Answer to Question 1
Paralegals may perform the following tasks:
Interviewing clients and witnessesto gather relevant facts and information about a lawsuit, for example.
Calendaring and tracking important deadlinessuch as the dates when certain documents must be filed with the court.
Conducting legal researchto identify, analyze, and summarize the appropriate laws, court decisions, or regulations that apply to a client's case.
Drafting legal documentssuch as legal correspondence, documents to be filed with the courts, and interoffice memoranda.
Other tasks that paralegals may perform include: conducting legal investigations, organizing and maintaining client files, and coordinating legal proceedings.
Answer to Question 2
The key elements of the ABA and NALA definitions of a legal assistant or paralegal include:
That a legal assistant or paralegal may be qualified by education, training, or work experiencethat is, persons can acquire through work experience, as well as education, the knowledge and skills necessary to perform paralegal tasks.
That a legal assistant or paralegal can be employed in a variety of settings by a single lawyer, a law office, a corporation, a governmental agency, or other entity.
That a legal assistant or paralegal performs work for which a lawyer is responsiblethat is, only a lawyer can give legal advice and the lawyer must adequately supervise the work of paralegals.
Example of the Tabular List and instructional notes (conventions).
Interpret Tabular List Conventions
Major back and shoulder muscles.
Summary of biosynthetic routes to the major prostaglandins and thromboxane A2
The Amounts of the Different Minerals in Your Body The major minerals are present in larger amounts
Major U.S. Centers of Cattle, Corn, Wheat, and Soybean Production