{"data":{"id":"us-mt/25-10-305","jurisdiction":"us-mt","citation":"25-10-305","heading":"Paralegal defined -- use of title.","body":"(1) As used in 25-10-304 and this section, \"paralegal\" means a person qualified through education, training, or work experience who is employed or retained to perform, under supervision by a licensed attorney, substantive legal work that:\n(a) requires a substantial knowledge of legal concepts; and\n(b) in the absence of the paralegal, would be performed by an attorney.\n(2) An individual may use the title \"paralegal\" if the individual:\n(a) has received an associate's degree in paralegal studies from an accredited institution or a baccalaureate degree in paralegal studies from an accredited college or university;\n(b) has received a baccalaureate degree in any discipline from an accredited college or university and has completed not less than 18 semester credits of course work offered by a qualified paralegal studies program;\n(c) has received certification by the national association of legal assistants or the national federation of paralegal associations;\n(d) has received a high school diploma or its equivalent, has performed not less than 4,800 hours of substantive legal work under the supervision of a licensed attorney documented by the certification of the attorney or attorneys under whom the work was done, and has completed at least 5 hours of approved continuing legal education in the area of legal ethics and professional responsibility; or\n(e) has graduated from an accredited law school and has not been disbarred or suspended from the practice of law by any jurisdiction.\n(3) A person may not practice as a paralegal except under the supervision of a licensed attorney and is prohibited from engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.","path":["TITLE 25. CIVIL PROCEDURE","CHAPTER 10. COSTS","Part 3. Attorney Fees"],"source_url":"https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0250/chapter_0100/part_0030/section_0050/0250-0100-0030-0050.html","current_through":"Montana Code Annotated 2025","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T04:50:04Z","sha256":"f0f2fb7fa1846387bf927c26b0eabe306a29fbe79dd64e7f280eed59bf79f713","source_id":"us-mt","stale":false,"prev":"us-mt/25-10-304","next":"us-mt/25-10-401"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}