What should I know about hiring a paralegal? I'm worried that the one I hired.

[Daisy]

Hello everyone I'm from California and need legal advices dealing with a paralegal. I recently hired a paralegal for my boyfriend to help him with finalizing all the documents with his child support and custody. He picked out the paralegal but recently I feel she's not doing her job. she's taking alot longer then what we expected. I find her to be a bit unprofessional: never on time, we'll have to call her first before she does and she talks alot. She actually works for more than one lawyer she saids.We paid her $750. We decided to hire a paralegal first and will hire a lawyer when the exwife refuse to comply to the request. We first met this paralegal at the office of the lawyer we were thinking about hiring but instead of following through with the lawyer we decided to settle with the paralegal. Can anyone tell us what are the warning signs of a fraud and if so what can I do? Because I've never dealt with a paralegal before what are their normal duties and how long should things take to comeplete?

You really cannot hire a paralegal for various reasons. 1. She works for an attorney's office, and is therefore the employee of that attorney's office. She most likely is the sole paralegal for one particular attorney.

2. She cannot give legal advice. She can only assist the attorney in preparing cases, think a more detailed secretary. She's basically his personal secretary.

It's very surprising her attorney employer went along with this arrangement. If he/she did, look elsewhere for legal representation. This is not the correct setup for a law practice.

You are getting nowhere hiring a paralegal. They cannot give legal advice, representation, or counsel. Hire an attorney.

As for the money, unless you wish to go to small claims court, consider it a hard paid lesson in life.