,Solution manual for Paralegal Today The Legal
Team at Work, 8th Edition Roger LeRoy Miller
Notes
1- The file is chapter after chapter.
2- We have shown you 10 or five pages.
3- The file contains all Appendix and Excel
sheet if it exists.
4- We have all what you need, we make
update at every time. There are many new
editions waiting you.
5- If you think you purchased the wrong file
You can contact us at every time, we can
replace it with true one.
Our email:
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
Solution and Answer Guide
Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4
Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
Table of Contents
Answers to the End-of-Chapter Questions ........................................................................................................... 1
Questions for Review ................................................................................................................................ 1
Ethics Question.......................................................................................................................................... 3
Practice Questions and Assignments......................................................................................................... 3
Group Project ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Video Questions ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Answers to the End-of-Chapter Questions
Questions for Review
1. What is a paralegal? Is there any difference between a paralegal and a legal assistant?
Answer: A paralegal is a lawyer’s assistant. A paralegal may be qualified by education,
training, or work experience for employment by a lawyer, law office, corporation,
government agency, or other entity, and is an assistant who performs specifically
delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible.
Paralegals are employed by lawyers or other law offices, or assist attorneys in the
delivery of legal services, but are not required to work for a lawyer.
The terms paralegal and legal assistant are no longer used synonymously. A paralegal
performs substantive legal work that a lawyer could perform subject to the unauthorized
practice of law requirements in their state, while legal assistants perform secretarial and
administrative functions.
2. What types of educational programs and training are available to paralegals?
Must a person meet specific educational requirements to work as a paralegal?
Answer: The types of educational programs and training available to paralegals include
certificate programs and degree programs. The degree options include an associate’s
degree and a bachelor’s degree. An associate’s degree is a two-year degree, typically
obtained from a community college. A bachelor’s degree is a four-year degree obtained
from a college or university.
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 1
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
There are two types of certificate programs: postgraduate certificate and paralegal
certificate programs. The postgraduate certificate is available to students who have
already obtained a bachelor’s degree from a college or university. A paralegal certificate is
available to anyone who has obtained, at a minimum, a high school diploma or its
equivalent.
Currently, California is the only state with specific educational requirements for
paralegals. In the other states, the job market, however, typically demands that a
paralegal obtain a certain level of education in order to be employable.
3. What role does the American Bar Association play in paralegal education?
Answer: The ABA plays the role of ensuring quality in paralegal education through its
paralegal program approval process. The ABA has played an active role in paralegal
education programs since 1974, when it first established a set of educational
standards for paralegal programs. Paralegal programs that meet standards established
by the ABA are called ABA-approved programs.
4. What does certification mean?
Answer: Certification means recognition by a private professional group or a state
agency that an individual has met specific standards of proficiency by taking and
passing an exam administered by this group. It is not the same as a paralegal certificate,
which means that a paralegal has successfully completed a specific course of study.
A CLA is a certified legal assistant (a CP is a certified paralegal for those who prefer
the term paralegal) whose legal competency has been certified by NALA following an
examination to test the legal assistant’s knowledge and skills.
An APC program is a credential awarded by NALA to a CP or CLA whose competency
in a legal specialty has been certified based on an examination of his or her knowledge
and skills in the specialty area.
PACE stands for Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam. This is a certification exam
that was developed by NFPA for those with two years of experience who have met
specific educational requirements. Those who pass it are designated as Registered
Paralegals or RPs.
5. List and describe the skills that are useful in paralegal practice. Do you have these
skills?
Answer: Skills that are useful for paralegals include the following:
• Analytical skills are needed for legal investigation, legal research, and legal writing.
Also helpful is the ability to synthesize, or put together, facts and legal concepts.
• Communication skills (including reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills) are
critical to the legal profession.
• Interpersonal skills, including good listening skills, are needed to communicate and
interact effectively with supervising attorneys, legal secretaries, and other support
staff in the law office, as well as other legal professionals outside of the office, clients,
and witnesses.
• Computer skills are necessary for survival in today’s law office. Word processing,
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 2
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
document control, calendaring, and client billing procedures are all tasks that may be
done on computers in law firms.
• Organizational skills are essential for organizing your time, calendaring cases,
creating procedural checklists, getting documents filed, and other similar tasks.
• One important skill is the ability to keep confidences, which is the ability to keep
client information confidential. It is a requirement of the legal profession that is
imposed on attorneys and indirectly on their paralegals by the ethical rules that will
be discussed in Chapter 4.
• Another important skill is the ability to behave professionally at all times, which
means being reliable, responsible, honest, unbiased, assertive, detail-oriented, and
accurate even under pressure, as well as professional in appearance, demeanor, and
attitude.
6. Why is the paralegal profession an expanding field?
Answer: Growth is occurring in the paralegal profession because law firms and other
employers with legal staffs are hiring more paralegals to lower the cost—and increase the
availability and efficiency—of legal services.
[return to top]
Ethics Question
1. Richard attends a six-month paralegal course and earns a certificate. In the West Coast
city where he lives, certified paralegals—those with a CP or a CLA designation—are in
great demand in the job market. Richard responds to a newspaper advertisement for a
certified paralegal, indicating that he is one. Has Richard done anything unethical? What
is the difference between a certificate and certification?
Answer: Richard has not violated any of the ethical or legal rules of the legal profession.
Assuming that he knew the difference between holding a paralegal certificate and a CP
designation, however, he has violated personal ethics in misrepresenting his status as a CP.
The difference between a certificate and certification is that a certificate indicates a level of
education, like a degree. Certification, on the other hand, indicates that a person has passed
an exam evidencing that the person has attained a certain level of knowledge and/or skill in a
particular area.
[return to top]
Practice Questions and Assignments
1. Using the material found in the chapter, identify which of the following employees are
paralegals:
a. Graciela works in the file room of a major law firm checking out and returning files as they
are needed by attorneys.
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 3
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
b. Maria does all of the typing, filing, and answering phones for two attorneys in a small
law office.
c. Tameko drafts legal documents, meets with clients, and assists her supervising attorney with
trials.
d. Majora, who has an MBA, supervises the day-to-day operations of a 250-attorney law
firm.
Answer: A paralegal is a person qualified by education, training, or work experience who
is employed or retained by a law office, corporation, government agency, or other
entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work, for which a
lawyer is responsible. Only Tameko (answer c.) is performing substantive legal work and
would be considered a paralegal.
2. Using the material in the chapter, identify which of the following laws are substantive laws
and which are procedural laws:
a. A law requiring a person to be 16 years old to obtain a driver’s license.
b. A court rule requiring that an answer to a complaint be filed within 21 days of
receipt of service of process.
c. A law requiring a manufacturer of an automobile to replace the vehicle or refund
the purchase price if it cannot be repaired.
d. A law requiring civil lawsuits exceeding $25,000 to be filed with the circuit court.
Answer: Substantive law includes all laws that define, describe, regulate, and create legal
rights and obligations. Procedural laws establish the methods of enforcing the rights
established by substantive law. Answers a. and c. create legal rights and obligations, while
b. and d. establish methods to enforce these rights, and are thus procedural laws.
3. Which national paralegal organizations offer paralegal certification exams and what are the
certifications called? Do states offer certifications for paralegals? Is a state certification a
license to practice law? Explain your answer.
Answer: Paralegals who meet the background qualifications set by NALA are eligible
to take a two-day, comprehensive examination to become a Certified Paralegal (CP).
NALA also sponsors the Advanced Paralegal Certification (APC) program (previously called
the Certified Legal Assistant Specialty, or CLAS).
Paralegals who have certain levels of education and experience can take the Paralegal
Advanced Competency Exam (PACE®) through NFPA. The NFPA offers two credentialing
exams. The first one, called the Paralegal CORE Competency Exam, covers general issues
and ethics and provides designation as a Certified Registered Paralegal. Those who pass
the exam may use the designation CRP after their name. Paralegals with more experience
may sit for the PACE examination. The Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE), if
passed, enables one to use the designation “RP.”
NALS offers the Professional Paralegal (PP) certification examination to paralegals who
have five years of work experience or possess certain educational credentials. In addition,
the American Alliance of Paralegals, Inc. (AAPI), also provides a Paralegal Certification
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 4
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
Program for paralegals who have met specific educational or practice requirements.
Some states, including California, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas
have implemented voluntary state certification programs. In 2012, the Washington State
Supreme Court adopted APR 28, entitled “Limited Practice Rule for Limited License
Technicians.” Under the new rule, persons who are trained and authorized by a newly
established Limited License Legal Technician Board will be able to provide technical help
to the public on civil cases. Certification refers to formal recognition by a professional
group or state agency that a person has met the standards of ability specified by the
organization, but does not provide a license to practice law.
4. Tom and Sandy are having coffee after their paralegal class. The instructor discussed the
recent change in the ABA definition of a paralegal, which no longer includes the term legal
assistant as a synonymous term for a paralegal. Tom says he agrees with the ABA that the
term paralegal is preferable because no one will confuse paralegals with legal secretaries.
Sandy, who has worked as a legal secretary, is offended by Tom’s remarks. What do you
think of this change? Why is it important to distinguish between a paralegal and a legal
assistant?
Answer: Opinions will vary by student.
There are four national paralegal organizations, each having its own definition of the
term paralegal. All four organizations define a paralegal as someone who is qualified
by education, training, or work experience to perform, at a minimum, substantive
legal work.
NALA restricts paralegals to working under the supervision of an attorney. Likewise,
the ABA requires that paralegals do substantive legal work for which a lawyer is
responsible. The NFPA’s definition acknowledges that paralegals may work with attorney
supervision, or be authorized by law to perform it. The AAfPE’s definition allows
paralegals to perform legal work as authorized by law. Thus, the AAfPE’s definition
avoids the issue of attorney supervision. The term legal assistant has become
synonymous with legal secretary. So, to distinguish between the work performed by
paralegals and legal secretaries, the ABA in February, 2020 removed the term legal
assistant from its definition of a paralegal to distinguish between the two roles. The
distinction needed to be made to recognized the higher level, substantive legal work that
paralegals perform.
[return to top]
Group Project
This project asks the group to review information on the websites of NALA (www.nala.org)
and NFPA (www.paralegals.org) about the organizations’ certification programs. The
members of the group will do the following tasks to complete the project:
• Student one will determine and summarize the requirements of the NALA certification
exams.
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 5
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
• Student two will determine and summarize the requirements of the NFPA certification
exams.
• Student three will compile the results in a chart or graph in PowerPoint or Excel.
• Student four will present the results to the class.
Answer:
The requirements to sit for the NALA CP exam are found here and contain several PowerPoint
type flow charts and a narrative explanation:https://www.nala.org/certification/certified-
paralegal-cp-program. Information on the APC exam is found here:
https://www.nala.org/certification/advanced-paralegal-certification-and-state-specialty-
certification
The requirements for the NFA CRP and PACE exam were fast-tracked during the COVID-19
pandemic. A link to information on the exams is located here :
https://www.paralegals.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3813
[return to top]
Video Questions
Watch the video clip for Chapter 1 and answer the questions below.
Erin Brockovich was a paralegal who became famous in the movie Erin Brockovich for her hard-
hitting legal investigation of the water pollution by a public utility in Hinkley, California, and
the resulting toxic tort lawsuit that her firm won.
1. Which of the paralegal tasks identified in the chapter is Erin Brockovich performing in the
video clip?
Answer: Conducting legal investigations and maintaining client contact are the tasks
performed.
2. Which of the skills and attributes discussed in the chapter is Erin Brockovich using in the
video clip?
Answer: Erin Brockovich uses her strong speaking skills in the community meeting and her
analytical skills in gathering and analyzing the water pollution data in Midland, Texas. She
also uses her interpersonal skills in working with the clients who initially complained of
“yellow water.”
3. Do you think that you would be comfortable holding a large community meeting and
speaking in front of large groups as Erin Brockovich does in this video clip? Meeting one
on one with clients? Investigating environmental law violations, or other client claims? If
not, what other paralegal tasks interest you? Which ones are you comfortable with, and
which ones are a “good fit” with your personality?
Answer: Answers will vary. You might encourage students to think about their answers to
this question throughout the semester.
Instructor’s Note: Question 3 is similar to Questions for Review 5 in the textbook. The
questions should be assigned accordingly.
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 6
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
[return to top]
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 7
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 2: Career Opportunities
Solution and Answer Guide
Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4
Chapter 2: Career Opportunities
Table of Contents
Answers to the End-of-Chapter Questions ........................................................................................................... 8
Questions for Review ................................................................................................................................ 8
Ethics Question........................................................................................................................................ 13
Practice Questions and Assignments....................................................................................................... 14
Group Project .......................................................................................................................................... 17
Answers to the MindTap Additional Questions................................................................................................ 18
Questions for Review .............................................................................................................................. 18
Ethics Question........................................................................................................................................ 22
Practice Questions and Assignments....................................................................................................... 23
Answers to the End-of-Chapter Questions
Questions for Review
1. List and describe five types of organizations that hire paralegals.
Answer: Five types of organizations that hire paralegals are:
1. Law firms—Law firms vary in size from the small, sole practitioner’s office to the huge
“megafirm” with hundreds of attorneys. The majority of paralegals working for law
firms are employed by firms having fewer than twenty-five attorneys. Working for a
small, general practice law firm allows a paralegal to gain experience in many
different areas of the law and may offer a variety of tasks and greater flexibility. Small
firms are often more personal and less formal than large firms. A small firm may
be in a convenient location, may not insist on an expensive wardrobe, and may offer
free parking. However, on average, small firms pay lower salaries and offer fewer
benefits to their employees than larger firms do. Large firms typically are more
formal and tend to assign paralegals to more limited, well- defined types of tasks.
Large firms offer greater opportunities for promotion, higher salaries, better benefit
packages, more support staff, more sophisticated computer technology, and greater
access to legal research resources.
2. Corporations and other business organizations—Nearly one-fifth of paralegals work in
corporate environments. Most major corporations hire in-house attorneys to handle
corporate legal affairs. Some employ hundreds of attorneys. Paralegals working for
corporations work under the supervision of in-house attorneys. Paralegals who are
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 8
Team at Work, 8th Edition Roger LeRoy Miller
Notes
1- The file is chapter after chapter.
2- We have shown you 10 or five pages.
3- The file contains all Appendix and Excel
sheet if it exists.
4- We have all what you need, we make
update at every time. There are many new
editions waiting you.
5- If you think you purchased the wrong file
You can contact us at every time, we can
replace it with true one.
Our email:
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
Solution and Answer Guide
Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4
Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
Table of Contents
Answers to the End-of-Chapter Questions ........................................................................................................... 1
Questions for Review ................................................................................................................................ 1
Ethics Question.......................................................................................................................................... 3
Practice Questions and Assignments......................................................................................................... 3
Group Project ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Video Questions ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Answers to the End-of-Chapter Questions
Questions for Review
1. What is a paralegal? Is there any difference between a paralegal and a legal assistant?
Answer: A paralegal is a lawyer’s assistant. A paralegal may be qualified by education,
training, or work experience for employment by a lawyer, law office, corporation,
government agency, or other entity, and is an assistant who performs specifically
delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible.
Paralegals are employed by lawyers or other law offices, or assist attorneys in the
delivery of legal services, but are not required to work for a lawyer.
The terms paralegal and legal assistant are no longer used synonymously. A paralegal
performs substantive legal work that a lawyer could perform subject to the unauthorized
practice of law requirements in their state, while legal assistants perform secretarial and
administrative functions.
2. What types of educational programs and training are available to paralegals?
Must a person meet specific educational requirements to work as a paralegal?
Answer: The types of educational programs and training available to paralegals include
certificate programs and degree programs. The degree options include an associate’s
degree and a bachelor’s degree. An associate’s degree is a two-year degree, typically
obtained from a community college. A bachelor’s degree is a four-year degree obtained
from a college or university.
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 1
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
There are two types of certificate programs: postgraduate certificate and paralegal
certificate programs. The postgraduate certificate is available to students who have
already obtained a bachelor’s degree from a college or university. A paralegal certificate is
available to anyone who has obtained, at a minimum, a high school diploma or its
equivalent.
Currently, California is the only state with specific educational requirements for
paralegals. In the other states, the job market, however, typically demands that a
paralegal obtain a certain level of education in order to be employable.
3. What role does the American Bar Association play in paralegal education?
Answer: The ABA plays the role of ensuring quality in paralegal education through its
paralegal program approval process. The ABA has played an active role in paralegal
education programs since 1974, when it first established a set of educational
standards for paralegal programs. Paralegal programs that meet standards established
by the ABA are called ABA-approved programs.
4. What does certification mean?
Answer: Certification means recognition by a private professional group or a state
agency that an individual has met specific standards of proficiency by taking and
passing an exam administered by this group. It is not the same as a paralegal certificate,
which means that a paralegal has successfully completed a specific course of study.
A CLA is a certified legal assistant (a CP is a certified paralegal for those who prefer
the term paralegal) whose legal competency has been certified by NALA following an
examination to test the legal assistant’s knowledge and skills.
An APC program is a credential awarded by NALA to a CP or CLA whose competency
in a legal specialty has been certified based on an examination of his or her knowledge
and skills in the specialty area.
PACE stands for Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam. This is a certification exam
that was developed by NFPA for those with two years of experience who have met
specific educational requirements. Those who pass it are designated as Registered
Paralegals or RPs.
5. List and describe the skills that are useful in paralegal practice. Do you have these
skills?
Answer: Skills that are useful for paralegals include the following:
• Analytical skills are needed for legal investigation, legal research, and legal writing.
Also helpful is the ability to synthesize, or put together, facts and legal concepts.
• Communication skills (including reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills) are
critical to the legal profession.
• Interpersonal skills, including good listening skills, are needed to communicate and
interact effectively with supervising attorneys, legal secretaries, and other support
staff in the law office, as well as other legal professionals outside of the office, clients,
and witnesses.
• Computer skills are necessary for survival in today’s law office. Word processing,
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 2
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
document control, calendaring, and client billing procedures are all tasks that may be
done on computers in law firms.
• Organizational skills are essential for organizing your time, calendaring cases,
creating procedural checklists, getting documents filed, and other similar tasks.
• One important skill is the ability to keep confidences, which is the ability to keep
client information confidential. It is a requirement of the legal profession that is
imposed on attorneys and indirectly on their paralegals by the ethical rules that will
be discussed in Chapter 4.
• Another important skill is the ability to behave professionally at all times, which
means being reliable, responsible, honest, unbiased, assertive, detail-oriented, and
accurate even under pressure, as well as professional in appearance, demeanor, and
attitude.
6. Why is the paralegal profession an expanding field?
Answer: Growth is occurring in the paralegal profession because law firms and other
employers with legal staffs are hiring more paralegals to lower the cost—and increase the
availability and efficiency—of legal services.
[return to top]
Ethics Question
1. Richard attends a six-month paralegal course and earns a certificate. In the West Coast
city where he lives, certified paralegals—those with a CP or a CLA designation—are in
great demand in the job market. Richard responds to a newspaper advertisement for a
certified paralegal, indicating that he is one. Has Richard done anything unethical? What
is the difference between a certificate and certification?
Answer: Richard has not violated any of the ethical or legal rules of the legal profession.
Assuming that he knew the difference between holding a paralegal certificate and a CP
designation, however, he has violated personal ethics in misrepresenting his status as a CP.
The difference between a certificate and certification is that a certificate indicates a level of
education, like a degree. Certification, on the other hand, indicates that a person has passed
an exam evidencing that the person has attained a certain level of knowledge and/or skill in a
particular area.
[return to top]
Practice Questions and Assignments
1. Using the material found in the chapter, identify which of the following employees are
paralegals:
a. Graciela works in the file room of a major law firm checking out and returning files as they
are needed by attorneys.
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 3
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
b. Maria does all of the typing, filing, and answering phones for two attorneys in a small
law office.
c. Tameko drafts legal documents, meets with clients, and assists her supervising attorney with
trials.
d. Majora, who has an MBA, supervises the day-to-day operations of a 250-attorney law
firm.
Answer: A paralegal is a person qualified by education, training, or work experience who
is employed or retained by a law office, corporation, government agency, or other
entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work, for which a
lawyer is responsible. Only Tameko (answer c.) is performing substantive legal work and
would be considered a paralegal.
2. Using the material in the chapter, identify which of the following laws are substantive laws
and which are procedural laws:
a. A law requiring a person to be 16 years old to obtain a driver’s license.
b. A court rule requiring that an answer to a complaint be filed within 21 days of
receipt of service of process.
c. A law requiring a manufacturer of an automobile to replace the vehicle or refund
the purchase price if it cannot be repaired.
d. A law requiring civil lawsuits exceeding $25,000 to be filed with the circuit court.
Answer: Substantive law includes all laws that define, describe, regulate, and create legal
rights and obligations. Procedural laws establish the methods of enforcing the rights
established by substantive law. Answers a. and c. create legal rights and obligations, while
b. and d. establish methods to enforce these rights, and are thus procedural laws.
3. Which national paralegal organizations offer paralegal certification exams and what are the
certifications called? Do states offer certifications for paralegals? Is a state certification a
license to practice law? Explain your answer.
Answer: Paralegals who meet the background qualifications set by NALA are eligible
to take a two-day, comprehensive examination to become a Certified Paralegal (CP).
NALA also sponsors the Advanced Paralegal Certification (APC) program (previously called
the Certified Legal Assistant Specialty, or CLAS).
Paralegals who have certain levels of education and experience can take the Paralegal
Advanced Competency Exam (PACE®) through NFPA. The NFPA offers two credentialing
exams. The first one, called the Paralegal CORE Competency Exam, covers general issues
and ethics and provides designation as a Certified Registered Paralegal. Those who pass
the exam may use the designation CRP after their name. Paralegals with more experience
may sit for the PACE examination. The Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE), if
passed, enables one to use the designation “RP.”
NALS offers the Professional Paralegal (PP) certification examination to paralegals who
have five years of work experience or possess certain educational credentials. In addition,
the American Alliance of Paralegals, Inc. (AAPI), also provides a Paralegal Certification
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 4
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
Program for paralegals who have met specific educational or practice requirements.
Some states, including California, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas
have implemented voluntary state certification programs. In 2012, the Washington State
Supreme Court adopted APR 28, entitled “Limited Practice Rule for Limited License
Technicians.” Under the new rule, persons who are trained and authorized by a newly
established Limited License Legal Technician Board will be able to provide technical help
to the public on civil cases. Certification refers to formal recognition by a professional
group or state agency that a person has met the standards of ability specified by the
organization, but does not provide a license to practice law.
4. Tom and Sandy are having coffee after their paralegal class. The instructor discussed the
recent change in the ABA definition of a paralegal, which no longer includes the term legal
assistant as a synonymous term for a paralegal. Tom says he agrees with the ABA that the
term paralegal is preferable because no one will confuse paralegals with legal secretaries.
Sandy, who has worked as a legal secretary, is offended by Tom’s remarks. What do you
think of this change? Why is it important to distinguish between a paralegal and a legal
assistant?
Answer: Opinions will vary by student.
There are four national paralegal organizations, each having its own definition of the
term paralegal. All four organizations define a paralegal as someone who is qualified
by education, training, or work experience to perform, at a minimum, substantive
legal work.
NALA restricts paralegals to working under the supervision of an attorney. Likewise,
the ABA requires that paralegals do substantive legal work for which a lawyer is
responsible. The NFPA’s definition acknowledges that paralegals may work with attorney
supervision, or be authorized by law to perform it. The AAfPE’s definition allows
paralegals to perform legal work as authorized by law. Thus, the AAfPE’s definition
avoids the issue of attorney supervision. The term legal assistant has become
synonymous with legal secretary. So, to distinguish between the work performed by
paralegals and legal secretaries, the ABA in February, 2020 removed the term legal
assistant from its definition of a paralegal to distinguish between the two roles. The
distinction needed to be made to recognized the higher level, substantive legal work that
paralegals perform.
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Group Project
This project asks the group to review information on the websites of NALA (www.nala.org)
and NFPA (www.paralegals.org) about the organizations’ certification programs. The
members of the group will do the following tasks to complete the project:
• Student one will determine and summarize the requirements of the NALA certification
exams.
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 5
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
• Student two will determine and summarize the requirements of the NFPA certification
exams.
• Student three will compile the results in a chart or graph in PowerPoint or Excel.
• Student four will present the results to the class.
Answer:
The requirements to sit for the NALA CP exam are found here and contain several PowerPoint
type flow charts and a narrative explanation:https://www.nala.org/certification/certified-
paralegal-cp-program. Information on the APC exam is found here:
https://www.nala.org/certification/advanced-paralegal-certification-and-state-specialty-
certification
The requirements for the NFA CRP and PACE exam were fast-tracked during the COVID-19
pandemic. A link to information on the exams is located here :
https://www.paralegals.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3813
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Video Questions
Watch the video clip for Chapter 1 and answer the questions below.
Erin Brockovich was a paralegal who became famous in the movie Erin Brockovich for her hard-
hitting legal investigation of the water pollution by a public utility in Hinkley, California, and
the resulting toxic tort lawsuit that her firm won.
1. Which of the paralegal tasks identified in the chapter is Erin Brockovich performing in the
video clip?
Answer: Conducting legal investigations and maintaining client contact are the tasks
performed.
2. Which of the skills and attributes discussed in the chapter is Erin Brockovich using in the
video clip?
Answer: Erin Brockovich uses her strong speaking skills in the community meeting and her
analytical skills in gathering and analyzing the water pollution data in Midland, Texas. She
also uses her interpersonal skills in working with the clients who initially complained of
“yellow water.”
3. Do you think that you would be comfortable holding a large community meeting and
speaking in front of large groups as Erin Brockovich does in this video clip? Meeting one
on one with clients? Investigating environmental law violations, or other client claims? If
not, what other paralegal tasks interest you? Which ones are you comfortable with, and
which ones are a “good fit” with your personality?
Answer: Answers will vary. You might encourage students to think about their answers to
this question throughout the semester.
Instructor’s Note: Question 3 is similar to Questions for Review 5 in the textbook. The
questions should be assigned accordingly.
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible
website, in whole or in part. 6
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 1: Today’s Professional Paralegal
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website, in whole or in part. 7
, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4; Chapter 2: Career Opportunities
Solution and Answer Guide
Miller, Paralegal Today, 8e ©2022 978-0-357-45424-4
Chapter 2: Career Opportunities
Table of Contents
Answers to the End-of-Chapter Questions ........................................................................................................... 8
Questions for Review ................................................................................................................................ 8
Ethics Question........................................................................................................................................ 13
Practice Questions and Assignments....................................................................................................... 14
Group Project .......................................................................................................................................... 17
Answers to the MindTap Additional Questions................................................................................................ 18
Questions for Review .............................................................................................................................. 18
Ethics Question........................................................................................................................................ 22
Practice Questions and Assignments....................................................................................................... 23
Answers to the End-of-Chapter Questions
Questions for Review
1. List and describe five types of organizations that hire paralegals.
Answer: Five types of organizations that hire paralegals are:
1. Law firms—Law firms vary in size from the small, sole practitioner’s office to the huge
“megafirm” with hundreds of attorneys. The majority of paralegals working for law
firms are employed by firms having fewer than twenty-five attorneys. Working for a
small, general practice law firm allows a paralegal to gain experience in many
different areas of the law and may offer a variety of tasks and greater flexibility. Small
firms are often more personal and less formal than large firms. A small firm may
be in a convenient location, may not insist on an expensive wardrobe, and may offer
free parking. However, on average, small firms pay lower salaries and offer fewer
benefits to their employees than larger firms do. Large firms typically are more
formal and tend to assign paralegals to more limited, well- defined types of tasks.
Large firms offer greater opportunities for promotion, higher salaries, better benefit
packages, more support staff, more sophisticated computer technology, and greater
access to legal research resources.
2. Corporations and other business organizations—Nearly one-fifth of paralegals work in
corporate environments. Most major corporations hire in-house attorneys to handle
corporate legal affairs. Some employ hundreds of attorneys. Paralegals working for
corporations work under the supervision of in-house attorneys. Paralegals who are
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website, in whole or in part. 8
