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Office Party Etiquette
Board Approves Proposal from the Special Committee to Study Paralegal Regulation
A two-tier plan for regulating paralegals has been approved by The Florida Bar Board of Governors and will be forwarded for review by the Supreme Court. June 2, 2006 the Board approved the proposal by the Special Committee to Study Paralegal Regulation. The Committee is comprised of attorneys, paralegals and legal educators and has been working on this issue since August 2005. This proposal would create Chapter 20 in the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar.
The plan sets two tiers, one for paralegals as they presently exist in the Bar rules, and the second tier will be for registered paralegals. Under the two-tier system, the first tier would encompass paralegals based on the definition in Bar Rule 10-2.1, as someone with education, training, or work experience who, under the supervision of a lawyer, performs delegated substantive work for which the lawyer is responsible. Tier two paralegals would have to meet education and experience requirements or be certified by the National Association of Legal Assistants or the National Federation of Paralegal Associations and then could hold themselves out as ìFlorida Registered Paralegals.î They would also have to meet continuing education requirements.
Paralegals who can show five years of substantial experience, but who do not meet the education or certification requirements can be grandfathered in to become registered paralegals, under the proposal. That provision is limited to the first three years of the program.
The proposed rule also creates a disciplinary system and a code of ethics for paralegals. It was also reviewed and approved by the Disciplinary Review, Program Evaluation and Rules committees. By retaining the definition of paralegals based on the language in Chapter 10 of The Bar Rules, it allows lawyers to retain control of who is considered a paralegal in their law firms. And by setting standards to be a ìFlorida Registered Paralegalî, it encourages paralegals to meet minimum education, training, and continuing education standards ñ and law forms to encourage their paralegals to meet those standards.
The proposal as adopted by the board must be reviewed by the Supreme Court in a rule amendment petition.
