by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
Depending on what happens in Tampa over the next few weeks, paralegals across the state could be in for quite a change.
Last year, legislation was proposed that sought out recognition and possible regulation of the paralegal profession in Florida. Because legislation failed to develop into law during the last session, the Florida Bar recently formed a special committee to study paralegal regulation and has been holding meetings over the past few weeks.
According to information from the Bar’s web site, the committee has been charged with studying “the status of paralegals working under the direction and supervision of a member of The Florida Bar as a result of 2005 proposed legislation which sought recognition and/or regulation of the paralegal profession.”
Two weeks ago, the committee held a public hearing to elicit comments from people who would be most effected by possible regulation and met again last Friday to review the results of the hearing and to further discuss plans for regulation.
Regularly attending the meetings has been Jacksonville paralegal Tana Stringfellow, committee member and chairperson of the Florida Alliance of Paralegal Associations. As part of the committee and as a Foley & Lardner paralegal herself, Stringfellow has been keeping a keen focus on what could become a major change in the way paralegals work in this state.
Unlike a majority of other states, Florida currently has no legislation regarding the regulation of paralegals, which has become a mounting issue over the past decade, Stringfellow said.
“(Non-regulation) has been an emerging issue for about 10 years now,” she said. “There are 40-something states that have some sort of activity in this area, whether it has been to have laws passed that define a paralegal or to have come up with a regulatory plan.”
According to the Bar’s web site, current Florida Bar rules define a paralegal as “a person qualified by education, training or work experience, who works under the supervision of a member of The Florida Bar and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a member of The Florida Bar is responsible.”
But Stringfellow, who is a supporter of regulation, said a constant level of supervision isn’t always present, though it is supposed to be.
“In the traditional structure, (paralegals’) work is always under the supervision of an attorney,” she said. “But we heard testimonies from a number of people — attorneys, judges, and paralegal educators — that said total supervision would only happen in a Utopian world.”
Though Unlicensed Practice of Law issues have been a major part of paralegal discussions in the past, Stringfellow said this committee has mainly been focused on regulation issues like having Florida paralegals take a standardized exam and setting a minimum education requirement.
“The proposed legislation deals with regulating paralegals currently working under the supervision of a licensed attorney,” she said. “It doesn’t deal with the storefront operation that uses the title paralegal in the name of the business that does not have supervision. Those people fall under the UPL. That was the distinction they were trying to make.”
Stringfellow said one of the top issues the committee has been trying to hammer out is the question of who should be in charge of implementing regulations — the Bar or the legislature?
“I am probably one of the people that agree that the Bar should implement the regulatory program,” she said. “I think there is enough of a problem that something does need to be done. Legislation has its drawbacks as we all know. But I think the problem is significant enough that if the Bar doesn’t perceive the problem to be sufficient enough to implement some sort of a plan, then I think the legislation should go forward.”
Though not all involved parties are in favor of the regulation talks, Stringfellow said a majority of people who voiced concerns at the hearings were in support of some form of governance.
Local paralegal Lisa Montgomery is among those in favor. Montgomery is the owner of Legal Terms, LLC, a one-woman paralegal services company in Jacksonville available for hire by local attorneys in need of part-time paralegal services.
“It is not so much that they are forcing paralegals to go to school, they are just setting some standards so not just anyone off the street can start calling themselves a paralegal,” she said. ”If you are going to call yourself a paralegal, the fact that you are a legal secretary and you are familiar with court papers and court jargon doesn’t make you a paralegal. Regulation is necessary.”
Depending on the outcome of the committee’s meetings, regulation could be implemented sometime in the near future. If the Florida Bar decides to self-regulate paralegal activities, a time line for implementation is unknown. But if legislation is pushed again when the legislature reconvenes in March, paralegal regulation could become law before the end of 2006.