Describe who has adopted guidelines for the utilization of paralegals and, briefly, the content of their guidelines

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Answer 1

NALA, the ABA, and many of the states have adopted guidelines for the utilization of paralegal services. These guidelines were created in response to questions concerning the role and function of paralegals within the legal arena that had arisen in earlier years, including the following: What are paralegals? What kinds of tasks do they perform? What are their professional responsibilities? How can attorneys best utilize paralegal services? What responsibilities should attorneys assume with
respect to their assistants' work?
NALA's Model Standards and Guidelines for the Utilization of Paralegals provides
guidance on several important issues. It begins by listing the minimum qualifications that legal assistants should have and then, in a series of guidelines, indicates what paralegals may and may not do. The ABA's Model Guidelines for the Utilization of Paralegal Services indicates, among other things, the types of tasks that a lawyer may not delegate to a paralegal and, generally, the responsibilities of attorneys with respect to paralegal performance and compensation.
Most states have adopted some form of guidelines concerning the use of legal assistants by attorneys, the respective responsibilities of attorneys and legal assistants in performing legal work, the types of tasks paralegals may perform, and other ethically challenging areas of legal practice.
Although the guidelines of some states reflect the influence of NALA's standards and guidelines, the state guidelines focus largely on state statutory definitions of the practice of law, state codes of ethics regulating the responsibilities of attorneys, and state court decisions. Paralegals should be sure to become familiar with their state's guidelines.