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: Practical Paralegalism

Paralegal Profile: Ellen Lockwood, ACP, RP & Dachshund Lover

By Lynne DeVenny

Job Title: Certified Paralegal ? Intellectual Property Specialist

Employer: Clear Channel Communications, Inc., San Antonio, TX

Years of Paralegal Experience: 18

Specialty Areas: Intellectual Property, Ethics

Career Highlight: Publication of the Paralegal Ethics Handbook (Thomson West, 2009)

Paralegal Practice Tip: You don?t realize how important networking is until you need those contacts. Get involved in paralegal organizations, write articles, give presentations, whatever it is you like to do. The contacts you make will be invaluable.

You are a co-author of the Paralegal Ethics Handbook. How did you get involved in this project?
It was my idea! As chair of the Professional Ethics Committee for the Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas, I thought paralegals of all experience levels needed a resource for their ethics questions. We are now in our third edition.

What do you think is the most common ethical mistake made by paralegals?
Assuming that if the attorney asked them to do it, it must be okay. Attorneys often don?t know whether what they are asking is something a paralegal should do. Paralegals should check before they agree to do something and not be afraid to tell their attorneys that it isn?t appropriate for them to do a particular task.

Favorite Internet Resource: Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas ? http://www.txpd.org/ ? lots of ethics answers and resources!

Favorite Legal Software: SAEGIS ? I can?t live without it for trademark searches! And of course, various search engines for the Internet.

Fun Fact: I foster for Diamond Dachshund Rescue (http://www.ddrtx.org/), and I donate platelets regularly

Do you Twitter? Yes. Twitter handle: @paralegalethics

Professional Links: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenlockwood; http://paralegal-ethics.blogspot.com/

_______________________
I met Ellen through Twitter and through her blog, Paralegal Ethics. She also recently authored a terrific guest post for Practical Paralegalism, "How Do I Remain Ethical?" And speaking of dachshunds, my mom's beloved Brubaker made an appearance on this blog - wearing a pink Snuggie.

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on January 19, 2010 (boomark / email).