PARALEGAL DEFINITION AND STANDARDS, adopted by the State Bar of Texas

In 2005, the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors, and the Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas, adopted a new definition for the term Paralegal:

Definition: A paralegal is a person, qualified through various combinations of education, training, or work experience, who is employed or engaged by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency, or other entity in a capacity or function which involves the performance, under the ultimate direction and supervision of a licensed attorney, of specifically delegated substantive legal work, which work, for the most part, requires a sufficient knowledge of legal principles and procedures that, absent such person, an attorney would be required to perform the task.

On April 21, 2006, the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors approved amending this definition by including standards, which are intended to assist the public in obtaining quality legal services, assist attorneys in their utilization of paralegals, and assist judges in determining whether paralegal work is a reimbursable cost when granting attorney fees.  To review the standards, go to www.texasbar.com/paralegalstandards.

REVISED PARALEGAL DEFINITION, adopted by the AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION (for the guidelines for approval of paralegal education programs)

Resolution 102B, adopted February 2020:

Definition: A paralegal is a person, qualified by education, training, or work experience, who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency, or other entity, and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible. 

Specifically, this revision eliminated the term "legal assistant" from the definition to reflect current terminology used by the legal community.  Previously the definition said that "legal assistant" and "paralegal" were used interchangeably.