What Can be Accomplished Using Para Legal Services?

You may have some paralegals on your staff, but have you ever maximized the use of their paralegal services? A paralegal may not be able to represent you in court or give you legal advice, but paralegal services can assist you in a number of ways you may not have thought of. Below is a list of tasks that can be accomplished using paralegal services. We hope that this will help you put your paralegals into better use.

Corporate Formations and Acquisitions

Paralegal services are often requested to draft documents for partnership or corporate dissolutions, loan documents, and transaction closings. Aside from these tasks, paralegal services also include

• Drafting minutes and board resolutions
• Drafting and filing corporate charger documents, merger documents, amendments, limited liability company certificates, the documents needed during shareholders’ meetings, and the documents required for implementing stock splits, distributions, and dividends
• Procuring corporate seals
• Preparing stock certificates, ledgers, and minute books

Real Estate

In real estate, you may ask your paralegal to do the following.

• Draft deeds, lease assignments and leases
• Prepare title insurance, title abstracts, and escrow arrangements
• Coordinate title insurance
• Draft and distribute estoppels letters or landlord consents
• Calculate the amortization

Intellectual Property

Paralegal services can also assist in intellectual property issues.

• Search for trademarks or prior art patents
• Take charge of the correspondence with the US Patent and Trademark Office
• Manage foreign trademark and patent applications or registrations
• Draft and file copyrights and intellectual property licenses
• Proofread legal documents

Securities

Paralegal services are most useful in the securities area. Paralegals are often in charge of the following responsibilities.

• File EDGAR documents, manage the filing process, and review the filing requirements
• Draft SEC forms, ADVs, and obtain SEC numbers
• Assist with drafting and finalizing prospectuses, registration statements, and other related documents
• Draft and file other state securities and federal filings

However, the things you can accomplish with paralegal services are not limited by the list above. Paralegals are the most adaptable individuals and can be given greater responsibility for tasks that require using technology. Due to the advancements of technology, many legal processes are now automated to make the work flow more cost-efficient. Paralegals are usually among the first to make use of these new technologies and are the easiest to train when it comes to automated systems.

Paralegal services can sometimes extend to marketing and client development as a value-added service. For instance, a paralegal can send business plans to venture capital firms and other sources of funding. They help by coming up with a list of firms that the law firm has contacts with, and match their client with the venture capital firm that may be interested in investing in the client.

As you can see, there are so many things you can get done with the help of paralegal services. Hopefully these ideas will enable you to effectively use the paralegals you have on staff for your own greater professional satisfaction and for the professional satisfaction of your paralegal.