Rita Leat charts the rise & rise of the fourth arm of the legal profession
There is little doubt or disagreement that paralegals are the backbone of the legal services industry. In 2016, the Professional Paralegal Register announced that professional paralegals were now the fourth arm of the legal profession with 2,000+ members willing to take up its voluntary regulatory scheme that can protect consumers.
There are an estimated 120,000 paralegals operating in the UK, both on an employed and self-employed basis in law firms, companies, local authorities and charities. The growth of the paralegal sector has been phenomenal over the last five years and shows no sign of declining any time soon. Demand for cost effective legal services has reached breaking point especially in the areas of housing and benefit law where many solicitors are choosing not to offer these services for commercial reasons.
We have all acknowledged the need for litigants in person to have access to justice and paralegals are leading the way in this regard. However, is this growth sustainable with the increasing emergence of new technology that is threatening
