Legal Document Assistant (LDA)

Why Hire D&C LDA Help

Preparing legal documents can be an intimidating task, and many individuals feel overwhelmed by the time consuming and confusing paperwork. The pressure to know and understand the steps and complete the forms correctly can be daunting to those trying to do everything themselves. Depending on your legal needs, hiring D&C LDA Help may be a more affordable legal alternative to persons who are representing themselves in legal matters.

What is a LDA

Legal Document Assistants in the State of California are still sometimes incorrectly referred to as “independent paralegals” or “freelance paralegals,” even though it has been more than a decade since those terms became obsolete by law. On September 30, 1998 Governor Pete Wilson signed California State Senate Bill SB1418, regulating the legal document preparation profession in the State of California, and creating a new formal title, Legal Document Assistant (LDA).

Effective January 1, 2000, these non-lawyers, called Legal Document Assistants, may:

• Distribute to their customers legal materials that have been published or approved by a lawyer
• Prepare the customers’ legal documents under the direction of their customers
• File the customers’ legal documents in the appropriate courts

While many LDAs have paralegal education and experience, in California they are not the same as paralegals. Under California law, a paralegal is prohibited from providing services directly to the consumer. Paralegals may only be employed by an attorney, law firm, corporation, governmental agency, or other entity; and work under the direct supervision of a licensed attorney within the scope of that employment.^[4][5]

Unlike paralegals, LDAs are authorized by law to provide legal document preparation services to consumers, after complying with the registration and bonding requirements. Neither paralegals nor LDAs are permitted to engage in the practice of law.

LDAs are not lawyers and do not offer legal advice, discuss legal strategies, answer questions of a legal nature, select forms for the consumer, or appear in court on the consumer’s behalf. They are professionals, qualified through education, training or work experience, authorized to assist consumers representing themselves in legal matters by preparing and processing the necessary legal documents.

A Legal Document Assistant, as defined by the California Business & Professions Code (Section 6400 (c)) is: “Any person who is otherwise not exempted and who provides, or assists in providing, or offers to provide, or offers to assist in providing, for compensation, any self-help service to a member of the public who is representing himself or herself in a legal matter, or who holds himself or herself out as someone who offers that service or has that authority, or a corporation, partnership, association, or other entity that employs or contracts with any person who is not otherwise exempted who, as part of his or her responsibilities, provides, or assists in providing, or offers to provide, or offers to assist in providing, for compensation, any self-help service to a member of the public who is representing himself or herself in a legal matter or holds himself or herself out as someone who offers that service or has that authority.”^[6]