Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

Paralegal Speaks Out Against LSUC Regulation

Posted on September 02, 2008
While paralegal regulation is certainly necessary, it does need to be very well planned. In this opinion piece by Marshall Yarmus, an independent paralegal operating in Toronto and the former vice president of both the Paralegal Society of Ontario and the Paralegal Society of Canada, reasons why the Law Society of Upper Canada's paralegal regulation is hurting paralegals and consumers are detailed...

Making September Count

Posted on September 02, 2008
Welcome to September. I haven't been in school for years, but there is something about September that makes me want to clean up my desk, sharpen my pencils, and start jotting in a notebook. At work, the end of vacation and the beginning, once again, of routine schedules brings excitement...

Natick, Mass. Lawyer to Use Paralegal to Collect Back Taxes

Posted on September 01, 2008
The town of Natick, Mass. hired David DeLuca, an attorney with Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane of Quincy, to assist in collecting money owed to the town in back taxes. The combined figure of outstanding taxes is $1.5 million, but the town realistically expects to collect around $500K...

Happy Labor Day - Launching Our First Survey!

Posted on August 31, 2008
In honor of Labor Day, A Paralegal's Blog is launching its first survey. What are you doing for Labor Day weekend? A Paralegal's Blog

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Virtual Paralegal in a Virtual Work World of One's Own

Posted on August 29, 2008
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly has an interview this week with virtual paralegal Dawn M. Draper of Traverse City, Mich. A virtual paralegal can do almost everything a paralegal in an office can do, except work with the file cabinet, of course. The qualifications are the same, and according to Draper, the pay is higher...

ABA Gives Thumbs Up to Legal Outsourcing

Posted on August 27, 2008
I'm very disappointed in the ABA for legitimizing outsourcing legal work to foreign countries. They seem to have forgotten that they are the American Bar Association. This opinion was released on August 5 but was not announced until yesterday. Not only paralegals are affected by this, either...

Beaufort County Eliminates Staff Attorney Post, Considers Hiring Paralegal

Posted on August 26, 2008
Beaufort County[, North Carolina] has eliminated its full-time staff attorney position, which was held by Kelly Golden, in this year's budget.County administrator Gary Kubic said the move was part of a re-organization of several departments. He said he would not replace Golden...

lawjobs.com Career Center - Fight the Urge to Multitask at the Firm

Posted on August 26, 2008
There are three calls on hold, your email inbox is rapidly reaching critical mass, your cell phone is doing that vibrating-jig right off the edge of your desk (because you do keep it on vibrate at work, right?), and you've got a giant brief due tomorrow morning...

Virtual Paralegals Manage Cases at a Distance

Posted on August 25, 2008
In addition to overseas outsourcing, virtual paralegals may be the next cost-saving measure for law firms. Depending on how well you work independently, this could be a lucrative field with a fantastic commute and relaxed dress code.Paralegals no longer have to be at arm's length from attorneys who need assistance with legal research or administrative tasks...

eBags Brings the Best of Bags to Your Doorstep

Posted on August 25, 2008
Some of the best deals I've gotten on bags have been at eBags, whether it's luggage, handbags, or a laptop case. They have an amazing assortment of almost any type of bag you can imagine, over 500 brands. They also often have sales, like the one I'm linking to:$20 Off When You Spend Over $100 at eBags...

ABA Approves New Paralegal Baccalaureate Degree for Clayton State

Posted on August 24, 2008
Clayton State University in Georgia is adding a baccalaureate degree in paralegal studies. Its College of Professional Studies already offers a certificate program and an associate's degree program, which have already received approval from the American Bar Association...

NWACC Program Gets Bar Approval

Posted on August 22, 2008
BENTONVILLE [Ark.] - The paralegal program at Northwest Arkansas Community College was approved Aug. 12 at the annual American Bar Association meeting in New York City.NWACC, the only program receiving initial approval by the Board of Delegates, joins an elite group of college programs that have attained such status, program director Mary Hatfield Lowe said...

Ex-Associate, Paralegal Win Damages From Former Firm

Posted on August 22, 2008
This is fantastic! Despite the fact that there is a cap on punitive damages, that firm should have to pay every single penny to this poor paralegal. A Garden City, N.Y., tax certiorari firm must pay more than $716,500 in damages to a former associate and a paralegal who claim they lost their jobs after they became pregnant, a federal jury has decided...

Free Case Assessment Software Released by earlyCASE

Posted on August 20, 2008
Atlanta-based earlyCASE launched its free software available for download from www.earlycase.com. earlyCASE is a web-based application which runs on a local PC and analyzes accessible electronically stored information (ESI) without the data ever leaving the computer or network...

Paralegal Program Seeks Soldiers

Posted on August 19, 2008
To meet the growing need for paralegals in Columbus, Ohio, a new paralegal certificate program is beginning this fall for veterans. All are welcome, but the goal is to reach out to soldiers and their spouses looking for a career change.Columbus attorney Bob Poydasheff is on board to teach the city's first paralegal certificate course geared toward military veterans, wounded soldiers and their spouses...

Army Paralegal Offers a Look at Iraq Aid

Posted on August 19, 2008
In the 115-degree heat of the deserts of Iraq, U.S. Army Spc. F. Matthew Duras' mind wanders back to the things he misses the most about living in Gloucester County.Being able to swim in a pool on a hot day. Taking drives to the Jersey shore or to Philadelphia...

Paralegal Sets Sights on Rising Lawyer Salaries

Posted on August 18, 2008
Many people think the logical career move for a paralegal is to go to law school and become a lawyer. (In fact, it's such an expected career path that I try not to blog about paralegals becoming lawyers, because I believe that being a paralegal can be a very rewarding career...

Paralegal Fights Corruption in Fiji

Posted on August 18, 2008
Fiji seems like an idyllic place, full of sun, sand, and relaxation, but beneath the calm facade lurks corruption. After a successful career fighting corruption in Hong Kong, paralegal Albert Lau is now helping Fiji fight internal corruption.Not often do people think of taking up a profession fighting corruption and promoting good governance...

Weight-Lifting Paralegal Aiming for London Olympics

Posted on August 17, 2008
In a way, this just proves that paralegals are superheroes, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound -- or in this case, lift small cars off unlucky pedestrians:A young weight-lifting paralegal from Wolverhampton has his sights set on the next Commonwealth and Olympic Games after putting in a strong performance in a national contest...

Former Paralegal Is First Winner of "The Spot Light Mom Blogger" Contest

Posted on August 17, 2008
For most mom bloggers, reaching an audience can be tough. The Blog Train offers a solution to find targeted traffic for work at home mom bloggers. Even if a mom isn't "formally" working from home, all moms work and work hard. Andrea Chamberlain, a former paralegal and July's Winner, said, "A stay at home mom will tell you life is like a glorified insane asylum, and the life of a work at home mom is the same only with a straight jacket on...

Paralegal Goes From Despair to Ripley's Believe It or Not

Posted on August 13, 2008
Terry Dwight Coleman, a paralegal in Colorado, released his first book, DON'T GIVE UP, DON'T GIVE IN, with the message that no matter your background or problems, God can use you to his glory.Coleman draws from his own struggles, and he believes that the book will inspire those who seek to overcome their troubles...

UK Firms Outsource to India

Posted on August 13, 2008
This week, two U.K. law firms, Eversheds and Clifford Chance, announced that they will be outsourcing paralegal work to India. Citing lower costs as their main reasons, the firms say they will be able to pass those savings along to clients.But at what cost? Will the paralegals in India be adequately supervised? Will they understand the intricacies of the English language as it relates to legal work? Will they be able to communicate adequately with their "supervising" - and I use that term loosely - attorneys?

LA Lawyer Gets Prison in Lawsuit Kickbacks Case

Posted on August 12, 2008
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A lawyer who pleaded guilty to a federal tax offense as part of a major lawsuit kickback scheme was sentenced Monday to two months in federal prison and fined $50,000.Richard Russell Purtich, who cooperated with prosecutors, apologized at his sentencing...

Legal Secretary Talent Becoming Scarce

Posted on August 12, 2008
I found this article particularly interesting because I started out my legal career as a legal secretary to work my way through paralegal school (and gain experience in law offices). Apparently, as the Baby Boomers retire, so do the old-school legal secretaries: the ones that can type 100 words per minute, wrangle a Dictaphone, and know how to format briefs in their sleep...

Michael Martin's Mother Is Right

Posted on August 11, 2008
Mothers usually are right:Justice Struggle to Find New Ways to Ask You to Shake Your Booty -- Vulture -- Entertainment & Culture Blog -- New York Magazine: "My mother still thinks that being a paralegal is the greatest job possible. Even when I told my mother they're going to greenlight the movie, that they're going to start shooting it, she was like: 'You know what? I got these brochures about being a paralegal...

By Day, Paralegal; By Night, Rising Mars

Posted on August 11, 2008
By day, and to most people, Stephen Mauriello is simply a husband, new father, and paralegal near his home in Morristown, N.J. But his fans know him as Steeven Mars, a star on the rise in the music galaxy. Last year, the talented singer/songwriter released his debut solo album, "If Not Now...

Paralegal Pay for, um, not Paralegal Work

Posted on August 11, 2008
Here's another argument for paralegal regulation: Alabama Attorney General Troy King promoted a political appointee who serves as his spokesman and chief of staff to one of the agency's five paralegal jobs -- at a salary of $104,000. Of course, this political appointee has NO paralegal training, and Alabama state law doesn't require AG paralegals to actually be paralegals...

I'm "Tweeting"

Posted on August 10, 2008
I've fallen into the Twitter trap and have started my own Twitter feed. I "tweet" about gadgets, TV I might be watching, and assorted happenings throughout the day.Twitter / paralegalsblog

Pro-Link Hires Paralegal Immigration Consultant

Posted on August 09, 2008
Pro-Link Global Visa and Immigration Services, a provider of corporate global immigration services, with offices in the U.S., EMEA, and Asia, hired a paralegal to be their new global immigration consultant.Beata Firosz, a paralegal with over five years experience in immigration, joined Pro-Link GLOBAL as an Immigration Consultant in their Arizona office...

Court Upholds Firing of Paralegal Over Smoke Breaks

Posted on August 08, 2008
Can an employee be fired over smoke breaks? Apparently so, although it certainly does raise some interesting legal questions. Not only did the appeals court uphold the firm's decision to fire this paralegal, they also ordered her to repay the $3,000 she had received in unemployment benefits because she allegedly misrepresented her termination...

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