Paralegals cannot practice law

I was in court the other day trying to get a temporary order of child support. I have been representing myself, and my husband is also representing himself. We don’t have much money so we are trying to navigate this on our own, but it is hard. I have called around and the cheapest lawyer I can find is $250 per hour. If we each hire someone, that is $500 per hour. There was a couple ahead of us in court on a contempt issue and the judge was asking them a lot of questions. The woman said she had a paralegal prepare their divorce agreement. The judge asked if she ever spoke with the lawyer, and she said no. I didn’t realize this was an option but I would imagine it is much cheaper. How do I go about hiring a paralegal to prepare an agreement for us?

The short answer is, you don’t. A paralegal is the lawyer’s assistant and is not licensed to practice law. If the paralegal does something wrong, the lawyer is ultimately responsible. One of two things happened in that other case: Either the lawyer had no idea the paralegal was preparing such an agreement — likely a favor for a friend or family member — or the lawyer committed malpractice by permitting his/ her assistant to practice law unlicensed. Either way, that is a bad scenario for everyone involved. So what does this mean for you? It means you cannot hire a paralegal to act as your lawyer. What you can do to alleviate some of the difficulty in navigating the process while still saving money is talk with your husband about using a qualified family law attorney mediator. Realize not all mediators are created equally. You should look for a family law attorney who also does mediation. In that way you have some assurance this person knows the kinds of issues to include in the discussion and overall agreement. There are many people who are not lawyers who hold themselves out as family law mediators, some of whom are also willing to prepare divorce agreements, which leads to the same problem as the paralegal — an unlicensed individual practicing law. On the other hand, if you have a qualified mediator, he or she will help you and your husband navigate the process in an amicable manner and save you money — think equally sharing one hourly rate rather than doubling it. If you are both committed to the process, it should result in a full agreement, which the mediator will draft. Of course, you can and should then have the agreement reviewed by a lawyer before you sign to make sure you understand all of the terms, but that is not a requirement if money is too tight. But some things are worth paying for. Don’t let the temptation of being pennywise and pound foolish rule the day.