Corporate Law Clerk Career Guide and Counseling

Question: Would you prefer to use a law clerk or lawyer for corporate matters if you could save money using a clerk? I am a certified corporate law clerk in Ontario. After 20 years of working with a corporate lawyer, he has decided to retire. I am thinking of opening my own business where I would work for both law firms and small businesses doing their corporate work, i.e. annual resolutions, corporate changes and filings, etc. I was wondering if people feel comfortable having a law clerk do the corporate work (in a paralegal type atmosphere) and pay half the legal fees or would you be more comfortable using a lawyer and paying full price fees. This will help me to decide whether I should pursue this career.

Answer: I am a Certified Paralegal and Law Clerk (graudated from Law School) in California. I would say that the majority of people would feel comfortable using a Law Clerk. I think most people realize that it is the support staff (paralegals, law clerks) that do much of the work on a case. Add to that your years of experience and I feel you would be able to make a living at it. You must also consider todays economy. People will jump at the chance to save money to get the same service. Just my thoughts.

Question: What are the functional and practical differences between a paralegal and a law clerk? Further, what are the differences between these roles in different contexts such as small firms, large firms, government entities (where the roles actually exist), corporate in-house counsel, and any other context where the two roles might exist either simultaneously or individually. Any other general differences between the two, big or small? Also, by law clerk I mean a "true" law clerk as opposed to any other kind of clerk (e.g. secretary, etc - in case some might think I meant that)

Answer: A law clerk takes care of the resources and a paralegal takes the action to court.