I am not an attorney. I can only provide self help services at your specific direction.
My name is Michael J. Mendenhall. I am not an attorney. I cannot represent you in court, advise you about your legal rights or the law, or select legal forms for you. I am registered in Monterey County. My registration number is LDA3. My current registration expires 1/24/2028.
There has been and continues to be a lot of confusion with the terms "Paralegal" and "Legal Document Assistant" and to some extent "Legal Assistant."
In California, a paralegal works in a law office for an attorney or is self-employed and works for attorneys on a freelance basis. A Legal Document Assistant works directly for the public without any attorney involvement. See the website of the California Association of Legal Document Assistants for more information. www.calda.org
To the uninitiated, hiring someone other than an attorney to prepare legal documents sounds illegal. It is illegal for someone to practice law without a license. As it pertains to legal forms, if you know what you need done, you can hire a Legal Document Assistant to prepare and file the documents for you at your specific direction. Legal Document Assistants do not handle every kind of legal document preparation matter. Different Legal Document Assistants have different skills and experience.
If you are not sure of your legal rights or what you should do, you need to seek legal advice from an attorney who can advise you. Although I know many local attorneys, and they know me, I work almost exclusively for consumers. If you need an attorney, I am happy to recommend several attorneys depending on what you need done. I have been referring people to attorneys for 35+ years, and attorneys refer people to me when the situation is warranted. Just as your doctor is always willing to refer you to a specialist, I am happy to refer you to an attorney who possesses the knowledge, experience and proper licensure to offer you what you need. Please note that I do not pay or accept referral fees under any circumstances. It is illegal in California for an attorney to share fees with a non-attorney.