Plan suggests ‘Florida registered paralegals’ April 1, 2006 Regular News Plan suggests ‘Florida registered paralegals’ Mark D. Killian Managing Editor Those wanting to hold themselves out as “Florida registered paralegals” would have to meet certain educational or experience criteria and complete continuing education requirements under a plan put forth by the Special Committee to Study Paralegal Regulation.Meeting in Tampa in March, the committee voted 16-2 to forward a recommendation to create a two-tier system for the state’s paralegals — which includes a disciplinary component — to the Board of Governors for consideration.The plan does not set forth the duties a paralegal may perform and makes no changes to the way lawyers charge or are awarded fees for services rendered by nonlawyers under their supervision, “such fees being based on the nature of the services rendered and not the title of the person rendering the service,” according to the proposal to create in Bar rules Ch. 20, the Florida Registered Paralegal Program.Chair Ross Goodman said while there was not “absolute unanimity on every point,” he is pleased with the proposal, which he says was the result of a lot of hard work between the lawyers and paralegals on the committee.“We were able to reach a compromise with the two-tier system and the paralegal community represented on the committee was very gracious in saying that this is a good step, a good approach, and worthwhile,” he said.Goodman said the recommendation is consistent with what is being done in other states and contains a grandfather clause that takes into account the situation of long-time paralegals who may not meet the educational components contemplated in the plan.Committee member Karen McLead, a former president of the Paralegal Association of Florida, Inc., said while the proposed rule does not include everything the paralegal community was seeking, “we are pretty excited about it.”“While it is still voluntary — no one will be required to put their credentials forward — they will be required to do so if they want to be registered with The Florida Bar and hold themselves out as a registered paralegal,” McLead said.Tier one would include all those who meet the current definition of a paralegal found in Bar Rule 10-2.1. That rule essentially holds a paralegal is a person qualified by 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 more stringent experience, educational, and continuing education criteria to be able to hold themselves out as a “Florida Registered Paralegal.”After the concept of a two-tier system was floated in January, committee member Johnna Phillips, president of the Paralegal Association of Florida, Inc., said the plan was put before PAF’s membership, where a “large percentage” expressed disappointment that part of the two-tier system still “allows basically anybody” to call themselves a paralegal under the tier-one designation.“We had some members that recognized the Bar would never go as far as we wanted them to go with mandatory regulation so they understood from a realistic standpoint that we probably would have to have this two-tier system in order to get any kind of standards at all,” Phillips said.Phillips, however, said she is hopeful that over time paralegals and lawyers will see the benefit of the plan.“I think the compromise takes away some of those concerns about telling attorneys how [and for whom] they can bill, but I also think it goes a long way toward increasing the professionalism of their staffs and helps the firm’s clients understand that somebody who is a FRP has demonstrated they have some superior skills,” Phillips said.McLead said while proposed Ch. 20 doesn’t contain mandatory criteria for a tier-one paralegal “we believe it is a very positive first step,” and much better than the committee’s first recommendation to create a voluntary section within the Bar for paralegals. She likened that to “nothing more than somewhat of a social club.”Rep. Juan Zapata, R-Miami, said because the paralegal community is pleased with the “overall spirit and direction of the proposed rule” there is no longer a need for him to push HB 395 this session. That bill — opposed by the Bar — would have set up a regulatory system for paralegals under the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.“I’m very happy with the progress and have complete faith in the Board of Governors that they will be able to move this forward and I’m hopful and confident it will meet with approval of the Supreme Court,” Zapata said, adding that if ultimately approved by the board, he would prefer it be sent to the court as a stand alone rule, not part of a rules package.“It really is an effort to bring professionalism to the profession and have it recognized as the profession that it is and have some minimal standards,” Phillips said, adding she thinks once the plan is in place lawyers will realize “they are getting a better product as a result of this.”The Recommendation Under the plan, a paralegal is defined as a person qualified by education, training, or work experience, who works under the direction and supervision of a member of The Florida Bar and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a member of the Bar is responsible.A “Florida registered paralegal” would be someone who meets the definition of paralegal and the requirements for registration, which include: • Educational and Work Experience Requirements A person may become a Florida registered paralegal by meeting one of the following education and paralegal work experience requirements: 1) A bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies from an approved paralegal program, plus a minimum of one year of paralegal work experience; or 2) A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution,plus a minimum of three years of paralegal work experience; or 3) An associate’s degree in paralegal studies from an approved paralegal program, plus a minimum of two years of paralegal work experience; or 4) An associate’s degree from an accredited institution, plus a minimum of four years of paralegal work experience; or 5) A juris doctorate degree from an ABA accredited institution, plus a minimum of one year of paralegal work experience. • Certification A person may become a Florida registered paralegal by obtaining one of the following certifications: 1) Successful completion of the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE certification as offered by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations) and good standing with NFPA; or 2) Successful completion of the Certified Legal Assistant/Certified Paralegal examination (CLA/CP certification as offered by the National Association of Legal Assistants “NALA”) and good standing with NALA. • Grandfathering A person who does not meet the education or certification requirements may become a Florida registered paralegal by providing attestation from an employing or supervising attorney(s) that the person has paralegal work experience for five of the eight years preceding the date of such attestation. This grandfather provision sunsets after three years.The proposed paralegal rule also contains an annual renewal component and an annual fee to be set by the Board of Governors.Those who would be ineligible for becoming a Florida registered paralegal include lawyers who are currently suspended or disbarred or who have resigned in lieu of discipline from the practice of law in any state or jurisdiction; those convicted of a felony whose civil rights have not been restored; those who have been found to have engaged in the unlicensed practice of law; those whose registration or license to practice by a professional organization, court, disciplinary board, or agency in any jurisdiction has been terminated or revoked for disciplinary reasons; those who no longer perform paralegal work; and those who fail to comply with prescribed continuing education requirements.In order to maintain the status of Florida registered paralegal, one must complete a minimum of 30 hours of continuing education every three years, five hours of which must be in legal ethics or professionalism.The recommendation will be reviewed by the Bar’s Rules, Budget, Program Evaluation, and Disciplinary Procedures committees and have a first reading before the Board of Governors at its April 7 meeting in Coral Gables. If ultimately endorsed by the board, the plan would then go to the Supreme Court for final action.“I think lawyers are going to realize the benefits of having this program is that they are going to have better trained paralegals; they are going to be able to identify the better paralegals in the hiring process; and the paralegals that they do have are going to get continuing education that is going to be a benefit to the lawyers and the law firms,” Goodman said.
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