Do paralegals qualify as being exempt from overtime pay requirements?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

That depends on whom you ask. Despite the changes in the regulations, including those specifically addressed to paralegals, many law firms still view their paralegals and legal assistants differently than
does the Department of Labor. Before the 2004 revisions, the now repealed 29 C.F.R. § 541.314, which covered the professional exemptions (lawyers, doctors, educators), stated those exemptions do not apply to employees in related professions who “…merely serve these professions.”
Since confusion over the prior version of the regulations led to multiple interpretations, the
Department of Labor tightened the language, leaving little doubt that the U.S. government
considers paralegals deserving of overtime. Section 314(e)(7) directly addresses paralegal
and legal assistants, finding that they “generally do not qualify as exempt learned
professionals because an advanced specialized academic degree is not a standard prerequisite
for entry into the field.” Later, however, that subsection acknowledges that some paralegals
possess four-year degrees or higher, and it then provides a limited learned-professional
exemption for “paralegals who possess advanced specialized degrees in other professional
fields and apply advanced knowledge in that field in the performance of their duties.”
(Emphasis added) Id. Illustrating what that sentence means, the regulation mentions someone
who would be exempt from the overtime requirement: an engineer who is working as a
paralegal, giving expert advice on product liability or patent matters. That example provides
little leeway for firms to classify their paralegals and legal assistants as exempt from
overtime pay, at least under the learned professional exemption, which is the most natural
exemption for such employees.
The Department of Labor issues opinion letters written to answer question about the
regulations, and a few opinion letters sent after the regulations changed in 2004 affirm the
Department of Labor’s conclusion that paralegals must be paid overtime. In an opinion letter
issued December 16, 2005, a law firm asked whether any of its six paralegals could be
exempt from overtime pay under either the professional or administrative exemptions (to be
discussed below). Noting that the educations for the paralegals ranged from associate’s
degrees to an M.BA., the Department of Labor still ruled against the firm on the professions
exemption, finding that only the paralegal with the M.B.A. (and who passed the C.P.A.
exam) might qualify as exempt, except that paralegal was a conventional paralegal who did
not use her M.B.A. in a distinct or expert fashion at the firm. FLSA 2005-54 (December 16,
2005). Other opinion letters issued in 2005 and 2006 reaffirm the view that paralegals are not
exempt from overtime pay. FLSA 2006-27 (July 24, 2006), FLSA 2005-9 (January 7, 2005).