Whether a federal criminal defense attorney is a sole practitioner, part of a firm or in a Federal Public or Community Defender Office, they are often assigned to a case on their own. In many situations, that is manageable because there is not a lot of information to organize, the client can help to review the discovery produced by the government or the strategy involves a plea. However, as cases continue to grow in size and complexity, it’s helpful to have paralegal assistance. A paralegal can support attorneys in many ways in a case, ranging from assisting with client contact to aiding attorneys at hearings and trial, but it is with discovery management that paralegals are increasingly important in today’s legal world. They can help the defense team get the work done faster and make the overall process more cost effective. A paralegal can contribute when an attorney is trying to understand the scope of the discovery and design a strategy to access and review the files more efficiently, organize everything, and ultimately search and review the discovery and case materials in a meaningful way.
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