Ways of categorizing cases include: • Thematically (e.g. birth registration, ID card, statelessness status, access to rights). • Type of application (e.g. obtaining document for the first time, renewal, replacement). • By stage in the application process. Case categories may change over time. For example if your project initially addresses only one issue, such as birth registration, and then starts to take on additional types of cases, the categories may expand. Or if changes in the law or government practices mean that some issues no longer require paralegal assistance, the number of categories may decrease. Clients may have multiple case types. Often they pursue these cases in a sequence. For example, a client who needs help with a passport application may need help with a nationality certificate first. A client who needs help with birth registration may need help with getting a civil status document of a parent first. Some clients may need to be freed from detention before paralegals can help them get a document. It is wise to create a record-keeping or case management database that lets paralegals move cases from one category to another or indicate the client is seeking assistance with more than one case. RELATED RESOURCE • How to plan mobile legal clinics, Refugee Rights Toolkit, Asylum Access • Mobile birth registration as a tool of ending statelessness and the role of paralegals, Global Legal Empowerment Network: Community Discussions, Namati Examples of case types paralegal projects use include: The nature of the problem: • Discrimination • Birth registration • Marriage registration • Death registration • Other civil status documentation • Nationality determination • Nationality documentation • Naturalization • Detention or deportation • Stateless status application • Effective citizenship rights Action: • Lodging application for document or status • Gathering supporting documents • Assistance with fees • Correct errors in an existing document • Replacement of document • Inclusion in strategic litigation case • Join with other cases for collective action • Advocacy actions A C O M M U N I T Y- B A S E D P R A C T I T I O N E R ’ S G U I D E : D O C U M E N T I N G C I T I Z E N S H I P A N D OT H E R F O R M S O F L E G A L I D E N T I T Y | 91