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When an Alabama paralegal was subpoenaed recently to testify at a products liability trial, he knew he had to comply or be charged with contempt of court. On the stand, James Walter testified that while employed by the law firm representing the plaintiffs, he had assisted in removing an allegedly faulty valve assembly from a gas heater. The assembly had looked fine to him.
The plaintiffs lost the case. Then they sued Walter, claiming he had violated attorney-client privilege.
While the paralegal's name has been changed for this article, the story is real. And the lesson is clear: Paralegals can be sued for professional malpractice.
Because of the confluence of a number of factors, professional liability insurance for paralegals is receiving greater attention as court judgments threaten paralegals more than ever. Staff paralegals are investigating their coverage by their firms' policies. Freelancers are seeking independent coverage. The problem is especially acute for paralegals who have left law firms and may be hit with suits for actions that occurred while they were at firms that they now discover have no insurance, or have folded.
THE NEED FOR LIABILITY COVERAGE
Why all the fuss now? The reasons revolve around the growing awareness of the profession in the public eye. Paralegals are being given expanded duties inside law firms where attorneys are short on time and long on client demands. More paralegals are opening their own shops to work for attorneys on assignment. And more states are contemplating the authorization of legal technicians to offer services directly to the public.
"The legal profession seems to be on an inevitable path toward accepting substantially enlarged roles for nonlawyers," says Merle Isgett, a veteran paralegal and past president of the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA). "That includes providing services previously considered within the province of lawyers.
"In terms of the expanded role of paralegals, I see a parallel with the physician's assistant in the medical field," she explains. "Physician's assistants are authorized by statute to make diagnoses and perform some surgical procedures. They free up the doctor's time to perform more complicated procedures."
Isgett and others believe that the greater the respectability of the profession and the higher its profile, the better targets paralegals will be for disgruntled...