The
Independent
Paralegal’s
Handbook
How to Provide Legal Services
Without Becoming a Lawyer
by Ralph Warner, Catherine Elias-Jermany,
and Stephen Elias
6th edition
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The
Independent
Paralegal’s
Handbook
How to Provide Legal Services
Without Becoming a Lawyer
by Ralph Warner, Catherine Elias-Jermany,
and Stephen Elias
6th edition
Sixth Edition: February 2004
Editor: Emily Doskow
Book Design: Terri Hearsh
Illustrations: Mari Stein
Proofreading: Mu’Afrida Bell
Printing: Delta Printing Solutions, Inc.
Warner, Ralph E.
The independent paralegal's handbook: how to provide legal services without becoming a
lawyer / by Ralph Warner, Catherine Elias Jermany, and Stephen Elias 6th ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-87337-942-X
1. Legal assistants United States Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Elias Jermany,
Catherine. Elias, Stephen. III. Title.
KF320.L4W37 2003
340'. 023'73 dc21 2004056239
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Copyright © 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2004
by Ralph Warner. Printed in the U.S.A. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permis-
sion of the publisher and the authors. Reproduction prohibitions do not apply to the
forms contained in this product when reproduced for personal use.

of Lake County Community Radio, program producer for KPFZ FM, and the mother
and grandmother of four.
Stephen R. Elias received a law degree from Hastings College of Law in 1969 and
practiced law in California, New York, and Vermont until 1980 when he hooked up
with Nolo. In 2000, Steve retired from Nolo, and with his wife Catherine, launched
the National Self-Help Law Project, an organization that is dedicated to creating
and improving the infrastructure necessary for self-help law to thrive. Steve also
operates a storefront bankruptcy law practice in Lakeport, California, and is deeply
involved with a local community radio station.
.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1•The Historical Background
A. An American Tradition: “Every Man His Own Lawyer” 1/3
B. The Lawyers Take Over 1/10
C. The Modern Movement Away From Lawyers 1/15
2•The Law
A. Introduction to the Concept of Unauthorized
Practice of Law (UPL) 2/3
B. Criminal Penalties for Unauthorized Practice 2/6
C. Civil Enforcement of Criminal UPS Statutes 2/10
D. Judicial Penalties for Unauthorized Practice—
the Inherent Powers Doctrine 2/11
E. Enforcement of Unauthorized Practice Rules 2/17
F. A Review of Unauthorized Practice Litigation
of the Past 30 Years 2/23
G. The Constitution and the Independent Paralegal 2/29
3•How to Do Your Job and Stay Out of Trouble
A. Tell the World You Are Not a Lawyer 3/2
B. Provide Your Customers Access to the Basic Legal

B. How to Find Supportive Lawyers 7/4
C. Make a Lawyer Your “Partner” 7/9
D. Working With Mediators 7/11
E. Working With the Courts 7/12
8•How to Run a Quality Business
A. Planning 8/2
B. Market Research 8/3
C. Training 8/4
D. Avoid Unauthorized Practice of Law 8/7
E. Good Office Management 8/8
9•How Much to Charge
A. Establish How Much Money You and Your Business Need 9/2
B. Find Out What Competitors Charge 9/4
C. Estimate How Long It Will Take to Prepare the Forms 9/4
D. Draw Up a Price List 9/5
E. Fees for Preparing Bankruptcy Petitions 9/8
F. Get Cash Up Front 9/10
G. Establish a Money-Back Guarantee 9/11
10• Marketing Your Services
A. Marketing Methods and Objectives 10/4
B. Conventional Advertising Is Usually Not Cost-Effective 10/5
C. Understanding Advertising 10/7
TOC/4 Independent Paralegal’s Handbook
D. Getting Recommendations and Referrals 10/11
E. Open Your Own Self-Help Law Store 10/19
F. Build a Website 10/20
G. Keep a Good Mailing List 10/20
H. List the Availability of Your Services 10/21
I. Prepare Factual Information
About the Areas You Specialize In 10/23

Lake County Self-Help Law Center, Inc., Marketing Strategy A/2
Arizona Code of Conduct for Legal Document Preparers A/5
Appendix B • Interviews
Lois Isenberg Interview B/3
Jon and Melvin Lebewitz Interview B/9
Jolene Jacobs Interview B/12
Ian Gardner Interview B/28
Robert Mission Interview B/31
Virginia Simons Interview B/38
Glynda Dixon Interview B/46
Rosemary Furman Interview B/55
Robin Smith Interview B/62
Rose Palmer Interview B/70
Catherine Elias-Jermany Interview B/76
Index

Introduction
I
n 1971, a new company known as Nolo Press published its first
self-help law book, How to File Your Own Divorce in California,
by Charles Edward Sherman. Two years later, Sherman and Nolo
cofounder Ralph Warner (also a co-author of this book) launched an
independent chain of clerical divorce service centers to assist people
using the book. In essence, these centers operated as public legal secre-
taries, taking their directions from their customers who were acting as
their own attorneys. Most of the centers are still in business more than 25
years later.
Almost from the beginning, these centers came under the scrutiny
of the State Bar of California. As is true in all states, California has a
statute prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law (UPL). As we point

monly used to describe IPs are legal technicians, form preparation ser-
vices, legal typing services, and most recently in California, legal docu-
ment assistants. In this book we stick with the IP label to avoid confu-
sion.
Introduction Intro/3
The Original Independent Paralegal Model Gets Stretched
As the concept of self-help law and independent paralegal services be-
came more accepted in California and several other states, including
Oregon, Florida, and Arizona, the original model under which the Cali-
fornia divorce services operated became increasingly stretched. For in-
stance, instead of requiring their customers to use published written
materials, some services would prepare their own brochures. Instead of
restricting their role to essentially clerical services, the staff of some ser-
vices would find it more convenient to advise their customers as to their
basic choices. And instead of letting their customers select the appropri-
ate forms, some services would select the forms for them.
All of this made sense from the IP’s standpoint, since it was often
the case that the IP knew more about divorce at the level it was being
practiced than most divorce attorneys. After all, in a regular law office,
the nitty gritty work of completing and filing the forms is almost always
done by nonlawyer staff, not by the lawyers themselves. Nevertheless,
the looser the IPs got with the original model, the easier it was for the
organized bar to pounce. And pounce they did. Especially in the 1980s,
a number of IPs in various states were hounded by lawyer organizations
and prosecutors into closing up their services. And, in those states where
UPL is a crime, a few IPs actually did some jail time. A more systematic
history of UPL enforcement in this country is set out in Chapter 2.
The point we are making here is that departures from the original
model leave IPs vulnerable to attacks by the organized bar. Close com-
pliance with the original independent paralegal model, on the other

People independent paralegal franchise. Although We the People uses a
different delivery model than the one we espouse in this book, their
franchise has operated in many different states without serious incident.
The Texas lawsuit undoubtedly came as a rude shock.
What Is the Demand for Independent Paralegal Services?
Despite the obstacles created by the legal profession in most states, the
independent paralegal movement is growing rapidly all across America.
The average American, faced with almost daily news stories about the
Introduction Intro/5
glut of lawyers (close to one million at last count), at the same time that
he finds even routine legal services prohibitively expensive, is increas-
ingly supportive of high-quality, low-cost paralegal alternatives. For ex-
ample, in states such as Arizona and California more than 60% of di-
vorces and 30% of bankruptcies are now done without lawyers.
The growth in independent paralegal services is being fueled by
the dramatic increase in the availability of plain English legal materials
made possible by the World Wide Web. Just a few years back, it was
necessary to call a lawyer or visit a law library to get legal questions
answered or to obtain forms and instructions required for a particular
legal task, unless of course Nolo happened to have a book on the sub-
ject. Now, the answers, forms, and instructions are often only a mouse
click away. As people find it easier to learn about the law, they also win
more confidence in their ability to handle their own legal affairs, espe-
cially if they have some knowledgeable clerical help such as that offered
by IPs.
Courts also are starting to provide quality information to people
handling their own cases. In some cases the courts are operating self-help
websites that let you download official legal forms. For an example, visit
the California Judicial Council’s Self-Help Center at www.courtinfo.ca.gov.
In other cases, courts are establishing brick and mortar self-help law cen-

business. These range from choosing a name and finding a good loca-
tion, to getting a business license and buying necessary equipment. Some-
times it is necessary to borrow money to begin. Certainly, once your
doors are open, it is important to quickly generate a positive cash flow.
None of this is easy, especially when you remind yourself that embark-
ing on a career as an independent paralegal involves not only putting
yourself through normal “new business trauma,” but simultaneously coping
with the likely hostility of the legal profession.
This raises the question of why anyone would want to become an
independent paralegal. Or, to ask the question more directly, “Why do
you even consider working in a field where persecution, or at least
official harassment, is a distinct possibility, and criminal conviction, in-
cluding even a jail sentence, is not completely out of the question in
many states?”
Why Should You Become an Independent Paralegal?
One obvious answer to this question is that running an independent
paralegal business is potentially profitable. Lawyers’ fees are so outra-
Introduction Intro/7
geous that independent paralegals can significantly undercut them (of-
ten by as much as 70%) and still make an excellent living.
But the prospect of making good money doesn’t begin to explain
why so many pioneer paralegals have been willing to assume the risk
inherent in challenging organized lawyerdom. In talking to dozens of
independent paralegals, some of whom have been in business for 30
years, we sense that, for most, the determination to persevere is drawn
from the same sort of stubborn conviction that motivated Massachusetts
colonists to toss chests of tea into the Boston Harbor in 1773. Like their
colonial forefathers, angered by King George III’s nasty monopoly on
tea, these men and women stand up to organized lawyerdom’s even
nastier monopoly over the delivery of legal services, because they deeply

law that is based upon a careful view of the harms and benefits of lay
participation in any service that the Definition would cover.”
A Few Words About Terminology
Because lawyers in private practice, legislatures, bar associations,
prosecutor’s offices, and judge’s robes have all been trained to defend
their monopoly to deliver legal services, we often refer to them here
with the shorthand terms “organized lawyerdom” or “the bar” except
when it’s important to distinguish among them.
Also, as noted, for convenience we refer to nonlawyers who help
other nonlawyers deal with the legal system as “independent paralegals”
(IPs ) even though some people in the field describe themselves in other
ways—as a “legal technician,” “form preparer,” “legal typing service,”
“legal information specialist,” “divorce counselor,” “public paralegal,” or
“legal document assistant” (in California).
In fact, in California, IPs are prohibited from referring to them-
selves as paralegals. (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code, §§ 6450-6456.) The stated
purpose of this bill was to protect consumers against confusion. The
traditional California paralegal organizations that pushed the bill argued
that when customers hear that someone is a paralegal, they assume su-
pervision by an attorney. That this conclusion is almost the exact oppo-
site of what people really think didn’t bother the California legislature
one bit.
When describing the people who use independent paralegals, we
use the word “customer,” rather than “client.” We do this both because
we believe it is wise for paralegals to distinguish themselves from law-
yers as much as possible and because we personally don’t like the word
client, which has Latin roots in the terms “to hear” and “to obey.” “Cus-
tomer,” on the other hand, conjures up the image of an empowered
Introduction Intro/9
person, someone who expects good and conscientious service and who

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