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A Legal Document Assistant (LDA) is a non-attorney authorized under state law to provide self-help services to a consumer who is representing himself in a legal matter.
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Scribe: Tips, trends and commentary for professional legal document assistants (LDAs), freelance paralegals and related legal professionals.
ALDAP announces the first blog dedicated solely to LDAs.
Tips, trends and commentary for professional legal document assistants, freelance paralegals and related legal professionals (click logo).
ALDAP  Alliance of Legal Document Assistant Professionals

The Alliance of Legal Document Assistant Professionals (ALDAP) is comprised of experienced legal professionals who have joined forces to boost consumer protection and increase the professional integrity of the Legal Document Assistant (LDA) and paralegal professions. To achieve these goals, ALDAP offers continuing education opportunities, requires strict compliance with the laws governing the LDA and
paralegal professions, and promotes awareness of
the LDA’s role, both within the legal
community and among the general public.

In a February 2004 article, the California Bar
Journal
reported that 80-90% of family law cases
involve one or both parties appearing without lawyers.
“Where individuals must face the court system on their own, often unprepared, the results are usually disastrous. Without the availability of a self-help center to learn some of the ‘ins and outs’ of the process, pro per litigants seem lost, may lose a hearing they should have won, and even if they do win, they don’t know how to get their judgment implemented,” wrote Anthony P. Capozzi, then president of the California Bar Association.

With so many Californians unable to afford full attorney representation, ALDAP’s founders identified a need to facilitate the delivery of exceptional document preparation services, while also ensuring that consumers do not fall victim to the unauthorized practice of law.

In furtherance of ALDAP’s goals of professional integrity and consumer protection, the association offers LDAs and dual-professional paralegal/LDAs the opportunity to take part in an established network that affords additional educational and practical resources, resources to educate the public about the differences between LDAs and paralegals, and increased recognition of the vital and growing role LDAs play in our legal system.

Membership applications are available on the Members page. For more information about joining ALDAP, please contact Suzanne Ervine, Membership Director.