By Judith Bandel

Hamlet was a prince who couldn't make up his mind. Since the inception of the paralegal profession there have been those who believed some form of licensing and/or certification should be required. Each time a bar association looks into the issue, it has been determined that the subject was premature. National and local professional associations have taken positions against it on the basis that it was premature and if done, should be accomplished by a broad base group including lawyers, paralegals, educators and consumers.

Other national and local associations have subscribed to and provided a certification exam, which, at first glance, seems a good idea to some. Upon closer examination, such an exam does not truly meet the needs of licensing or certifying a profession.

All the discussion, debate, bills pending in state legislatures, bar association committees to study the question of licensing, whether for or against it, continually point to one thing: the profession is looking for something to hang standards on. Creating and maintaining standards in a profession does not mean, however, that the task is to license or certify.

The paralegal profession has expanded and grown because it has not been subject to licensing or certification. Those of us who have reached beyond the traditional legal assistant positions in law firms, corporations or public sector areas understand this, otherwise we wouldn't be where we are today.

There is, inherently, suspect among those who do not believe in some form of licensing. Hence, the years of struggling to establish a definition of what a paralegal/legal assistant and the plethera of other names given to those who perform countless different and varying tasks in our profession. Suspect is a very dangerous term in a free society; it can and often does lead to fear, which can take the form of blacklisting and loss of reputation and livelihood to innocent victims.

Desire for recognition does not necessarily breed the proper response. For many,this desire means a license. Simply put, a piece of paper which one can hang on a wall that says a body or group has legitimized the recipient because they have fulfilled the necessary requirements in order to receive that piece of paper. Whose standards did they follow? How old are those standards? What outside influences affected those standards? Was there really a necessity for those standards in the first place? How much fear was behind those standards?

Others desire for recognition stem from the reputation they build for themselves; the quality of the work equals the quality of the reward.

It isn't so much that we should be licensed, it's who fears us if we are not. Certainly, there are attorneys who firmly believe (no matter how much money you may generate for them or not) that legal assistants do, and have the increasing potential to, perform more and more tasks/projects which will effect their practice of law. We can therefore, be considered a threat - a threat that can change the very fabric of the practice of law. Of course, the lawyer will say you don't want to be licensed; from an attorneys perspective, it will restrict the type and kind of work you do. Afterall, providing legal advice is what three years of law school is about. But what, you say, about the people who can't afford legal services. Lawyers are just too expensive for the majority of lay people.

And what about those advertisements that have been so prominent late at night about lay people being able to prepare legal documents for other lay people. Aren't they encroaching on those of us who have spent money to go to school to become legal assistants? Yes they are and this is something that our profession needs to deal with and deal with soon.

What is the answer? One thing we do know is that licensing, certification, legislation or any form of restrictions on the growth potential of our profession is not the answer. We believe that one way to increase professional recognition is to insure, no, demand, high standards of education. Perhaps ABA approval and the process a paralegal program goes through in order to obtain that approval is not enough. Before you can receive professional recognition you have to have a good foundation. Our foundation is in education and we should look to that area before we seek to reap the rewards, recognition and benefits that go with it.

This article is the personal opinion of the author and in no way reflects on any company or business affiliations.
©1994 Judith Bandel