How to write a paralegal assignment a lawyer can review
For supervising lawyers and paralegals.
What should a lawyer put in the assignment before delegating a file review?
Identify the lawyer who owns the work, the source set the paralegal may use, the work product expected and the decisions to bring back to the lawyer. Give the paralegal a way to flag uncertainty before the draft goes out.
Choose a task with a visible finish line
“Review the correspondence” leaves both people guessing. Specify the purpose, permitted files, date range, expected output and internal review date. For a chronology, ask for each event, its source and page, what the source actually says and which dates conflict. Include which records are missing.
Tell the paralegal who may see the work, whether anyone may be contacted and which systems are approved. Identify a backup supervisor if the assigned lawyer cannot be reached. If a deadline appears in a source, report the exact wording and document location for prompt lawyer review.
Reserve the decisions
For a conventional lawyer-supervised role, the ABA’s model guidance distinguishes delegated research or drafting from giving legal advice, setting a fee or establishing the lawyer-client relationship. Applicable jurisdiction and authorized role matter. The lawyer can write those boundaries directly into the assignment.
An instruction to collect the client’s factual account should say what to do when the client asks whether to settle. The paralegal can record the question and arrange lawyer follow-up. Identify the paralegal’s role clearly in any permitted communication.
Review the source, then release the work
Return the draft with source references, unanswered questions and a short list of conflicts. The lawyer checks material entries against originals, resolves decisions and identifies who may share the result. Save the reviewed version so later edits do not look like the lawyer’s approved answer.
Worked example
Illustrative example. A supervisor assigns a chronology of 12 maintenance emails and asks for the first documented notice of a leak. The paralegal finds a June 4 email referring to a May call but no call record. The entry cites June 4, quotes the reference accurately and lists the May contact as unconfirmed. The lawyer decides whether to seek the call record.
Primary sources
Related work at Agentic Attorney
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