Friday, September 10, 1976
University Daily Kansan
Paralegal training offered at some schools
Staff Writer
By TERRY BAHNER
For those who are interested in law, but
not in the school that go with it,
in there's an alternative.
It's called the paralegal program, and its purpose is to provide lawyers with trained assistants to help in legal investigations and research.
Although legal assistants aren't new, initiating programs that will help to further enhance legal skills.
Even though the University of Kansas doesn't offer a paralegal assistant program, it's considering one. John Murphy, dean of the School of Law, said Tuesday.
Murphy said there were different views on the "appropriateness" of the University offering such a program. He said it was not appropriate for vocational program than on academic one.
"It's a question as to where the University should best put its resources," Murphy said. He said the University offered a basic law course that came close to caralereal training.
One university in Kansas that offers a paralegal field is Wichita State University.
The 64-hour associate of science legal assistant degree was established there after interest in having a program was expressed by people in the legal profession, Curtis Tterlinger, professor of administration at WSU, said.
"THE WICHITA Bar Association more or less pushed the idea of having some type of formal education for nonprofessionals working in the legal field," he said.
Terflinger said WSU had offered a pilot course last fall introducing the basics of a paralegal program, and the response to the course was a need for a form of legal education.
Although the American Bar Association (ABA) doesn't accredit or approve any legal assistant courses, WSU has set up its own training guidelines similar to those of the ABA.
AFTER THE UNIVERSITY's program has been established for a year, however, the university could apply to ABA for training. The university offers a degree program. Telfinger said.
KU and the Kansas Bar Association is sponsoring a seminar Sept. 15, in which participants will discuss the work.
"It's a fast developing field related to law practice," he said.
bailout, an avid supporter of the program in Kansas and an Olathe lawyer, said the demand for qualified legal assistants in the law profession was growing.
will be one of the topics discussed, Gene Ballou, scheduled speaker for the seminar.
Balloun said the program also helped reduce legal expenses because a paralegal would be doing the pretrial and preliminary investigation rather than the lawyer.
PARALEGALS CAN perform the same
services, except court representation
he said.
Junior colleges have become more interested in establishing paralegal programs, especially in the Kansas City area, he said.
"I wouldn't be something they teach at a law school," he said. "It is no vocation.
As the demand for the assistant increases and more lawyers become aware of their usefulness, Baulom said, he thinks attitude to publishing paralegal programs will improve.
BALLOUN SAID the Johnson Community College was interested in the program and had conducted a survey several months ago to determine the need for such a program. Preliminary results indicate that lawyers and physicians are students and for paralegal programs, he said.
It's more than being a glorified work involved in being a malicious assistant asked to do
It's the kind of thing junior colleges are exposing now."
COMPTON, WHO has the only company in the United States that offers paralegal services to lawyers nationwide, said Paul Wagner, a lawyer assistants with a working concept of law.
Although there are no paralegal assistants working in the Lawrence area, there is a demand for legal assistance in Kansas City, according to Gary Compton, president of Para-Legal Services, Inc., Kansas City, Mo.
When a lawyer has 125 cases to go to
with it, with its hard for him do perforat
work.
In the past firms often relied on private investigators to compile pretrial information. Because the investigators were not trained in legal procedures, often were unsatisfactory, Compton said.
He said law was becoming so specialized and broad that one lawyer couldn't become proficient in every field. The lawyer must be competent with court reporting, pretrial preparations and other functions the lawyer usually has to do, he said.
"The real void is pretrial preparation causing the delay of trials coming to court,"
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All KU students are invited to
Friday, Sept. 10
X Zone (West of Union)
7:30 P.M.
Jayhawk Football Team
Chancellor Archie Dykes
KU Pep Band Spirit Squad
Free Beer for all class card holders Dance to "bounce" with DJ Tom Franz
Sponsored by BOCO
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