What Are the Options?
The National Association of Legal Assistants identified thirty-six areas of legal specialization in its 2002 Report. Not all of those are available in every area. For example, specialties in international law or immigration law tend to be concentrated in large metropolitan areas. Generally speaking, the narrower the specialty, the more likely that it is limited to paralegals in large firms in large cities.
The most popular specialties are still civil litigation, wills and probate, real estate, and family law. Those areas of the law are discussed elsewhere. There are, however, several other specialties that deserve mention.
Fact
Legal specialty areas are often quite broad. This tends to hide the great variety of legal issues included in the specialty. For example, the specialty of civil litigation encompasses all kinds of litigation, including auto accidents, product liability, medical malpractice, construction litigation, employment litigation, commercial disputes, and contract matters. There may be many opportunities for variety even with a specialty.
Employment Law
The term
Contract considerations are becoming more common in the employment arena. Employers who deal with unions have always had contracts that define nearly every aspect of the employment relationship. Nonunion employers sometimes seek the same arrangement with their employees. This process often involves checking to ensure that proposed contract provisions do not conflict with statutory requirements, or drafting personnel policies that help define the employment relationship. In some cases, an employer will negotiate a separate contract with a highly valued employee that requires careful drafting.
Statutes and administrative regulations govern many parts of the employer-employee relationship. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration govern workplace safety; the Fair Labor Standards Act controls wage rates, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulates responses to complaints of workplace discrimination. Both employers and employees require assistance resolving disputes in these areas.
Medical and Health Law
The medical and health law field also covers a variety of subspecialties. Law firms, insurance companies, medical providers, and government agencies are all involved in the delivery of health care services. The delivery of services and the charges for those services are heavily regulated. Paralegals provide assistance in assuring compliance with applicable statutes and regulations.
The cost of health care claims is a matter of concern for some insurance companies. These companies often employ paralegals with medical training to review a patient's history and treatment to determine whether the patient is eligible for services. These paralegals also review medical records to assist the insurance companies in controlling claim costs.
When there is a bad result from medical care, the patient may sue the doctor or nurse in a medical malpractice lawsuit. These lawsuits often center on the contents of the medical records and the opinions of expert medical witnesses. Law firms regularly employ legal nurse consultants (paralegals with a nursing background) to assist in evaluating these claims.
Bankruptcy Law
Federal bankruptcy law offers insolvent debtors the opportunity to obtain protection from creditors and relief from debt. The bankruptcy system is a separate court system with separate rules and regulations. These regulations are often highly technical. The bankruptcy process requires the filing of certain forms at certain times and compliance with requirements regarding disclosure of debts and assets.
The field of bankruptcy law offers great opportunities for paralegals. Both debtors and creditors need assistance to protect their interests in a bankruptcy proceeding. Paralegals are often assigned the responsibility of interviewing the client, obtaining the information required by the court to file a petition for bankruptcy or a claim of a creditor, reviewing the information provided by the client, and preparing the appropriate forms for filing with the court. Recent changes in the bankruptcy law have created even more opportunities for paralegal involvement in the bankruptcy process.
Intellectual Property Law
Intellectual property is the product of the creative imagination of the mind. This field of law deals with the protection of a person's interest in the arts and ideas. There are three distinct areas of intellectual property law:
Copyright law protects literary and artistic works from unauthorized use by others.
Trademark law protects business from misappropriation of identifying marks and symbols.
Patent law protects the interests of inventors in receiving the benefit of their work.
Intellectual property rights are somewhat different from other property rights, because misappropriation is so easy. Proof of rights in intellectual property is often difficult. Furthermore, intellectual property rights can survive the death of the owner. Paralegals working in this area are highly specialized and often spend much of their time working on very narrow issues of law and interpretation.
Environmental Law
Both federal and state governments have enacted statutes designed to protect the environment. These statutes protect us from pollution, provide for cleanup of polluted sites, specify protected habitats, and preserve the nation's natural resources. Environmental law, usually practiced before administrative agencies, is divided into compliance and enforcement. Corporations, developers, environmental watchdog groups, local governments, and citizens are all concerned with compliance. Developments must meet environmental requirements; procedures for hazardous waste disposal are specified, and permit applications must be completed. Paralegals are involved in all aspects of compliance for all interested parties.
If there is a breach in compliance, enforcement is required. Paralegals may be involved in reviewing the evidence of noncompliance and in drafting a settlement of the charges. If litigation results, paralegals provide litigation support.
Other Developing Areas
There are many other growing areas of the law. Whether a particular specialty is available in your area depends on the nature of the specialty and the needs of the clients. Most areas of the law develop in response to client demand.
The 2002 Report of the National Association of Legal Assistants shows certain specialties have had the greatest growth in the number of respondents designating the area of law as a specialty — entertainment law, Native American/tribal law, telecommunications law, Social Security law, and collections law.
