As the legal industry evolves, client relationships with paraprofessionals are becoming increasingly important. In this blog post, we will explore how client relationships with paraprofessionals are evolving and the expectations clients have when working with paraprofessionals. Key points include the increasing role of paraprofessionals in in-house legal departments, the importance of being able to work effectively with paraprofessionals on both sides, and the inclusion of paraprofessionals in client service teams.

Here’s a summary of what we’ll cover in this post:

• The role of paraprofessionals in in-house legal departments is increasing
• The ability to work effectively with paraprofessionals on both sides is important
• Paraprofessionals are being included in client service teams

Client relationships with paraprofessionals are evolving as the legal industry changes. As Karen Tuscak, owner of Spider Silk Solutions, explains, “I think it started early on, It was around 20 years ago when I was working in house and I would send out a request to the law firm and the law firm would send it back to the general counsel and I would send out, and it was indicative that lawyers and law firms thought they needed to always deal with the general counsel at in-house departments.”

As in-house legal departments are increasingly staffing themselves with paraprofessionals, lawyers at law firms need to adapt to taking instructions from paraprofessionessionals as well. Karen notes, “Our general counsel said, look, Karen decides where the work’s going, so unless you correspond with her, you’re not getting the work. And I think that’s happening more and more because not only are our external clients reaching out to law clerks and paralegals at firms, but more in-house legal departments are staffing themselves with paralegals and the lawyers at the firms have to get used to the fact that they may be taking instructions from paralegals, right? Not always from a lawyer.”

The ability to work effectively with paraprofessionals on both sides is becoming increasingly important. As Karen states, “I train it both ways. Like I said, it’s one thing, delegating to them in a law firm, and it’s your E&O insurance, but it’s another thing when you have to take instructions from them as well and you really need to be good on both sides. Paraprofessionals are so detail driven and experts in the processes of what we do.”

Watch the full interview, Client Relationships with Paraprofessionals: Evolving Expectations

In addition to the increasing role of paraprofessionals in in-house legal departments, clients are also beginning to include paraprofessionals in client service teams. As Karen says, “When you look at new RFPs that are coming into law firms, they’re asking who are the paraprofessionals that are gonna be on our client services team? And that’s a real shift, right.”

In conclusion, client relationships with paraprofessionals are evolving as the legal industry changes. The increasing role of paraprofessionals in in-house legal departments and the inclusion of paraprofessionals in client service teams are changing the expectations clients have when working with paraprofessionals. Lawyers at law firms need to adapt to working effectively with paraprofessionals on both sides in order to meet these changing expectations.