Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

Today's Quote: Didn't Miss A Thing By Not Going to Law School

Posted on July 07, 2010
"I consider the paralegal profession a career. Paralegals can do almost anything an attorney can do except represent clients in court, quote fees, and give legal advice....I never felt like I was missing out on anything by not going to law school and not being a lawyer...

Legal Secretaries of Cape May County Announce Scholarship Winner

Posted on July 07, 2010
I love to see legal support staff organizations that include scholarship awards in their annual projects. About a million years ago, when I was a single mom pursuing an associate degree in paralegal studies, a $500 scholarship award from a local professional women's association made a big difference in my life...

A Fictional Paralegal Faces Jail Time

Posted on July 07, 2010
Whoa. There's a new fictional paralegal in town, and she seems intent on throwing everything we've ever been taught about ethics out the window.In the interest of full disclosure here, I haven't read South Carolina native Danny Easterling's new novel, simply titled The Paralegal (PublishAmerica, 2010)...

Today's Quote: Why Paralegals Drink Hot Coffee on Hot Days

Posted on July 06, 2010
"Why am I drinking hot coffee this morning? Because I'm crazy. I should have stayed at the shore. That's the place to be when it's this hot." ~ Philadelphia paralegal Sharon Loven tells the Associated Press she's not giving up the piping hot bean, despite temperatures approaching 90 degrees this morning...

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Book Review: Too Big To Miss Is Too Good to Miss

Posted on July 05, 2010
How many of you think you'd be terrific detectives because of the investigative skills you use every day as paralegals? Do you ever fantasize about living a more exciting life away from your desk and your bag lunches?Author Sue Ann Jaffarian, a corporate paralegal herself, gives us a heroine that we can identify with in the first novel of the Odelia Grey Mystery Series, Too Big To Miss...

Why the Founding Fathers Needed a Paralegal

Posted on July 04, 2010
I hope your 4th is relaxing and wonderful - and that you have tomorrow off.

We're All Guardian Angels

Posted on July 03, 2010
Is it my imagination, or are television's legal support staffers getting cuter by the minute?There was Katie, the paralegal with the really great hair on ABC's now defunct series, The Deep End, and then Jasper, the outrageously good-looking paralegal matchmaker in the Lifetime movie, Double Wedding...

Saturday LOL: 2010's Worst First Sentence of a Novel

Posted on July 03, 2010
The Grammar Police scored a major bust with this winner of the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest given for worst [deliberately crafted] first sentence of a novel, by Molly Ringle of Seattle, Washington:For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity's affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss--a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity's mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world's thirstiest gerbil...

Today's Quote: Laughing It Up About Those Impossible Demands

Posted on July 03, 2010
Certainly, there are secretaries and paralegals out there who know how to practice law better than the lawyers they work for. But they don't -- practice law, that is. And if you don't actually stand in those wingtips, it's just not the same. Nothing unique about that...

California Legal Secretary Celebrates 60 Years On the Job

Posted on July 03, 2010
Sticking with anything for 60 years, whether it's a marriage, a house or a job, is a huge milestone in anyone's life, which is why Patricia "Pat" Selna, a resident of Tracy, California, was the honoree at a luncheon last week, celebrating her 60-year (and counting) career as a legal secretary (she's also lived in the same house all her life)...

Law Firm Included in Nevada Business Magazine's "Best Companies to Work For"

Posted on July 03, 2010
It's wonderful to see a successful law firm recognized for its commitment to the staff, going above and beyond the call of duty to "recruit and retain the best and brightest." McDonald Carano Wilson, with offices in Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada, has been named by Nevada Business Magazine as one of the "Best Companies to Work For" - and the glowing endorsement by its employees says it all:The firm offers education assistance, fully-funded healthcare and a generous profit-sharing program for its employees...

Working Girl Wednesday: Rough Day? Go Home and Flambé Something

Posted on June 30, 2010
My current rough week started out with a rough Monday. I'm not whining (much). We all have rough weeks, and this one just turned out to be mine.So I tweeted: (That's the link to the blog, Paralegal Hell. Wonder if I should go ahead and grab the domain name, Paralegal Purgatory?) And my virtual paralegal Twitter buddies rallied 'round...

Legal Assistant and Lawyer Indicted for Stealing Millions from Vets

Posted on June 30, 2010
The My Fox Houston headline reads, "Elderly Couple Steals $2M From Vets."That gave me pause in itself, because in most news stories, elderly couples are the victims.But my heart absolutely sank as I read the story and learned that a lawyer, the sole practitioner of a small guardianship practice, and his wife, a legal assistant and the office manager, have been indicted by a grand jury for conspiring to steal more than $2 million dollars from mentally incompetent veterans...

Professional Profile: Virginia M. Burrows, CLAS, NCCP & NCBA PD's 2010 Distinguished Paralegal

Posted on June 29, 2010
Job Title: ParalegalEmployer: K&L Gates LLP, Research Triangle Park, North CarolinaYears of Paralegal Experience: Since 1982 ? 28 years this summerSpecialty Areas: Commercial Real EstateCareer Highlight: Receiving the 2010 Distinguished Paralegal Award from the North Carolina Bar Association Paralegal DivisionParalegal Practice Tips:Find and USE a mentor who is a consummate professional with wonderful leadership qualities...

Today's Quote: Is Being a Doormat the Only Other Choice?

Posted on June 29, 2010
"Women have a very narrow path to walk; they risk coming across as a doormat or a bitch." ~ Robert Sutton, professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University and author of the upcoming book, Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best and Learn from the Worst...

Be the ONE - Message to Paralegals

Posted on June 29, 2010
Kathy Para, an attorney for Jackonsville Area Legal Aid in Jacksonville, Florida and the Jacksonville Bar Association's Pro Bono Committee Chair, is looking for legal professionals to be "The One" to help make a difference, even if it's in a single pro bono case:At the annual Florida Bar Convention in Boca Raton this past week, attorneys from around the State were asked to be ?The One? to give something back to their communities with pro bono legal services...

Would You Pass This Personality Test?

Posted on June 28, 2010
Jay Fleischmann, a consumer bankruptcy lawyer who blogs at Legal Practice Pro, has a new article at JD Supra that everyone should read, "6 Toxic Personalities No Law Firm Should Employ". He recommends that firms get rid of certain personality types early on - or risk being held hostage by difficult employees who know stuff their bosses don't...

Today's Quote: From Legal Secretary to Judicial Clerk

Posted on June 28, 2010
How'd you get into being a judicial clerk?Well, I went to college and my first job out of college was as a legal secretary for a law firm in Battle Creek, and that was over 20 years ago and I've just stayed in that field ever since then. I started here in July of 2009 working for Judge Kingsley, and previous to that I had worked for a family law attorney for over 20 years...

NALS Needs You for Legal Support Industry Survey

Posted on June 28, 2010
NALS...the association for legal professionals needs you, even if you're not a member. NALS invites all legal support staffers, including legal secretaries, adminstrative assistants, legal assistants and paralegals to participate in its Legal Support Industry Survey at http://www...

New Advanced Ethics Course with The Paralegal Mentor

Posted on June 28, 2010
Vicki Voisin, The Paralegal Mentor, is offering a new 90-minute teleconference course, "Advanced Ethics: Complex Lessons for Attorneys, Paralegals and other Legal Professionals" this Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. EST. The course has been approved for 1...

Practical Paralegalism's Recommended Reading This Week

Posted on June 27, 2010
I blog for paralegals, legal assistants, legal secretaries, legal staffers - and the attorneys who want to get to know us better - to contribute to our virtual community and share information they might find helpful for professional development, or a much needed laugh during a hectic week working for lawyers...

Donation Fund Established for Paralegal Shot in Head

Posted on June 27, 2010
On June 12, 2010, a South Carolina paralegal opened her car door to a slender and polite teenager who reminded her of her 12-year old daughter - and almost lost her life.Danielle DelPercio, who lives in Conway, was shot in the head, allegedly by a 14-year old boy who has been charged with attempted murder and carjacking with great bodily injury...

Legal Secretary Wins Pepsi Grant for Community Center

Posted on June 27, 2010
Three years ago, an Ohio legal secretary and her husband saw a closed elementary school as a safe place for youth to gather in the community. They bought the building for $5,000, but did not have the additional funds needed to bring their dream to life...

Paralegal Tweet: I Live to Answer Discovery Requests

Posted on June 26, 2010
I'm sharing another tweet from one of my favorite legal assistant Twitterers, Susana (@madeinkowloon on Twitter):I know you guys can feel her pain.So can The Percolatin' Paralegal.Susana also tweeted this week, "some guy here for mediation just came into my office and used my stapler...

Legal Assistant Wins a Week at Long Beach Island

Posted on June 26, 2010
Sometimes knowing that you've got a beach vacation to look forward to can make all the difference in the world, especially when the going gets tough.A New Jersey legal assistant suffering from a painful medical condition so debilitating that she can't work or drive right now found out that she won a week's stay at a beautiful beach - while she was being transported by ambulance to a hospital...

Saturday LOL: A Lesson in Phone Etiquette

Posted on June 26, 2010
I'm posting this video today, because I know many of you are cat people. Plus, I know many of my readers spend a great deal of their time at work talking to disgruntled callers, including clients, potential clients and opposing parties. (For some reason, people seem to be much more comfortable yelling at the legal staff instead of the actual attorney...

An "Upcycling" Legal Assistant Turns Junk into Jewelry

Posted on June 26, 2010
Legal assistants and paralegals have a talent for thinking outside of the box and taking scattered pieces of information and huge piles of unorganized paper - and turning them into something useable and beautifully effective, such as summaries, exhibits and narratives...

Lawyers and Staff Share Some Sutherland Comfort

Posted on June 26, 2010
On Thursday, June 24, 2010, the seventh annual "Battle of Law Firm Bands" took place at the Black Cat in Washington, DC to raise money for Gifts for the Homeless, Inc., a non-profit corporation comprised of area law firms and staff.At one point during the contest, a guest performer was introduced by a band as "paralegal - 12th floor...

Legal Assistant Instructor Competes to Host Oprah Show

Posted on June 26, 2010
A crafty adjunct professor in the Legal Assistant Program at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida wants to be the next big TV star on Oprah's new television network, OWN.And by "crafty," I mean that literally. Vanessa Wilson, who has a law degree from the University of Florida and blogs about quilting and sewing at Crafty Gemini, is a contestant in an online video competition for a chance to win her own show, Patch Works, on OWN...

Michelle Obama Praises Department of Justice Employees

Posted on June 24, 2010
On Wednesday, June 23, 2010, U.S. Department of Justice employees had a memorable visit from First Lady Michelle Obama. She praised them for their work, and recognized not just the attorneys, but the staff as well.I was especially moved by these remarks from her speech:...

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