Small claims court in CA -- can I charge to help people with the court documents if I am not a lawyer?

Question

If I had a small business where I help people write and file court documents for small claims court in California, can I do this if I am not a lawyer?

Answer 1

if you go to "LegalZoom.com" thats what they do. If you follow the same format you may be alright.  

Answer 2

Yes you can.

You have to be a registered "Legal Document Assistant". There are training and educational requirements, and you need to be insured and bonded, and pass an exam. Generally speaking an LDA will be a qualified Paralegal who has undergone additional education and testing to get an LDA registration, allowing them to work directly for consumers. (Some LDA's may not be Paralegals but have qualified through other methods, but that's uncommon - like a lawyer qualifying for the bar through serving an apprenticeship rather than going to Law School - legal, but rare.)

You then have to go on with continuing legal education classes on an annual basis. Here....  http://www.calda.org/ is the website for the LDA's association.

Richard