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Laws 2981

Kim Huggins

Module 3

6-23-21

Regarding the ability to perform legal research as a paralegal intern, this is one of the primary responsibilities of this legal position. In a sense, conducting research is one of the main reasons attorneys have paralegals on board. It takes a significant amount of time to do research, and this is where a paralegal comes in to play. Attorneys have so many duties and responsibilities to focus on (clients, pleadings, trials, etc.), they depend on their paralegals to do the research pertinent to successfully accomplishing necessary tasks.

Through my paralegal internship, my attorney primarily focuses on estate planning. So, when it comes to my workload, I often spend my time researching the necessary forms and documents used when drafting an individual’s will or power of attorney. I know this is not the same as legal research for a case. However, for me as a student paralegal, this is a form of legal education research. Additionally, some of these estate planning clients use Hyatt or MetLife for their wills or trusts. Thus, I have spent time researching information on how those plans work when creating legal documents.

One of the most involved forms of legal research I have participated in during my paralegal internship was researching the history of a family for an estate plan. This involved a case where the deceased did not have a will; was not married;  and had no children, siblings or surviving parents. The importance of my task was to research who his surviving relatives did include on both his maternal and paternal sides. Once complete, my work helped the attorney to establish what percentage of the deceased’s estate would be awarded to the surviving family members. It was a complex project as one side of the family had a significant number of relatives and the other side had only a few.

In an estate planning firm, I am drafting documents daily for the clients’ wills, trusts, power of attorney, etc. Today, I had the opportunity to draft a quitclaim deed to be sent to the Douglas County Register of Deeds. This was the first time I drafted one of these documents. The firm’s full-time paralegal assisted me in the process, informing me of the Register of Deed’s specifications for these documents. She told me to be sure to measure my document’s margins, so they meet Douglas County’s rules for quitclaim deeds.

There are so many documents that need drafted in an estate planning firm, many of which I am just now learning about. There are times when it can be a little overwhelming working on memorizing each form; and learning how each form plays a part in a will or trust. I have yet to take the class Wills & Trusts at Metropolitan Community College, so this a brand-new area of law for me. I do enjoy this area of law, and I am sure once I take the aforementioned class it will help me feel more confident my abilities. 

As far as my abilities when it comes to research and drafting forms, I will admit at times I am overwhelmed at the amount of work a paralegal has to do. That said, the best thing I can do when it comes to learning to be a paralegal is to devote as much time as I can to my education. The full-time paralegal and attorney I work with are both diligent about making sure I learn to do the job, rather than just telling me how to do it. I do appreciate that, as I would never develop the necessary skills otherwise. This may take extra time, but I do believe it is definitely worth it.

Reflection:

As I entered Week 3 of my Paralegal Internship, my attorney is having me get more involved in drafting the documents of Wills and Trusts. I will admit at first, I was very uneasy about this work. Yet, with each document I complete, I feel that much better about working on the next. Some of these wills and trusts are very complicated and/or intricate, while some are simpler. Still, each one of them has its challenges, and I enjoy that challenge.

The attorney I work with is very strict about the format of each document, as he should be. The work I do represents both the attorney and his firm; and I want to make sure both are represented well. Everything needs to be clean, easy-to-read, and in a structured uniform format. The documents I work on are usually revised 5-6 times. I am sure with time and practice this will not be the case. For now, it is a lot of learning by trial and error.

Another task I worked on this week, was updating CORRESPONDENCE and PLEADINGS folders in the firm’s file cabinet. My job was tacking down the paperwork in these folders, and then making sure the INDEX forms for the clients’ folders were updated. Updating clients’ files may not be “glamorous” as the full-time paralegal noted; however, it was interesting seeing how these files are organized and put together. Thus, when I have extra time, this is a project I continually work on.

I look forward each day to my paralegal internship. As I noted previously, this is by far not an easy job to do. It really is a challenging job, but I enjoy it. I enjoy the learning process and figuring out how each piece of the puzzle fits. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn how to do this job with the help of a wonderful full-time paralegal and excellent attorney.