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Paralegal duties vary depending on the law firm where they are employed. A law firm may specialize in criminal law, personal injury, family law, estate planning, or bankruptcy just to name a few examples. Paralegals may start out doing basic work such as typing correspondence or completing simple documents.

As paralegals gain more experience, the attorney will assign the paralegal more challenging tasks. If the paralegal works for a criminal defense attorney, the paralegal may find herself interviewing clients, locating witnesses, interviewing witnesses, researching statutory and case law on the crime, writing internal legal memos on the research, drafting correspondence to the client, witnesses, attorneys, and viewing, photographing, and videotaping the crime scene. Some paralegals even visit the client in prison to keep the client up to date on the progress of the case. Many paralegals assist in preparing the trial notebook for the attorney as well as preparing exhibits to be admitted as evidence at trial.

When working in personal injury law, paralegals may interview the injured party, draft interrogatories to witnesses or opposing parties, draft depositions, assist during depositions, type digests of depositions, assist in preparing settlement letters to the opposing attorney, gather medical records of the client, and view, photograph, and videotape the accident scene.

Estate planning paralegals will find themselves preparing intake forms for clients, interviewing clients to learn about the client's assets and how the client wants the assets distributed after their death, and typing the will or trust documents. When the client passes away and the family comes to the attorney to have the will probated, the paralegal will assist in typing the following documents: application for formal or informal probate, waivers to potential personal representatives, letters of appointment, and notices to the court advising them of the appointment of a personal representative.

Paralegals may find themselves entering client and case information into case management software, entering the attorney's time into time tracking software so clients can be invoiced, and managing the accounting for the law firm. Paralegals will find their work to be both rewarding and challenging.

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