We’re wishing all New Jersey paralegals a Happy Paralegal Day, as proclaimed by Governor Phil Murphy. Paralegals provide invaluable support to attorneys and without them there’s no doubt law offices wouldn’t be able to perform as effectively. Enjoy your day!
Paralegal Profession: A History
The profession was created in the 1960’s as a way to help lawyers as their caseload grew and expand access to legal services. While legal secretaries had existed for some time before that, the very first paralegals were legal secretaries who were trained more thoroughly on legal work. This substantive training was provided on-the-job by attorneys for years and more recently certification and education programs for paralegals have been developed. While on-the-job training was provided by attorneys for many years, formal education opportunities for paralegals have developed significantly over time.
The Proclamation
Whereas, the State of New Jersey recognizes the many contributions of paralegals to the legal profession in the Garden State; and
Whereas, it is known that paralegals possess important legal skills and perform substantive legal tasks; and
Whereas, paralegals provide critical legal services to large and small companies, individuals and public entities throughout New Jersey;
Now, therefore, I, Phil Muprhy, Governor of the State of New Jersey, do hereby proclaim:
October 26, 2018 at Paralegal Day in New Jersey and recognize paralegals as important partners in the delivery of legal services.
