As the number of paralegals have grown, the need for more generalized
paralegal work has decreased while the need for more specified work has
increased. 

Since legal departments and organizations assume many different shapes
and sizes, the nature of paralegal work can also be classified by the extent of
work performed, as well as the location and the general affiliations provided
by the paralegals.  

Though the trend does remain
for many paralegals to become specialized within certain fields of work, many
still find it to their advantage to be extremely flexible to the kind of
positions they will try to undertake, while others may find it within their
interest to engage and excel in very specified tasks.

While specialized paralegals in certain fields are as varied as the many
assorted fields of law, it is perhaps best to focus expressly on the categories
of paralegal that are describes by the nature of their position and their
affiliations.

Traditional paralegals and legal assistants will represent those in the
field who adhere to the generalized role of the paralegal, as someone who works
for a single organization while performing the traditional administrative and
research tasks associated with a paralegal.

Freelance paralegals represent paralegals who break from the traditional
paradigm of working for one office, who work for a legal department office,
company or organization in the capacity of an independent contractor, who works
under a specific contract to perform either general paralegal work through or
apply knowledge and experience in a specified field of the law.

Legal document technicians, lay advocates, and document preparers are
variations on the paralegal role who perform very specified roles in their
paralegal work, limited to drafting documentation or providing limited degrees
of legal representation in administrative hearings. 

Independent Paralegals are usually perform work as part of a for hire
agency or temp agency, usually for work provided on the short term, and who
could either work in a temp or virtual capacity.

Law and document clerks usually work in a far more restricted capacity
that paralegals, and specifically often work for the court or some other form
of the public sector.

All of these categories cover the broad spectrum covered by paralegal
and legal assistant classifications, and it is best to go into each of them, in
detail.

Law
and Document Clerks in many respects can be used to describe two very different
classes of legal professional.  A law clerk is
a position where an individual performs a number of administrative duties for a
judge or judiciary, which heavy reliance on substantive work, such as legal research, analysis, and drafting of legal
decisions. 

In
almost all circumstances, becoming a law clerk involves having graduated from
law school with a legal degree, usually with a specified academic focus on
judicial review, and in some cases, having performing near or at the top of
their class.  As a general rule, the process is
more selective among the higher courts, such as at the federal state and
appellate court, and are less selective in the lower courts (though, comparative
to other legal positions, they are still highly selective). 

The firsthand observation of the
intricacies of the court are an undeniably beneficial position, as well as the
high volume of legal professionals that interact with a judge gives a promising
law clerk a potentially extensive quantity of connections throughout the legal
community.  

 While
some individuals become law clerks as a career, the positions are typically
under a limited duration, commonly a year, and serve mainly as a valuable
stepping stone for the law clerk on the path between law school and achieving a
successful career in law.

Document
clerks generally perform more common paralegal practices, usually limited to
clerical and administrative work that centers almost exclusively on the filing
of legal documentation.  Sometimes it is required of a document clerk
to have passed a local or federal civil service exam (though usually not for
positions in the private sector).    

Legal technicians, lay advocates, and document preparers are all different variations on the paralegal profession, where work is provided that is similar to those provided by an actual lawyer, but often with very specified limits placed upon it.  Therefore, while some of these positions can be legally offered by a paralegal in one jurisdiction, it would be illegal for them to perform the service in another.

Legal technicians and document preparers are usually referred to professionally as Legal Document Assistants, or LDAs, which is the official title given to individuals offering these services in California, the only state where the practice is regulated.  

However, independent paralegals used to provide the services offered by LDAs in many states before they were outlawed by federal law in the early 1990s, so many still confuse the two profession.

LDAs, like paralegals, are restricted from performing services that fall under the exclusive domain of a lawyer, such as offering legal advice or representing an individual in court.  

Nearly always, the individual is representing themselves in some form of legal matter.  LDAs are more prominent in the western part of the United States, and are often found to be exclusive to California and Washington state.

Lay advocates are used in very rare contexts, typically when a legal situation involves a victim of a crime who, because of trauma, needs assistance in representing his or herself in a legal matter. 

 Lay advocates are not attorneys, and are thus unable to provide to provide direct legal advice, nor are they able to sign legal documents or act as an officer of the court.  

They are limited in document preparation to helping an individual prepare a document on their own, and they are not allowed power of signature for whom they represent.  

Like LDAs, lay advocates are not paralegals, because they are not privy to the same restrictions that paralegals have placed upon them, specifically as it pertains to attorney oversight.