Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

The Paralegal Voice: "Practice Management and Ethics Issues, Plus Choosing a Litigation Support Vendor"

Posted on January 20, 2010
The latest episode of The Paralegal Voice, ?Practice Management and Ethics Issues, Plus Choosing a Litigation Support Vendor,? co-hosted by Vicki Voisin and me, is now available at LegalTalkNetwork.The first part of this episode features attorney Beverly Michaelis, Practice Management Advisor for the Oregon State Bar's Professional Liability Fund, who discusses practice management, technology and current ethics issues for paralegals...

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

Posted on January 19, 2010
Job Title: Certified Paralegal ? Intellectual Property SpecialistEmployer: Clear Channel Communications, Inc., San Antonio, TXYears of Paralegal Experience: 18Specialty Areas: Intellectual Property, EthicsCareer 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...

Does Julia Roberts Look Like a Paralegal?

Posted on January 18, 2010
Of course, everyone's a fashion critic during the Golden Globes.I'm not offended. Because the girl looks good.And she did play the world's most famous paralegal evah...

Practical Paralegalism's Recommended Reading This Week

Posted on January 18, 2010
Or, Do You Know Where I Can Get a Fried Oreo? And Anyone Seen This Big Guy?One of the many reasons I blog for paralegals is to share information they may find helpful for professional development (or just entertaining during a rough patch at work). Once a week I share links to a half dozen or so articles focusing on legal news, practice tips and technology - plus a good laugh or two...

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Martin Luther King's Top 10 Tips for Legal Professionals

Posted on January 18, 2010
This is a re-print of Practical Paralegalism's post from last year's Martin Luther King holiday, but in today's turbulent world, with so many people suffering, it's a good day to reflect on the ways we can use our special skills and training to effect positive change in the world and make a difference in our communities...

If a Jury Summons Says Get Your Furry Hide to Court, You Have to Go

Posted on January 15, 2010
Even If You Really Are a CatNobody likes getting a jury summons. Sal is no exception.His avoidance plan? Hide under the bed until the Court realizes that he's not fit for duty.When I shared the YouTube link to Sal's story with my co-worker, she quipped, "I have jury duty on the 21st! Can I send Sal in my place?"Moral of this Story: Don't mess with the U...

Television's Newest Paralegal Confounds Some Viewers

Posted on January 14, 2010
And Has an Affair with the BossHey, paralegals are always grumbling about insufficient representation on television legal dramas.But it sounds like the paralegal character on ABC's new series "The Deep End" (series premiere airing January 21) might not be a standard bearer for the profession...

A Not Uncommon Moment in a Paralegal's Day: Client Communication Fail

Posted on January 14, 2010
Or Sorry, Sweetie, But You're SOLIf you work in a law office, you've been there and done that.You know, called that nonresponsive client on numerous occasions and followed up with many (heck, even monthly) clear and informative letters bluntly advising him that if he doesn't take action by a certain date, his legal rights and remedies will expire forever (and either something terrible will happen, or nothing will happen at all)...

Beware the Wrath of a Legal Secretary Scorned

Posted on January 13, 2010
Or, If You'd Just Said "Yes" to that Vacay Request...Legal secretary Claudette McCarthy and her supervising attorney, David Gross, enjoyed a successful working relationship for many years - until she ratted him out for keeping a $50,000 client payment to himself, and he ended up facing the New Jersey State Bar for alleged misappropriation of funds from his former partners at Budd Larner...

What Would You Do If You Stole Millions from Your Employer?

Posted on January 13, 2010
The answer seems to be, continue showing up to work for almost a decade and stealing more money until you get caught.Law.com reported that Richard Thomas, a former bookkeeper for San Francisco law firm Bostwick, Peterson & Mitchell, was sentenced in December 2009 to 10 years in prison for "helping himself to $9 million of the firm's funds over about nine years...

Paralegal Profile: Kym Adams, Legal Document Assistant & Divorce Mediator

Posted on January 13, 2010
Job Title: Legal Document Assistant-Divorce MediatorSelf Employed: Adams Legal Document Services Inc., 151 S. State Street, Hemet CA 92545 1 (800-942-7101)Years of Paralegal Experience: 14 yrsSpecialty Areas: Family Law, Probate, Landlord Tenant, Collections, Step-Parent Adoptions, Estate Planning ( Living Trust, Wills, Power of Attorneys, Deed Transfers), Chapter 7 BankruptcyCareer Highlight: When I helped a divorcing couple who had been married over 20 years...

Update on Paralegal's Drive to Send Chocolate to Troops in Afghanistan

Posted on January 13, 2010
After I posted about Air Force paralegal Senior Master Sgt. Kimberlee Keller's drive to send chocolate to troops stationed in Afghanistan, several readers expressed interest in participating through their paralegal associations or law offices and asked me if she's still accepting chocolate...

Paralegal and "Dog Next Door" Rescuer Loses Home in Fire

Posted on January 12, 2010
Georgia paralegal Deborah Wood has a generous spirit and a calling to care for homeless pets, but now she and 15 foster dogs are the recipients of help from American Dog Rescue and American Red Cross, after she lost her home to a fire this week.Sadly, one of her foster dogs did not survive the fire...

Landing That First Job: The Experience of a Brand New Paralegal

Posted on January 11, 2010
by Harold WeaverIt seems like we all had the same great idea at the same time.?I?m going back to school to become a paralegal.?Sound familiar?Making the Transition from Journalism to LawI spent more than 20 years as a newspaper editor and in early 2009 made the decision to leave the listing ship of journalism and start over in a paralegal career...

Feeling Like An Unloved Lawyer? Get An Office Pet

Posted on January 11, 2010
I have begged and begged and begged for an office cat, but "noooooooo" (so far).But Tennessee attorney Rebecca Robinson is getting a kitten for her office. "Nobody loves lawyers, so we have to find furry things to love," she said.Robinson recently visited the Rutherford County Pet Adoption & Welfare Services (PAWS) in Murfreesboro, with her legal assistant Brianne Montgomery and paralegal Lynne Facciolli...

Paralegal Likes Tenants' Chickens - But County Says They've Got To Go

Posted on January 11, 2010
If California paralegal and landlord Cynthia Buendia doesn't mind Clarabelle, Minnie, Mary and Alice living in her rental home, then why do they have a month to move?Because they're chickens, and Sacramento County doesn't allow them on parcels of 10,000 square feet or less...

A Great Paralegal Gets a Tweet

Posted on January 11, 2010
It makes this paralegal's day to see an attorney tweet her heartfelt appreciation for her staff.And to the unknown paralegal - way to show some initiative!

Practical Paralegalism's Recommended Reading This Week

Posted on January 10, 2010
One of the reasons I blog for paralegals is to share information they might find helpful for professional development. Once a week I share links to a half dozen or so articles focusing on legal news, practice tips and technology - plus a good laugh or two...

Brevard Paralegal Association Awards 2009 Scholarships

Posted on January 09, 2010
MELBORNE, FLORIDA, January 7, 2010/BPA Press Release -- Brevard Paralegal Association (?BPA?), a local affiliate of the Paralegal Association of Florida, Inc., held its Holiday Social on December 17, 2009, at Tuscany Grill, in Melbourne, Florida. The social offered BPA?s membership and area attorneys an opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments during the past year...

Paralegal Assistant Among Top 10 Best Jobs in 2010

Posted on January 07, 2010
Or, It Sucks to Be A RoustaboutThe paralegal profession ranked a solid number seven on the new CareerCast.com 2010 Jobs Rated Report, right up there with software engineer, computer systems analyst, biologist, accountant - and historian?All right, that last one seems a little suspicious to me...

Paralegal Quits Job to Buy Massage Clinic

Posted on January 07, 2010
Those all too rare occasions to splurge on a massage are my favorite way to relieve stress and forget about all things law-related for an hour.South Carolina resident Crystal Hodge, a veteran paralegal, enjoyed the massage experience she had last year at a Massage Envy clinic so much that she quit her job and bought her own franchise...

Practical Paralegalism's 2009 Hall of Shame

Posted on January 06, 2010
Or, Don't Try This at HomeWhen I started a blog to celebrate paralegals and share the occasional cautionary tale for its educational value, I honestly thought there'd be, like, six cautionary tales a year.Oops.To be frank, I?m very disappointed that there were so many contenders for the 2009 Hall of Shame, and that I couldn?t easily cull it to a ?Top 10?...

Help Wanted: One Cute & Congenial Paralegal

Posted on January 06, 2010
Or, Mon Dieu!Thanks to reader Susan Long for sharing this Craigslist ad from a San Francisco lawyer looking for more than just a pretty face to assist him in his busy litigation practice.Or maybe just a pretty face.You know when an employer writes "photo appreciated but not necessary" that he really means it's necessary...

Paralegal Profile: Sue Ann Jaffarian, Mystery Writer

Posted on January 05, 2010
Job Title: ParalegalEmployer: Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, Inc., Los Angeles, CAYears of Paralegal Experience: 22 years (plus 15 years of legal secretarial experience)Specialty Areas: Corporate/businessCareer Highlight: Passing my CLA exam Paralegal Practice Tip: Work to live, don?t live to work...

Paralegal Will Work for Motor Home or Xbox 360

Posted on January 05, 2010
Not all the funny Craigslist paralegal want ads are posted by lawyers. Sometimes a paralegal seeking employment is fair game, too.A reader shared this ad from a California paralegal seeking work - with a very flexible compensation package in mind:Will trade Paralegal Services (Citrus Heights)I will trade Paralegal services forRunning carMotor HomeComputersXBox 360 or PS3, PSP slimline, DSi,Camcorder, Digital CameraGift CardsLegal Services I can provide arePreparation, Filing and Service of*Unlawful Detainers ( three day notices and thirty day as well ) for either party*Family Law: Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support Modification*Small Claims: New Filings, Judgments, Order of ExaminationI also do collections for small businessesSo, granted this appears to be a bit irregular and a problem for the IRS, but aren't we all essentially working for a roof over our head, reliable transportation and the latest video gaming systems? Click on the photo and check out the ad for this 1970 Dodge motor home available for the bargain price of $5,000 (how many legal filings is that?): "Crank up T...

Objection Gone Overboard

Posted on January 05, 2010
I love a good objection to those pesky overly broad discovery requests, don't you? (Even if we sent 'em :)One of my Twitter buddies, Susana, a legal assistant, law school hopeful, bibliophile and blogger at cursory circulocution, tweeted this fishy objection she recently came across...

How Do I Remain Ethical?

Posted on January 04, 2010
by Ellen Lockwood, ACP, RPIt can be tough to avoid ethical slip ups. We get so busy and things are moving so quickly. And attorneys are asking us to do things and we assume if an attorney is asking it must be okay . . . Wait. What happens again when you ?assume??To help you out, here are my recommended ways to determine whether what you are about to do is ethical:Be familiar with the ethical guidelines for paralegals and attorneys, as well as any rules and regulations specific to your state...

Practical Paralegalism's 2009 Hall of Fame

Posted on January 04, 2010
This started out as a ?Top 10? list to recognize the most outstanding paralegal professionals and groups featured in Practical Paralegalism last year, but there were so many great stories, it was difficult to choose.Then I thought, ?It?s my blog. I can do whatever I want...

Practical Paralegalism's Recommended Reading This Week

Posted on January 03, 2010
Or, Somewhere a Murdered Moose Hangs on a Wall, Waiting for PaybackOne of the many reasons I blog for paralegals is to share information they might find helpful for professional development. Once a week I share links to a half dozen or so articles focusing on legal news, practice tips and technology - plus a good laugh or two...

Foreclosure Industry Makes Extensive Use of Paralegals

Posted on January 03, 2010
Tampa Bay Online's article "Law firm gorges on home defaults" corroborates Robert Half Legal's 2010 Salary Guide which includes bankruptcy and foreclosure as two of the most in-demand legal specialties right now. But the article also illustrates the continuing bleak economy and its adverse impact on struggling homeowners as thousands of foreclosure proceedings are initiated "every month" in Hillsborough County Circuit Court...

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