.InstituteofParalegals.org or telephone 020 7887 1420.