Understanding Sole Proprietorship
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Sole proprietorship law firms are still fairly common in the United States, though there are not among the highest pay legal positions, usually because the attorney employed by the firm is also typically the owner.
While sole proprietorship is possible for larger firms, in most cases, those firms, even if they are sole proprietorship for a while, they will almost inevitably have to incorporate additional partnerships in order to manage the work load and responsibilities of a larger firm.If a sole proprietorship firm does grow to a large size and intends to remain as a sole proprietorship, then it would be faced with the problem of having to either compensate or turn over associates in lieu of offering a partnership.
For a paralegal working in a sole proprietorship environment, they will often assume a larger variety of responsibilities, depending on the specialty of the firm. Usually specialized sole proprietorship's commonly focus on criminal law or categories of criminal law, like automotive accidents and assorted liability.
Typical sole proprietorship offices will often have few paralegals working on staff, and sometimes only one or two. In a very basic sense, a paralegal will generally have to focus specifically on whatever work requires attention at the time, meaning that paralegals in a smaller environment can assume something of a “jack of all trades” role.
Also depending on the size of the office, a paralegal in this kind of situation will usually have to assume a greater amount of actual administrative work. Usually in situations where a receptionist or administrative assistant is employed, then a paralegal can be charged with overseeing the administrative functions of the office while the lawyer focuses on issues of client interaction, strategy, and billing.
Sole proprietorship's often are the most likely to employ part time paralegals, and can sometimes, during periods of increased work load, employ temporary freelance paralegals to handle the additional work.
NEXT: What is a Traditional Partnership?
