The Role Of The Paralegal Or Legal Assistant In The Criminal Justice Field
Paralegal or Legal Assistant is an exciting profession in the Criminal Justice field. It is hard to imagine a law office without a paralegal. They can be described as the right hand of the lawyer. In this article I examine the role of the paralegal or legal assistant in the criminal justice field.
The legal assistant as the name suggests is there to assist the lawyer. It is vitally important to know that the paralegal cannot give legal advice or act as a lawyer. What the paralegal does must be under the supervision of a lawyer. The paralegal can do the following under the watchful eye of a lawyer:
1. The paralegal can conduct client interviews. They must identify themselves as paralegals to the client before starting the interview. In this instance, the legal assistant helps the lawyer ascertain the facts of a case by talking to the client. This saves the lawyer valuable time. The lawyer can use that time to work on strategies for the case.
2. The legal assistant can locate and interview witnesses. If you watched the movie Erin Brockovich, you saw Julia Roberts play the role...