Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

Wisconsin Lawyer Suspended for Fraudulent Bills

Posted on January 17, 2008
MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended a lawyer for 60 days for submitting false bills to the state. The court says Stephen Compton of Delavan committed professional misconduct when he billed the Office of the State Public Defender for 120 hours of work that was done by a paralegal...

Westminster Paralegal Charged with Posing as Attorney

Posted on January 16, 2008
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A 47-year old Westminster paralegal has been charged with falsely representing himself as an attorney to clients. The paralegal, John Gerard Hedderman, took on civil cases relating to divorces, child custody, and bankruptcy.He is being charged with two felony counts of grand theft, three counts of unauthorized practice of law, one count of second-degree commercial burglary and 10 felony counts of false impersonation...

Buh-But She Was Just a Paralegal!

Posted on January 15, 2008
The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times : Holland Accused of Tortious InterferenceParalegal Patricia Dillman, the director of Holland & Knight?s litigation support group, decided to look for a fresh start. She settled on not only a different firm, Hughes Hubbard & Reed, but also a new city...

Paralegals File Frivolous Lawsuits? Never!

Posted on January 14, 2008
In response to the angry Yankee fan/paralegal suing the Yankees, PlanetFeedback's ShopperCast has this to say: "Mr. Matthew Mitchell, your lawsuit is clogging up the wheels of justice ~ as a former paralegal, you must know that many are outraged at what it sees as frivolous lawsuits...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Palm Coast to Hire Paralegal to Offset Rates

Posted on January 13, 2008
PALM COAST, Fla.-- In the midst of choosing Orlando-based law firm Brown, Garganese, Weiss & D'Agresta as their first choice for legal council, the Palm Coast City Council also decided to hire a paralegal at roughly $45,000 a year to take the edge off the firm's hourly rates...

HWA Paralegal Turea Simpson Receives Bankruptcy Assistant Certification

Posted on January 09, 2008
HOUSTON--Hughes Watters Askanase, L.L.P. (HWA) announced that bankruptcy paralegal Turea Simpson passed the exam to become a Certified Bankruptcy Assistant in October 2007. Founded in 1989, the Association of Bankruptcy Judicial Assistants (ABJA) gives the annual certification exam at their yearly conference as part of their certified bankruptcy program, allowing legal secretaries and assistants to stay updated on new developments in the industry...

Pro-Link GLOBAL Visa & Immigration Services Adds Key Senior Consultant

Posted on January 08, 2008
Bradenton, FL -- PRO-LINK GLOBAL Visa and Immigration Services has hired paralegal Kate Boyd as a Senior Global Immigration Consultant based in the Colorado office. Boyd has experience with global immigration on large corporate accounts with various U...

NFPA Announces New CLE for January

Posted on January 07, 2008
NFPA will offer the following online seminars in January: Ø PACE Review Course Ø Tax Law In a world where there are only two sure things - death and taxes - legal professionals should understand at least one of the two. This two-week seminar provides a comprehensive overview by dividing the topic into several areas...

Paralegal Gateway:Superstar Paralegal

Posted on January 07, 2008
Paralegal Gateway:Superstar ParalegalIt's official; I'm the January 2008 Paralegal Superstar.

Paralegal Keeps Things Spicy in the Kitchen

Posted on January 07, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- When he?s not working as a paralegal for a local bankruptcy attorney, 32-year-old Jim Darrien enjoys cooking an inventive meal.Darrien experiments with different combinations of spices and sauces, and he has been described as a "veritable mad scientist when it comes to the kitchen...

IT and Legal Skills Make a Potent Combo

Posted on January 03, 2008
The demand for paralegals with IT skills is expected to increase, according to the Boston Business Journal. As more law firms grapple with electronic discovery, paralegals capable of navigating the vast amounts of data are in hot demand.Often known as litigation technology support staff, these paralegals are being wooed like lawyers at the top of their classes...

D-M Airman Herrera Named Top Instructor

Posted on January 02, 2008
Tech. Sgt. Aubry Herrera, a paralegal by trade who has taught the five-week Airman Leadership class for four years, was named Airman Leadership Course instructor of the year. For her first 10 years in the Air Force, Herrera, 33, worked as a paralegal...

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise: Paralegal Needed for Public Defense

Posted on January 01, 2008
From The Adirondack Daily Enterprise: MALONE, N.Y. -- The Franklin County chief Public Defender Thomas Souciaz recommended to the Board of Legislators that the county hire a paralegal.?There appears to be,? said Soucia, ?a number of parole appeals that need to be worked on, and a paralegal would be a great asset...

A Sweet End to 2007

Posted on December 31, 2007
Law Crossing posts profiles of notable paralegals, and starting today, my profile is the current Legal Staff profile on their page.Christine Parizo: Author of A Paralegal's BlogIt's a great way to end 2007.

Happy Holidays!

Posted on December 22, 2007
I'm taking the rest of the year off, so everyone, thank you for reading! Have a very happy holiday season and best wishes for the New Year! My 2007 has been amazing: starting this blog, starting a new job in litigation, attending my first NFPA convention as a delegate, and being chosen as one of ParalegalGateway...

CHECKLIST: Prevent ID Theft

Posted on December 20, 2007
Here's an interesting specialty that could be emerging for paralegals: preventing ID theft. Bryan Ansley, identity theft and fraud expert and the CEO of Security Identity Systems, offered some tips to businesses wanting to protect their employees' identities...

American Chronicle: Paralegal Business Opportunities

Posted on December 19, 2007
For those toying with becoming freelance or independent paralegals, Richard Geller's American Chronicle piece, Paralegal Business Opportunities: Why Work for a Firm if You Don't Have To?, lays out some compelling arguments for starting a home-based paralegal business...

Paralegal Works as Integral Part of Legal Team

Posted on December 16, 2007
In this piece from the South Bend Tribune, paralegal Cindy Benedict, a paralegal for 17 years, answers questions about her paralegal career.Benedict, a paralegal at the South Bend firm of Barnes & Thornberg, became interested in the profession when she met one of her sister's college roommates in the late 1970s who became a paralegal and then a law office manager...

Pacific Area Legal Teams Train to Deploy

Posted on December 13, 2007
POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, Hawaii (AFPN) -- Two dozen experts in military law deployed to this island to spend a week sharpening their skills in preparation for upcoming deployments. During the five-day exercise, each team of two -- one lawyer and one paralegal -- will sit through about 15 hours of classroom lesson-and-discussion sessions and run through 30 role-playing scenarios...

ParalegalGateway's Weblog: ParalegalGateway.com Announces 2008 Paralegal Superstars

Posted on December 11, 2007
ParalegalGateway's Weblog: ParalegalGateway.com Announces 2008 Paralegal Superstars, and yours truly is one of them!The 2008 Paralegal Superstar Calendar is scheduled to go on sale late next week and will be available for stocking stuffers or for holiday gifts for you or your favorite Paralegal...

Paralegal Runs Legal Clinic

Posted on December 06, 2007
REDLANDS, Calif. -- Paralegal Carmen Barney runs the Redlands YMCA's Legal Aid Clinic. As the clinic's Director, she provides legal assistance at a fraction of the cost of an attorney for hire to whoever requires her services.Barney, a twenty-year paralegal, took over the legal aid clinic in 1999...

DeRemigio Named Chair of Paralegal Committee

Posted on December 05, 2007
From South Jersey News Online:Lynne DeRemigio has been appointed chair of the paralegal committee for 2007-08 by N.J. State Bar Association President Lynn Fontaine Newsome. A graduate of the American Institute for Paralegal Studies, DeRemigio earned her bachelors degree in law/justice at Rowan University...

New Program Would Seek to Raise Higher Standards for Paralegals

Posted on December 04, 2007
From today's Naples Daily News, which sums up the Florida Registered Paralegal Program nicely:"The Florida Supreme Court on Nov. 15 unanimously approved creation of the Florida Registered Paralegal Program, which provides for voluntary registration of paralegals who meet minimum educational, certification, or work experience criteria, and who agree to abide by an established code of ethics...

The Key to Paralegal Profitability

Posted on November 30, 2007
From morepartnerincome.com :: The Paralegal Opportunity for Law Firms: "The key to the paralegal profitability is the same as that for legal associates?utilization. It requires partners with delegation and supervision skills. It requires effective firm-wide scheduling of billable resources...

Judge Orders Production of Paralegal's Notes

Posted on November 29, 2007
MARSHALL, Texas -- U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis ordered defendant Time Warner to produce a flowchart created by its paralegals in order to identify further parties to the litigation.In an effort to identify proper parties and address liability issues, Judge Davis granted the plaintiffs' request for production of defendants' partnership agreements and a flowchart developed by Time Warner's paralegal on Nov...

Paralegal Honored for Pro Bono Work

Posted on November 28, 2007
From Dateline Pittsburgh:: "Eckert Seamans Cherin and Mellott is the recipient of the 2006 Law Firm Pro Bono Award from the Allegheny County Bar Association. The award is in recognition of the firm's administration of the Custody Conciliation Project, which it developed in connection with the Pittsburgh Pro Bono Partnership...

Bree Cottrell Joins The DiLeone Law Group, P.C.

Posted on November 27, 2007
How awesome is it when a firm sends out a press release about their new paralegal? The Raleigh, N.C. firm of The DiLeone Law Group, P.C. did just that to announce that Bree Cottrell has joined the firm as a paralegal. Cottrell is a recent graduate from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where she received a bachelor of science in business administration with a concentration in human resource management and entrepreneurship...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.