Accredited paralegal update

Renewal is complete! So for anyone who should have renewed but hasn’t, please get in touch – it’s not too late. If you have not renewed, you should not be holding yourself out as an accredited paralegal or using our logo. 

On 18 April, I am attending the Scottish Paralegal Association (SPA) annual conference in Glasgow. The conference is a fabulous event for paralegals and with so much going on, it is a great way to network and catch up with everyone. I will also hopefully have some new goodies to give away, so you have no option but to pop along and say hi…

The Accredited Paralegal Committee has its second meeting of the year on 14 May, so keep an eye out for information and updates from this. 

I hope you all enjoy a well-earned break over the Easter holidays.

Practice area highlight: employment law

There are currently 12 practice areas in which paralegals can become accredited. This month we take a look at employment law.

Each practice area has a corresponding set of competencies which we would expect an accredited paralegal working in that area to be meeting. If you are a trainee accredited paralegal, we would expect you to meet these after one year of training. 

An accredited paralegal should be able to progress an employment law case. They should be competent to: 

• appear at an employment tribunal;
• respond to other representatives;
• correspond with the Employment Tribunal Service;
• seek early conciliation;
• counsel clients on all employment tribunal processes and procedures.

The paralegal should also demonstrate competency in non-contentious employment law. Essentially, this would entail drafting s 1 statements of particulars of employment, employment contracts, consultancy agreements and staff handbooks. 

With regard to tribunal work, they should be limited to jurisdictions such as unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and holiday pay claims. They should not embark on more complex jurisdictions such as unlawful discrimination, equal pay and whistleblowing claims until they have completed further training.