Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

The Search for Hidden USB Drives Gets More Interesting

Posted on October 04, 2010
The next time you're scoping a joint for hidden USB drives, while the homeowner stands by, coyly smiling at you and gently waving a fan back and forth in front of her face - grab it and run. The 16 GB USB jack is hidden in the top of the frame.For 14 more awesome ways to disguise a USB drive (check the personal bling, too), see Mashable's post, "15 Creative USB Drives for Storing Your Data in Style"...

Practical Paralegalism's Recommended Reading This Week

Posted on October 03, 2010
I blog for paralegals, legal assistants, legal secretaries, paralegal students, paralegal educators, and all the other legal professionals essential to the practice of law - as well as the attorneys who want to get to know us better. Once a week (or every other week when I get behind), I share links to a half dozen or so articles focusing on legal news and humor, practice tips and technology...

Fear of an Overpriced Paralegal Degree

Posted on October 03, 2010
Liz Pulliam Weston's Money Talk column this week in the Los Angeles Times caught my eye, because not long ago I blogged about for-profit paralegal programs. Questions about these programs, especially some of the online ones, come up frequently in paralegal group discussions in various social media venues, including LinkedIn and listservs...

Former Paralegal Raises Breast Cancer Awareness via Project Runway Spinoff

Posted on October 03, 2010
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Sharing fellow North Carolinian Marcy Gallagher's story seems like a great way for Practical Paralegalism to help spread the message - and also neatly ties together my love for the legal profession, chocolate, and all things Project Runway...

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Top 25 Paralegal Blogs

Posted on October 02, 2010
So yesterday I got a very nice email from Criminal Justice Degree Schools (http://www.criminaljusticedegreeschools.com/) stating that Practical Paralegalism has been included in its "Top 25 Paralegal Blogs" list.Naturally, I'm pretty darned excited, but not for the reason you think...

Saturday LOL: Gotta Have Gravy, Mmmmm

Posted on October 02, 2010
Paralegals actually have a lot in common with Conan. We love sandwiches (the kind you can eat at your desk), answer questions - and mail stuff.Fiber is important...

TGIF: That Hair is Fierce

Posted on September 30, 2010
Fellow Gleeks, I dunno who this guy is - but he's channeling his inner Rachel, and it's pretty funny.Hope you're havin' a fierce hair day, and that your weekend rocks.

Today's Quote: What's in a Name?

Posted on September 30, 2010
?There?s plenty of denial out here. The playing field is not level. If you have a ?black sounding? name, it's a lot harder. A lot of civil rights era kids who were taught to be proud of our roots are now scrubbing out anything that can identify you by race...

Take a Mid-Week Break with a Panda

Posted on September 29, 2010
I read all the paralegal blogs, paralegal listserv discussions, paralegal tweets, and emails to Practical Paralegalism that indicate some of us have more difficult [fill in the blank] supervising attorneys, co-workers, clients, office equipment, hair, and/or children than others...

Meet the 21st Century Paralegal

Posted on September 29, 2010
While working on another post, I came across a very well done feature article, "The 21st-century paralegal: from interviewing prospective clients to managing documents at trial, today's paralegal participates in every aspect of an attorney's practice, bringing organization and perspective to complex legal tasks," that appeared in the January 2008 TRIAL trade journal, which was before I started Practical Paralegalism...

Paralegal Profile: Dennyce Korb, CP

Posted on September 29, 2010
Job Title: ParalegalEmployer: Johnson Eiesland Law Offices, P.C., Rapid City, South DakotaYears of Paralegal Experience: 24 yearsEducation/Degrees: AA degree in liberal artsSpecialty Areas: Nursing home litigation, medical negligence, defective products, plaintiffs? personal injury; we concentrate on catastrophic injury cases...

Today's Quote: Contracts vs. Skinny Shoes

Posted on September 28, 2010
"Tina Chai originally intended to be a lawyer. But after slogging through an uninspiring stint as a paralegal, she traded contract filing for photo shoots, landing a job at Glamour, which paved the way to Vogue's hallowed halls, where she worked for nearly five years...

Paralegal Instrumental in Wrongful Conviction Case

Posted on September 28, 2010
It's a big day for any attorney who has proven that his client was wrongfully convicted and has secured that client's release from prison. You can definitely excuse a lawyer for feeling a little smug and self-satisfied under those circumstances.But it's an even bigger day when that attorney publicly gives props to his paralegal, as Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins did this week, while waiting on the release of his newly exonerated client, Stephen Brodie, who was cleared of the 1990 sexual assault of a 5-year old girl...

From Bank Robber to Supreme Court Brief-Writing Paralegal

Posted on September 27, 2010
"In 2000, I couldn't have named a right in the Bill of Rights" ~ Shon Hopwood How do you go from a convicted, incompetent bank robber with only a semester of college under your belt, to an extraordinarily talented legal writer who has had two cases heard by the U...

Paralegal Turns Layoff into Positive Change

Posted on September 27, 2010
Sometimes it's hard to feel positive about anything after the shock of losing your job, but a Memphis paralegal has turned a layoff into a journey of self-discovery and a brand new outlook on life.Missy Ingram told the Memphis Commercial Appeal that she mostly embraced her inner couch potato and felt sorry for herself during the six-month period after she lost her job...

Today's Quote: Legal Assistant Is Key Part of Lohan Lawyer's Team

Posted on September 27, 2010
[Shawn Chapman Holley] dispatches a long list of incoming calls, briefings, legal motions and other mini-crises over the speaker phone with her legal assistant, Jentry Collins. They've worked together 12 years and have an easy, bantering rapport."You're my best friend," Collins coos as they sign off...

Sunday LOL: Glee Inspires Car Karaoke

Posted on September 26, 2010
It's no secret that I will not answer any of the phones at my house on Tuesday nights from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. because: I. Am. Seriously. Really. Really. Busy.No, not studying for the NALA CLA/CP exam.Watching Glee, reveling in my Gleekiness, and shushing The Teens, and their talkative friends whose TVs don't work at their house, when they try to talk at the same time Sue is talking...

Paralegal's Interview with a Juror Gives Subaru Case New Life

Posted on September 26, 2010
One of the many critical duties performed by experienced litigation paralegals is the polling or interviewing of jurors after a trial. Talking to the jurors gives the trial attorneys insight into the jurors' thought processes, as well as crucial feedback on the reasons they were successful - as well as unsuccessful...

Paralegal Starts Community Pet Food Pantry

Posted on September 26, 2010
Who hasn't seen too many sad stories in the news where victims of America's down economy have not only lost their jobs, their health insurance, and their homes - but also their beloved family pets because they could not afford to feed them?Illinois paralegal Gerri Vaughn, employed by Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti, saw the desperate need in her own hard-hit community, and after adopting her dog, Bruno, from the local animal shelter two years ago, decided to do something about it...

Today's Quote: No More Paralegals with Blue Fingers

Posted on September 26, 2010
Rainey has seen a myriad of changes to the law field since his 1960s beginning. Doctors no longer make house calls. Mediation is now a large part of the legal field. Paralegals' fingertips are no longer stained blue from using carbon paper. Court reporters use electronic recording devices to take notes instead of shorthand, and many women have moved from typing forms for male attorneys to battling against them in courtrooms...

Who Can Help You Escape from that Hellhole You Call Marriage?

Posted on September 23, 2010
Is this family lawyer brilliant or insane? Maybe it doesn't matter. His 2008 online commercial has recently gone viral.I could live without the reference to the "paper-pusher paralegal type." As I recall, when I worked in family law, I drafted about 95% of the documents needed to get our clients out of those hellholes they called marriages...

TGIF & Happy National Punctuation Day

Posted on September 23, 2010
I saw this t-shirt at the National Punctuation Day website, and immediately thought of you guys:There's nothing wrong with a person whose attention to detail becomes an annoyance to others - is there? One of my former supervising attorneys used to call me "PH," for "Perfectionist from Hell...

Paralegal Cautionary Tales: Oh No You Di'int

Posted on September 22, 2010
Sometimes there are so many paralegal cautionary tales in the news, that if I covered each and every one in post after post, we'd all want to go drown ourselves in a pot of three-day old coffee.So once in a while, look for Practical Paralegalism to briefly mention the latest escapades in a short, bullet list column called "Oh No You Di'int" (add rolling your neck and pointing your index finger in the air at the same time, with an extra long emphasis on the final syllable "iiiiiinnnnt")...

Happily Ever After with Evernote

Posted on September 22, 2010
by Jay Moore, NALS Communications ManagerOnce upon a time there was a compulsive notetaker who carried with him scratch pads of various sizes and colors to keep things organized. His briefcase was cluttered with these note pads to a point where he could only try to figure out what note went with what client or what project...

Legal Assistant Featured in Cook's Corner

Posted on September 22, 2010
This week the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette features Indiana legal assistant Meredith Palmison and several of her favorite recipes in its "Cook's Corner", including Eastwood Salad, Pasta Pep-Up, Slow Cooker Chili, and Ranch Potatoes. Not only do they look yummy, but they look like something I could whip up without injuring anybody in the kitchen...

From File Clerk to Paralegal in Six Months

Posted on September 22, 2010
Sometimes taking an entry-level job with a reputable law firm is the best way to obtain on-the-job training and show an employer that you are talented, dependable - and a quick study. In "How to switch careers and become a paralegal" (San Diego News Network), California paralegal Kristine Custodio, currently employed as a paralegal at Butterfield Schechter LLP in San Diego, shares how she turned an entry-level job into a paralegal position very quickly:Custodio, who received her paralegal certificate from UCSD Extension in 2004, began her career at Butterfield Schechter as a file clerk, and within six months she was promoted to a paralegal...

Dancing with the Paralegals

Posted on September 21, 2010
I mainly did this post for shock value, because sometimes it's hard to wake up on weekday mornings. I figured this picture of Margaret Cho, a contestant on this season's Dancing with the Stars, was at least as effective as a third cup of coffee.Cho plays fictional legal assistant Terri on the TV series Drop Dead Diva...

Today's Quote: I Heart Boobies! But Hate the Bracelets

Posted on September 21, 2010
"What bothers me is that it is used as a fad and as fashion. I think there are more productive ways to encourage donations and awareness of breast cancer." ~ Barbara Wilder, Dallas legal assistant and eight-year breast cancer survivor (33 KDAF-TV)What do you think? Are the bracelets a great way for the Keep-A-Breast Foundation to raise awareness about breast cancer, or a distracting teenage fashion craze that should be banned from schools?Source: 33 KDAF-TV

Paralegal Profile: LaChauna A. Johnson

Posted on September 21, 2010
Job Title: Legal AssistantEmployer: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, Inc., Raleigh, NCYears of Paralegal Experience: 5Education/Degrees: B.S. CommunicationsSpecialty Areas: Corporate/ContractsCareer Highlight: In 2005, when I was introduced to the legal field...

Statsky's Corner: Paralegal Duties in Bankruptcy

Posted on September 21, 2010
by Bill Statsky Paralegals have major roles in many areas of the law. For example, here is an overview of tasks many paralegals perform in bankruptcy law.I. Interviewing/Data CollectionA. Help client fill out an extensive questionnaire on assets and liabilities...

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