There is a clearly defined circle of actions that a paralegal cannot perform. Paralegals are prohibited from setting prices for certain categories of cases, communicating with the court on behalf of the client, giving advice to the client that has legal consequences (unless the lawyer instructed the paralegal to specifically convey information to the client), presenting themselves as a lawyer, and expressing on their own behalf an opinion on the outcome of the case.

It is important to understand that a paralegal always works under the supervision and responsibility of a licensed lawyer. You can't just open your own immigration or divorce filing office and call yourself a paralegal (well, you can, but it's wrong and illegal in some states). A person who works without a lawyer responsible for his actions may be called a form preparer, consultant, documents drafter - but he is not a paralegal. Paralegal near me is the one for whom a lawyer is responsible for his license in the same way that a lawyer would be responsible for his actions. The paralegal made a mistake - the lawyer is responsible for him.

Curiously, in some states, bar associations have a written rule prohibiting lawyers from punishing paralegals with "money" for professional blunders. If, for example, in an immigration context, the paralegal made a mistake and filed the client's documents at the wrong office, and the client lost the amount of the fee paid to the state, the lawyer must pay the re-submission of documents out of his own pocket, and does not have the right to deduct the amount from the salary of the paralegal.