By Amanda Hamilton, Patron, National Association of Licensed Paralegals (NALP)
When running a business, you are always mindful of costs, and when something goes wrong, the immediate thought is ‘how much is it going to cost to put it right?’
If that something happens that has an element of legality, it’s natural to turn to a solicitor for assistance, but with hourly costs ranging from £200 – £600 you may feel like you are stuck between a rock and hard place, especially if the legal problem is relatively minor.
Don’t despair! Paralegals are on hand to save the day. Whilst they may not be solicitors, paralegals are legally trained and educated to perform legal tasks and offer help to businesses as well as individual consumers, and they do not charge as much as solicitors. On average a paralegal may charge anything between £30 – £80 per hour, depending on the nature of the work.
So, if you have an employee who is causing trouble or you have a customer that is not paying their bills or is breaching an agreement, you can call on a paralegal to assist.
So how can a paralegal assist your business?
There are many areas where a paralegal can help you, but the three most common are: debt collection, employment, and contracts.
Debt collection
Paralegals can help your business to collect debts owed. Many businesses issue invoices with a ‘payment by’ date. Cash flow takes priority in any business environment, so when monies are not forthcoming, this can cause stress and pressure on the rest of the business.
If a client can’t pay an invoice, then it is always best to talk first. Don’t jump straight to legal action. An offer and willingness to make a part payment and negotiate how to pay the balance would surely be more acceptable than receiving no payment at all. Plus, you’ll save the additional time and money needed to chase and collect the debt.
So, the first thing to do when you see a client is not responding is to contact them and offer to discuss options. This also applies if you are aware that you cannot pay your bills or invoices owing to your suppliers. It’s always best to contact the company/individual owed, and to arrange part payments in order to clear the debt over time. Some will accept this and others will not.
If monies remain owing, there may have to be a decision whether or not to take further action. More often than not, that means taking the debtor to court and this is where paralegals can help. A paralegal can assist you to complete the necessary pre-action protocols i.e. drafting a letter to the debtor and explaining what is owed and how long it is overdue and giving the debtor a certain time frame to pay the amount outstanding, with the threat that if it Is not paid court action will ensue.
If necessary, the paralegal can help you complete the necessary court forms, advising you what to say and how to write it on the form. Paralegals can also, if it gets that far, represent you in court as long as it is a ‘small claim’ i.e. one that is not more than £10k. Hopefully, that won’t be necessary as the debtor is likely to be in contact beforehand, but if it is, the paralegal is there and can assist at a reasonable cost.
Similarly, a paralegal can help if you are being taken to court for a similar reason i.e. that you or the business owes money to someone else.
Employment
A paralegal can put together an employment contract for you, which remains a minefield for most lay people. On the other side of the coin, a paralegal will be able to assist you if the worst happens and an employee takes legal action against you for any reason. Paralegals also have a right to represent clients in a tribunal. It is likely that if an employment matter escalates, it will be heard in a tribunal.
Contracts
Drafting commercial business contracts with other businesses or individuals is a skill requiring specialist knowledge, and this is where a paralegal can help, either by drafting such a contract or casting an eye over one that has been sent to you to ensure there is nothing detrimental within it.
For example: a clause expressing that there is a 90 day notice to terminate the agreement, which is a commonly used termination period, may go on to state that notice can only be given prior to the renewal of the contractual term, which may be 12 months. Therefore, if you try to terminate the contract in the thirteenth month, the contract will not come to an end until a further eleven months have passed. This may have financial consequences for which you have not budgeted. A specialist paralegal should be able to spot this on first reading, advise accordingly, and/or suggest an alternative form of words that helps protect you.
These are just three common examples of when using a paralegal can save you money and ensure you get the advice you need without having to pay high solicitor’s fees. There are many other legal matters that a paralegal can also help with.
Of course there are some limitations imposed on paralegals. They are restricted in what they can do by what is known as ‘reserved activities’. The most common restrictions relate to a ‘right of audience’ i.e. a paralegal is not permitted to represent a client in all courts apart from the small claims’ court and the tribunal.
The second common limitation is that a paralegal is not permitted to ‘conduct litigation’ meaning that they cannot sign letters and documents on a client’s behalf or be an agent and be served with official court documents. However, to get round that hurdle, they can draft letters, and complete forms for clients, but clients must sign and serve these themselves.
When choosing a paralegal, be sure to engage one that is both sufficiently qualified and, like any professional, appropriately insured. One way to ensure this it to choose a paralegal that is has a Licence to Practise. You can search for paralegals in your area, or with the specialism needed at https://www.nationalparalegals.co.uk/paralegal-register
