Proposals to test allowing non-lawyer ownership in law firms and for lawyers to split fees with nonlawyers have been unanimously opposed by the Bar Board of Governors, but the board was considering a scaled back idea on allowing an expanded role for Registered Florida Paralegals. The board at a special November 8 meeting took up…

By the time John Stewart, chair of the controversial Special Committee to Improve the Delivery of Legal Services, finished a three-hour session with the Board of Governors on October 26, board member Larry Sellers observed that Stewart now knew what it was like to have his deposition taken. The meeting was the second session where…

Tinkering with its proposed legal lab for testing innovative legal services and approving in concept supporting a pilot to allow supervised paralegals to provide more help to clients occupied the Special Committee to Improve the Delivery of Legal Services at its May 25 meeting. The committee is working to complete its final report, due to…

Miami paralegal Luigi Caldeira was 16, struggling with English, and cleaning law offices in New Jersey with his mother when he convinced a managing partner to take him on as a file clerk. It was a risky proposition for both. “I could barely string the words together, but she gave me a chance,” Caldeira recalls….

Even after more than 30 years in the profession, Margo Valenti never tires of the question she gets nearly every day — what’s a paralegal? She prefers using a medical analogy to help explain that a paralegal isn’t a lawyer — but a professional who is trained to help lawyers serve the public more effectively…

Florida Lawyers Helpline eligibility will be expanded to include nearly 5,000 members of the Florida Registered Paralegal Program, the Board of Governors has decided. Budget Committee Chair Melissa VanSickle urged board members to approve a $3,600 budget amendment that would cover the cost of expanding eligibility for the final six months of FY 2020-2021. “It’s…

Almost 900 people attended the Florida Registered Paralegal Enrichment Committee’s virtual seminar, “How to Prepare for Trial When the Client Is Innocent, and the Deck Is Stacked Against Them: The Brenton Butler Murder Trial,” at the recent Florida Bar Annual Convention. Frank Digon-Greer, assistant director of programs at The Florida Bar, along with paralegal Asha…

After months of study, the Board of Governors has decided to postpone weighing in on an Access to Civil Justice Commission proposal to create an “Advanced Florida Registered Paralegal.” At a June 17 video-conference meeting, the board voted unanimously to postpone accepting a Rules Committee recommendation that the board “generally” support the proposal, which is…

(Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to more thoroughly explain the concerns the Rules Committee and some Florida Bar sections have expressed about a proposal from the Supreme Court’s Commission on Access to Civil Justice to amend Bar rules to create “Advanced Florida Registered Paralegals.”) A proposed rule that would allow “Advanced Florida Registered…

The U.S. Small Business Administration is actively recruiting lawyers and paralegals to review and close SBA Disaster Loans for small business owners in need of COVID-19 disaster assistance relief. “To get right to the point, we have an urgent need to hire attorneys and paralegals,” said Patricia Gibson, a senior advisor at the SBA, adding the…

Lawyers worried that “Advanced Florida Registered Paralegals” would improperly advise clients about complex family law, will, or other issues. Paralegals were concerned the “advanced” label was too broad. There was agreement about the need for more help for people with legal problems who cannot afford lawyers. The venue was the March 11 meeting of the…

Review of a proposal under consideration by the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice to create a new category of Advanced Florida Registered Paralegals to provide limited legal assistance to some limited-represented litigants has been delegated for further study by the Bar Board of Governors. President John Stewart announced at the board’s January 31…

Sixty-two percent of Florida law firms use paralegals and 51 percent of those say their paralegals averaged more than 1,000 billable hours last year, according to The Florida Bar’s 2018 Economics and Law Office Management Survey. The survey also found that 16 percent of respondents who work in firms with paralegals report their offices require…