2 important issues for paralegals today licensing and unauthorzed Research Paper

2 important issues for paralegals today licensing and unauthorzed practice of law by non-lawyers - Research Paper Example For example in some states, it is regarded as a felony which can lead to a sentence of a minimum of five years, or a fine of not less than five thousand dollars, regardless of whether the unauthorized person had permission from court (Susan 2007 p 158). However, other states grant permission to unlicensed people to offer certain services such as selling legal forms, and providing common instructions and other services whereby the interest of clients may not be put at stake. They are preferred by clients because they charge lower prices than the attorneys. Blades and Vermylen (2004 p 642) observe that information technology has brought drastic changes in the legal profession. People are able to access critical information regarding legal issues from the internet. This has been a major improvement in enlightening the public regarding their legal rights. However, people are exposed to the wrong information generated by the unauthorized practicing lawyers that can jeopardize their rights. This is because both the authorized and unauthorized lawyers can post unlimited information on websites. The most risky part is where a client completes a deal in the website, where there is no interaction between the lawyer and the client. Such passive websites may be used by laymen and may not offer the correct information regarding legal matters, a problem that has recently raised concerns in many states (Tony 2004 p 227). However, secure methods such as the use of cautiously developed disclaimers are in use by lawyers in order to separate between th e unauthorized practices of law from the licensed lawyers. The use of measures for identification through the use of disclaimers have been significant in ensuring that only the authorized lawyers serve clients, but without any deals being completed in the website. They only provide general information, making it less attractive to people in the unauthorized practice of law (Blades