Law Firms, Paralegals, and the FLSA

Jim Calloway has a post today about the effect of the new (August 2004) overtime regulations on law firms which employ paralegals.  His post includes a terrific article on the subject by Oklahoma attorney, Bill Wells, with specific references to prior FLSA decisions involving law firm paralegals.  It is estimated that half of all law firms classify their paralegals as "exempt" employees; however, with the buzz caused by these new regulations, it appears that some firms may have to take a new look at how they classify and pay their paralegals.  The National Federation of Paralegal Associations also has some helpful information on the exempt/non-exempt status of paralegals here.