“Paraprofessional is a generic term and may refer to any and many professions, such as paraprofessional legal assistant. We lose the sense of the profession when we shorten it. By using paralibrarian, the profession is clearly explained.” ~ Allison Sloan, LJ Paraprofessional of the Year, as reported by Library Journal's editorial "Not Yet Equal"
Paraprofessional legal assistant? Please say it ain't so.
As if there are not enough difficulties already trying to figure out the differences, if any, between the terms legal assistant and paralegal, now we have to deal with the word paraprofessional, which according to the Mirriam-Webster dictionary means "a trained aide who assists a professional person."
Does this definition bother anyone else? I consider myself to be a professional person, too.
What about "a trained professional person who assists and is supervised by another professional person with a more advanced degree in a specialty area?"
Seriously, how do you feel about paralibrarian? Do you want to be called a paralawyer?
Source: Library Journal
4 comments:
Paralibrarian? Paralawyer? I think the latter would be too confusing for the poor clients who already have a hard time accepting that I can't directly solve their legal problems... If "lawyer" were even part of my title, how would I ever explain my role? AndL y, I agree; I am definitely a professional person too.
Melissa - Thanks for your comment. I agree that it's already hard enough explaining (over and over) that I can't give legal advice. I'm not sure putting "para" in front of other job titles is going to help - I shudder to think of "paraphysician," "paraveternarian" and "paraaccountant"...:( But I definitely want "professional" included in the definition of "para-anything", especially "paralegal"!
I've been meaning to comment on this for a few weeks now, so here goes...
I work in a library, technically, I guess as a paraprofessional(the library director calls it a library assistant, which I hate more), but I loathe the phrase. I always read a bit of condescension in each term. Maybe it's me, though.
I guess I'm a bit sensitive to it because I work in an environment where the librarians with Master's in Library Science degrees are very territorial about what they consider their job & what is considered my job.
I think I am just as professional as they are, even if I don't have a Master's degree.
And I think the term paralegal is fine - Mel is right that "paralawyer" would add to people's confusion. I think no matter what your profession, there is always going to be someone who doesn't know what you job entails.
Libliz - Thanks for the thoughtful comment from someone who has firsthand knowledge working in a library. Out of curiosity, do you have a job title that you'd prefer?
I actually don't mind "legal assistant", or at least I didn't mind it years ago, when it was synonymous with "paralegal." Now the term has been informally given a new meaning by many law firms - who use it to designate another tier legal support staff position somewhere between a legal secretary and a paralegal.
Maybe I'll just fall back on the most prosaic advice - "Call me anything you like, as long as you pay me." :)
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