The American Bar Association’s definition of paralegal:
A legal assistant or paralegal is a person, qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible.

Job Prospects for Paralegals:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics employment of paralegals is projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations. More than half of the graduates who responded to NOVA’s annual survey were working as a paralegal, working in another field, or continuing their education.

Paralegals are prohibited by law from offering legal services directly to members of the public.

Paralegal Ethics

An important characteristic of the legal profession is keeping confidences. This requirement applies to the lawyer and paralegal.

NOVA’s Paralegal Studies curriculum covers the full range of ethical and professional responsibility concerns applicable to paralegals.