Federal Judiciary

"Practicing in Federal Court: 2008 Update" - ED Tex Local Rules meet Origami at a Northeast Texas Association of Paralegals meeting

By Michael Smith

   This afternoon I spoke at the NTAP monthly meeting on the subject to Practicing in Federal Court - 2008 Update, mainly about recent amendments to the local rules as they affect paralegals.  While preparing my talk it occurred to me that the papers attendees get at these meetings really aren't very useful when they get back to their desk.  I thought maybe I could do something about that, so I prepared an oddly arranged double-sided handout and at the end of the presentation showed the attendees how to fold it into a little origami box for their desk that on one side has my personal checklists of the requirements of the new certificate of conference and application for extensions of time to answer rules, on the sides has phone numbers for all the ED clerk's offices, and all the necessary websites (ED Tex clerk, PACER, CM/ECF, Fifth Circuit), and on the bottom a concise directory of all the ED Tex judges by division with their secretaries, phone numbers and law clerks (the latter only for the NE Texas divisions - I didn't have legal size paper).  Special thanks to my paralegal Pam Matthews for advising me on what information paralegals would actually find useful on - well, on whatever this thing is.  It also has the EDTexweblog banner, the ED Tex seal and a little cartoon of a lawyer and a judge, so it's functional, informative, and entertaining.  How many CLE papers can you say that about?
No, don't ask me for copies - outside our firm's offices the only people with copies (and, more importantly, instructions on how to make the box!) will be the NTAP members who showed up for my talk despite the rain this afternoon.
And no, I really don't know where I come up with these ideas either.  I have three boys (ages 9, 6 and 6) and they all think like this too.  God help my wife.

Full post as published by Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice on August 20, 2008 (boomark / email).