Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

Paralegal Posting of the Week: One Paralegal Needed for the Bat Cave

Posted on January 06, 2011
Admit it. When you went to paralegal school, you saw yourself graduating and accepting a position with a righteous law firm that paid top dollar and had its own expresso bar, but 97% of its caseload was pro bono work to avenge the poor and downtrodden...

What Can a Thrifty Paralegal Buy with $68,000?

Posted on January 06, 2011
I don't know, but I'm hoping one of you will answer this question. I just did a post about a frugal legal assistant and fellow Maxxinista, so to immediately stumble upon a news story about a paralegal who managed to spend $68,000 on shopping (it's probably easier to do when it's not your own money) seems like a cosmic circle jerk...

Today's Quote: Just Put My Money Back, and We'll Forget It Ever Happened

Posted on January 06, 2011
"I want money in my bank account and my 401k back to where it used to be," said Patricia Welcoy, a legal assistant shopping on Wednesday in Manhattan and toting a T.J. Maxx bag. (Reuters) I'm sharing this quote, because I can totally relate to Welcoy, both on the reduced holiday spending - and being a Maxxinista...

Legal Secretaries Association Picks Boss of the Year

Posted on January 06, 2011
Anne-Linton Pond Hendrickson Practical Paralegalism shares many annual paralegal association awards recognizing outstanding legal support staffers, but it's also nice to share a neat twist in the recognition department from the Kansas City Legal Secretaries Association (KCLSA) which gives a Boss of the Year Award...

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Student Spends Two Years Enrolled in Nonexistent Paralegal Program

Posted on January 05, 2011
You know how I feel about online for-profit paralegal programs - I feel like you need to be really careful if you're considering enrolling in one. Do your homework, and make sure you will earn a viable degree that will lead to gainful employment in the legal field...

The Exception to Every Grammar Rule

Posted on January 05, 2011
Legal professionals should subscribe to a few good grammar police blogs, for the laughs and the reminders that using bad grammar really does cost the writer major IQ points. I'm the first to point out grammar mistakes (and am happy to have mine pointed out, too) - but there is one occasion when I'll let a major grammar blooper slide: "free candy" from the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks Yup, that's right, even if you have a sign attached to a bowl of mini-chocolate bars reading, "Your welcome to a treat," or "It's Frank's birthday, help yourself," I'm gonna let you slide...

Paralegal Profile: Barbara Liss

Posted on January 05, 2011
Job Title: Paralegal Employer: Law Office of Christopher C. Jones, Santa Barbara, California Years of Paralegal Experience: 38 (ouch!) Education/Degrees: Paralegal Certificate from University of California, Santa Barbara, California private post-secondary teaching credential in Paralegal Studies Specialty Areas: For most of my career was a civil litigation trial paralegal; transitioned three years ago to estate planning, trust administration and probate in which I currently engage...

Practical Paralegalism's Top 2010 Posts

Posted on January 03, 2011
I admit I swiped the cool idea to rehash last year?s top 10 posts from several of my favorite legal bloggers. To get that information, I had to pay a rare visit to Google Analytics. I don?t pay much attention to Practical Paralegalism?s site statistics (definitely my bad), but what I discovered last night about the number of visits this blog received in December 2010 shocked even me...

Paralegal Hones Craft During 15-Year Incarceration

Posted on January 02, 2011
?Every day is beautiful now. I don?t have a bad day anymore. I think that my worst day out of prison will be better than my greatest good day in prison.? ~ Jabbar Collins (Wall Street Journal) New York paralegal Jabbar Collins definitely did not take the traditional route to the paralegal profession...

Paralegal?s Filing Deadline Error Forfeits Case

Posted on January 02, 2011
On the last edition of The Paralegal Voice, Vicki Voisin, Kim Walker and I discussed one of the worst things a paralegal will have to do during her career, and that's telling your supervising attorney that you made a mistake. I guess the only thing worse than having to admit you made a mistake is having your mistake documented for eternity in a published appellate decision...

Legal Assistant Alleges He's Victim of Sex Discrimination

Posted on January 02, 2011
The Ultimate Memorial has published a very brief article about Texas legal assistant Donald Spencer?s recent lawsuit (Case No. 2010-83448), filed in Harris County District Court against his former employer, real estate law firm Ross, Banks, May, Cron & Cavin, and a collection agency, GC Services, but one allegation in particular caught my eye: Spencer, a legal assistant, says that in July of 2009, he was discharged from his position because, among other things, he is a male in a profession dominated by females...

Legal Assistant Gives Girl a Forever Home

Posted on January 02, 2011
Many 25-year olds are focused on establishing their careers and their finances, and maybe planning their next destination vacation with friends. But 25-year old India Davidson, an Indiana legal assistant, not only completed the stringent vetting and training to become a foster parent, but she?s taking the next step: adopting her 12 year-old foster daughter, Danae...

Buy Frank Kameny A Drink

Posted on January 02, 2011
The Washington Blade reports that a new Facebook page ?Buy Frank a Drink? (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Buy-Frank-A-Drink/154981487882949) has been set up to benefit 85-year old Frank Kameny, best known for his work with the gay rights movement. Kameny, a World War II combat veteran, has been credited with starting a paralegal service to help gay and lesbian service members under investigation for their sexual orientation in the 1970s, becoming the first known gay-run effort to stop gays from being discharged from the military...

NJ Legal Assistants Receive Above & Beyond Award

Posted on January 02, 2011
Last month, the New Jersey Association of Legal Administrators (NJALA) recognized five winners of its annual Above & Beyond Contest: Margaret Davis-EngelLegal AssistantBerman, Sauter, Record & Jardim, P.C.Maude CatonLegal AssistantLaddey, Clark and Ryan, LLPNancy NeblLegal AssistantChasan Leyner & Lamparello, PCJacquelyn SkowronskiLegal AssistantMcElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & CarpenterMelissa Van LoanParalegalHoagland, Longo, Moran, Dunst & Doukas, LLP The competition is co-sponsored by the New Jersey Law Journal and the Legal Vendors Network, with outstanding support staffers nominated by private law firms and corporate law departments...

Welcome Big Legal Brain to the Blawgosphere, Or Else

Posted on December 29, 2010
Or Else Wut? I Dunno. I Forgot. I predict Big Legal Brain (http://biglegalbrain.com/), a new blog created by C. Hank Peters, aka "Chank," Gregory Luce (@gregoryluce on Twitter), and legal assistant and BLB unpaid intern No. 57, Amy Derby (@amyderby on Twitter), is going to be a big phat hit in the blawgosphere...

Paralegal Posting of the Week: National Aeronautics & Space Administration

Posted on December 29, 2010
by Margaret Lucas Agius, CPNASA is looking for a Paralegal Specialist to work at its Washington, D.C. headquarters in the Office of the General Counsel, General Law Practice Group: NASA, the world's leader in space and aeronautics is always seeking outstanding scientists, engineers, and other talented professionals to carry forward the great discovery process that its mission demands...

Happy Holidays from a Nerd, I Mean, Practical Paralegalism

Posted on December 24, 2010
Even though this holiday video, "How the Nerds Saved Christmas," from Waddey & Patterson PC, an IP firm based in Nashville, Tennessee, is a couple of years old, it's still a keeper, and not just because patent law is a hot specialty area. Maybe I don't want to admit how much I relate to it, being Pretty Danged Nerdy all my life, and also having worked for an employment and civil rights firm for the last 15 years, where we see (and use) these agency abbreviations daily...

Practical Paralegalism Presents the Posts of Christmas Past

Posted on December 22, 2010
Is my Christmas tree up yet? Nope. Which is why we're re-visiting the Posts of Christmas Past, rather than writing new ones. (Besides, it's kinda cool to have been hanging 'round the blawgosphere long enough to have a past to re-visit.)Some of my fond memories include:A paralegal gives away 22,000 pounds of chocolate to our troops (like you can keep that much in your desk anyway);The worst thing you can possibly get in a holiday gift exchange ('sides newts); Practical Paralegalism gives only the finest chocolate to its staff - and gets its 2009 Christmas card out early; Showing the legal staff a little [more] R-E-S-P-E-C-T during the holidays, or no wonder relations between some lawyers and their staff members are a lot like Wendy's Frosties; Grandma so did not get run over by a reindeer;Those folks at the North Carolina Bar Association give Elton John some holiday fashion tips; A legal assistant who wasn't charged with embezzlement, but with witchcraft instead; Erin Brockovich joining The Paralegal Voice (I was really nervous, and therefore very focused on what to wear during the podcast, like she'd actually see me...

Arrrgggghhh!!! The Holidaze AND Apostrophe Abuse

Posted on December 20, 2010
This post at Apostrophe Abuse expresses both my holiday spirit and one of my misuse of punctuation pet peeves:Wait. Take a deep breath. Count my blessings. Uh, thank you for snarky grammar blogs?Source: Apostrophe Abuse

Practical Paralegalism's Recommended Reading this Week

Posted on December 19, 2010
First, I'd like to make a holiday confession, already tweeted and irretrievably documented somewhere by the Library of Congress:And you thought label makers were just for file folders and people with OCD.Think your Monday Before Christmas started out rough, and worried that the other paralegals will laugh at you, because you asked for an extension of time for Christmas Day, and didn't get one?Yeah, me, too...

Your Voice Mail Message Is More Important than You Think

Posted on December 19, 2010
Last week, the Regina Leader-Post published an article about convicted killer Ronald Smith's execution date being set for January 2011 - after the execution had already been stayed. One of the reasons given for the snafu in the Montana death row case is that a district court judge failed to respond to telephone and e-mail messages notifying him of the stay by a different district court judge...

Retiring Legal Secretary Celebrates 43 Years of Service

Posted on December 19, 2010
In today's mobile society, we often change jobs - not to mention careers - as frequently as we buy new cars - or television sets. Add the recession to that mix, with many of our colleagues in the legal field losing jobs they had hoped to retire from, and that makes legal secretary MaryAnn Wippermann's employment at the Missouri Attorney General's Office from 1969 until her retirement last week even more notable...

TGIF: Pachelbel for Cello Blows

Posted on December 17, 2010
It's the holiday season, never one of my favorite times of the year. But Pachelbel's Canon in D is one of the few pieces of music that gets me even close to the holiday spirit. I was an orchestra geek in high school (I played the flute and actually still do - at least it isn't bigger than me)...

Fruit Really Is No Substitute for Cookies

Posted on December 16, 2010
In response to my last post, whining about the lack of cookies in the office, a paralegal and fellow North Carolina Paralegal Association member, Crystal Robinson, who has a great sense of humor, emailed me this photo:Exactly ;) Thanks, Crystal, you made me laugh out loud!

Who Ate All the Vendor Cookies?

Posted on December 16, 2010
My co-worker and super-paralegal, Rana Holcomb, gave me a sticky pad full of funny sayings last Christmas. Today, after driving like Miss Daisy at a hair-raising 5 mph on icy slick roads to make it into work - not realizing that my most serious risk of bodily harm was getting out of the car in the firm parking lot and nearly busting my tail on the icy sidewalk, all I really want to calm my frazzled nerves is a cookie...

Today's Quote: Definitely an Advocate - But Not a Lawyer

Posted on December 15, 2010
"I should also draw your attention to the fact that Ms. Lynne DeVenny is erroneously listed as counsel [for our client] on the order. While I am confident Ms. DeVenny would be an outstanding advocate for our clients, she is in fact the paralegal working on the case...

Paralegal Profile: Stephanie Durham Rivera

Posted on December 15, 2010
Job Title: Litigation Paralegal Employer: Olive & Olive, PA; Durham, NCYears of Paralegal Experience: 7 Education/Degrees: BA, Howard UniversitySpecialty Areas: Intellectual Property; Trademark and Copyright Litigation Career Highlight: A memorable career highlight for me was working on a case with the United States Product Safety Commission (CPSC), suing Walmart for failing to report safety hazards associated with Weider and Weslo brand home exercise equipment...

There's No Free Lunch

Posted on December 12, 2010
I'm writing this post to explain why you might not see much activity at Practical Paralegalism for a while. Like most of my readers, I work full-time, have a family to care for, have panic attacks when trying to think of something to fix for dinner (every single night to infinity, peeps!) - and have family emergencies...

Twitter Stalking 101: It'll Be Our Li'l Secret

Posted on December 08, 2010
I have talked to many, many paralegals during social media presentations in the last 18 months about the joys of Twitter. The. Joys.Alas, I have convinced maybe six to try it. (I realized today that I may not be a gifted salesperson when I discovered even my own best friend and co-worker did not know I designed a line of humorous items for paralegals)...

Help, I'm a Paralegal. I'm Falling & I Can't Get Up!

Posted on December 08, 2010
This is how my day is going - how 'bout yours?Even doh we's live wit a vomitee kitteh, I stills finds I Can Has Cheezburger more funner 'n sillee stringy stuff, and now instead o' makin' my brane hurtz over de CLA exam, wanna learn to talk de kittehs and de goggiez...

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