6450-6456 “PARALEGALS”

By KRISTINE M. CUSTODIO, CERTIFIED PARALEGAL School Liaison Committee Chair, San Diego Paralegal Association

Caveat emptor. Buyer beware…or, in this regard, attorneys across the state take heed that you are at risk for compromising paralegal fees if you do not take the necessary measures to ensure that the paralegals you hire and employ are qualified under Business and Professions Code Section 6450, et seq. California paralegals must meet minimum educational requirements and maintain mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) hours. They have since 2001.

Recent California cases—Sanford v. GMRI Inc. dba Red Lobster, 04-1535 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 11, 2005), White v. GMRI Inc. dba Red Lobster, 04-0620 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 19, 2006), and Martinez v. G. Maroni Co., dba Church’s Chicken #948, S06-1399 (E.D. Cal. May 1, 2007))—which resulted in the reduction and denial of paralegal fees for noncompliance with the code, give teeth to a law which has been in existence for the past seven years. At this time under the code, any person working as a paralegal must maintain a certain number of hours of MCLE. Effective as of January 1, 2007, four hours of legal ethics and four hours of general law or an area of specialized law are required every two years. The code also sets forth minimum standards as to who may be bestowed the title paralegal; synonymous are the titles "legal assistant," "attorney assistant," "freelance paralegal," "independent paralegal," and "contract paralegal” under Section 6454.