Chancery Court Judge Larry Primeaux has a top ten list of tips for attorneys wanting to  impress a judge while in court. The paralegal can play an important role in most of them. Let’s take today’s post as an example:

TOP TEN TIPS TO IMPRESS A CHANCELLOR AT TRIAL: #8

Know the law and have it handy.

Know the law that applies in your case. It’s never a bad idea to check on what the appellate courts have said most recently about whatever it is you are getting ready for trial. Even if you are an experienced, battle-scarred litigator, you can get blindsided by a rank, newly-minted lawyer if you don’t keep up. Complacency is stupidity in the guise of arrogance; it is intentional ignorance that often proves embarrasing, or worse.

Read the COA decisions every Tuesday afternoon and Supreme Court decisions every Thursday afternoon. When you run across something pertinent to a pending case, print out the decision, highlight the language you need, and stick the decision in your file. That way you’ll have it handy when you need it at trial. If you are too lazy to make time to read the decisions, subscribe to either the Ole Miss or MC law school briefing service and receive summaries via email after each handdown.

….

If you know that your case will involve an issue that is out of the ordinary, have your authorities copied and ready to give the judge. Don’t just read off a few case cites; have copies of the decisions to hand the judge. Some judges require you to give a copy to opposing counsel. When you have authorities at hand, it not only aids the judge in making the right decision, it also communicates to the judge in not-so-subtle fashion that you know you are on sound ground and have confidence that the law supports your position. Contrast that with the lawyer who, when asked what authority supports his position, replies “Well, I know there’s a case out there on point, judge, and if you give me about 10 days, I might be able to find it.”

Have your trial factors printed out and handy, with case cites. Use them as checklists to question your witnesses.

Implementing this tip will be no problem for the attorney with a good paralegal. In The Empowered Paralegal: Effective, Efficient, and Professional I include an entire chapter on preparing a trial notebook organized around the elements of a cause of action. Each element is supported by the evidence available to prove the facts that meet the requirements of the element. For item of evidence and each witness’s testimony the possible objections are anticipated and the relevant law cited with copies of the pertinent cases included. All element is cross-referenced to the exhibits and testimony; each exhibit cross-referenced to the elements it supports and the witness who will provide the foundation its admission into evidence. With the proper assistance from a professional paralegal, any attorney ought to be able to impress the judge and the jury with their professionalism. Even more important, that attorney is much more likely to win the case!

The really fortunate attorney will be able to bring the paralegal to court. As noted previously the good legal team can work as smoothly as a dance team both in the office and in the courtroom. If you both understand the case and have a well-organized notebook, objections to evidence (for example) are anticipated. The opposing attorney objects. Your attorney quickly explains the basis for admission of the evidence. The court asks for supporting law.  The attorney (trying not to smile to broadly) reaching out her hand and you place into it three copies of the case the judge needs to see – one for the judge, one for opposing counsel, and one for your attorney. Smooth as wet butter!

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Back in 2009 I posted in response to Melissa H. at Paralegalese’s  question, “Where are all the men?” in relation to the demographics of the paralegal profession. There does to be some progress being made in this regard. Each year our program graduates a few males, although some of them go directly to law school. I was reminded of the 2009 post by this article in the Aramillo Globe-News: Amarillo College student will be school’s first male paralegal graduate. The article recounts the adventures of Ben Staton, that college’s first male student.

I was especially interested, however, comments from Ben, Bruce Moseley, director of paralegal studie at the college, and Aramillo College President Paul Matney:

Staton and Moseley were shocked when they found out Staton would be the program’s first male graduate.

“I did a double take,” said Moseley, who has been the program coordinator since 2009. “I was like, ‘Not one, really?’ I scoured our records to make sure.”

Matney said Staton’s graduation is a historic moment for the college, and he hopes it helps break down stereotypes about who can enter a given profession.

Moseley said he thinks part of the reason the paralegal program has so few men is because the profession grew out of the secretarial field, which has historically been dominated by women.

He said paralegals are distinct from secretaries because they can do all the work of a lawyer except activities such as giving legal advice, representing a client in court or negotiating a settlement.

About 92.5 percent of paralegals in Texas are women, according to a 2010 study by the State Bar of Texas.

Moseley said there is no reason a paralegal has to be a female, and he expects more males to enter the field in the future.

Staton said part of the reason he was surprised to be the first male graduate was because the program is not specifically designed for women.

“Nothing in what I learned is directed toward females,” he said.

Moseley said the program currently has 142 students. He said about 80 percent of those students are 40- to 50-year-old women.

What do you think? What can be done to bring more men into the paralegal profession? Should the profession be concerned about the female/male ratio?

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Because paralegals have a different perspective on ground level operations in a law office they are often in a position to suggest changes that would improve those operations, client services, and the firm’s bottom line. The Empowered Paralegal, afterall, is well-equipped to recognize and analyze problems, identify solutions, and develop and implement plans for effectuating those solutions – everything from establishing procedures for time, docket, workload, and client management to utilizing advancements in technology to improve overall office operations (all discussed in The Empowered Paralegal: Effective, Efficient, and Professional). However, getting the attorneys to pay attention, much less accept and adopt those changes is a frequent source of frustration for paralegals.

The Empowered Paralegal also deals with approaches to dealing with the difficulties of communicating with one’s own attorney and managing the effects of attorney mismanagement. In addition, however, paralegals may take some solace in the fact that they do not suffer this frustration alone. Today’sABAJournal.com includes a post with a headline that will come as no suprise to paralegals: Don’t Underestimate Lawyers’ Resistance to Change, Seyfarth Shaw Chairman Says. The story is about attempts to implement process management, but applies as well to paralegal efforts to effectuate changes as it does to management consultant’s efforts:

Seyfarth Shaw has learned a lot about lawyers and their resistance to change as the firm embraced Lean Six Sigma, a management approach emphasizing process improvement and efficiency in legal work.

Seyfarth Shaw chairman J. Stephen Poor outlines the lessons learned in an article for the New York Times DealBook blog. “Never underestimate the resistance to change from lawyers,” he writes. “Even more likely, never underestimate the ability of lawyers to describe virtual status quo efforts as revolutionary change. Working through a change management process intended to deal with that push-back has been a core element of our challenge for years.”

By the way, I’ve noted before that “In my view process managment is not just about developing efficiencies so paralegals can do more work formerly done by attorneys. Effective use of professional paralegals, who can manage time, dockets, clients and workload is process management. But if they won’t listen to their own chairman, what are the chances they are listening to me? And the chances that the chairman is listening to me is even less!

Maybe they’ll listen to David Bowie:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8v486aUYu0  or, for those who are a bit older, Jefferson Airplane http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOrb0G0tw08:

Life is Change
How it differs from the rocks

The alternative is

Soon you’ll attain the stability you strive for
in the only way that it’s granted
in a place among the fossils of our time.*

From “Crown of Creation” which is largely taken with permission from “The Chrysalids” by John Wyndham(published 1955)

Speaking of changes, it’s about time I learned how to actually embed YouTube videos. If anyone out there actually read this far and knows how to do so, please clue me in!

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Melissa of Paralegalese, one of my favorite paralegal bloggers, last posted in January. At that time she was, as she described i,t “pensive:”

I’ve been reflecting on my career a lot since starting school this past fall. Big life changes are typically followed by reflection, so there is no surprise there. Some of the questions I have been asking myself lately are questions the younger me glossed over, or would have answered with blissful ignorance of the way the real world actually works.

I still love working in the legal field, and I remain proud of my profession and the many wonderful people I get to call colleagues. I have learned so much, and I still crave so much knowledge that I cannot fathom taking any other than the course I chose for my career several years ago. But being back in school has broadened my network. I am associating with successful people from all sorts of fields, and I’m learning that my education could take me almost anywhere I want to go… should I choose to go there.

Recently, Melissa updated her LinkedIn profile indicating that she had in fact moved on! While this is likely best for Melissa and I wish her the best in her new career, it is a loss to the paralegal profession.

Coincidentally, Steven Dayton, the Director of Paralegal Studies at Fullerton College, posted on the AAfPE listserv this list of careers for those with a paralegal degree who might not want to do traditional paralegal degree. (Dr. Dayton does not claim credit for creating the list, but can no longer remember from whom he received – a position I find myself in more and more these days!)

Administrative Assistant

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The ABAJournal.com recently posted on a topic as pertinent to paralegals as to lawyers in many respects:

Wired Lawyers Are Example of Changing Workplace: We Communicate, But We Don’t Converse
Posted Apr 24, 2012 By

There’s a new bubble that doesn’t involve the costs of law school or high law firm billing rates.

It’s the bubble we all live in when we communicate electronically, according to psychologist and MIT professor Sherry Turkle. In-person conversations are falling by the wayside, as people tied to their electronic devices have learned to be “alone together,” she says in an op-ed for the New York Times. People who communicate by texting or email can edit or delete to present themselves as the people they want to be, avoiding the messiness of real relationships, she says.

“We expect more from technology and less from one another and seem increasingly drawn to technologies that provide the illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship,” she writes.

The change is affecting the workplace, where people don’t talk in person. A senior partner at a Boston law firm told her about a typical scene in his office. Associates lay out their laptops, iPods and multiple phones, and put on their earphones. “Big ones. Like pilots,” the partner said. “They turn their desks into cockpits.” The office is quiet, Turkle writes, “a quiet that does not ask to be broken.”

Turkle calls for digital-free zones at home and a possible change at work. “Employees asked for casual Fridays; perhaps managers should introduce conversational Thursdays,” she says.

I suspect though that paralegals are a bit less susceptible to this particular disorder as their roles frequently require them to interact with others – clients, clerks, witnesses, etc. But just in case, monitor yourself. Don’t wait for a manager to start up a conversation!

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Many posts here discuss the importance of writing right and the consequences of sloppiness in writing. Today’s entry is on the writing right side and comes in toto (note: avoid using latin terms when writing) from Judge Larry Primeaux’s blog:

Clichés in your legal draftsmanship should be as unwelcome as a skunk at a lawn party and as rare as hen’s teeth, but, unfortunately, they’re a dime a dozen. The cliché site can at least tell you what that hackneyed phrase really means, so maybe you can find a more original way to say it.

I don’t really have a dog in this race but remember, when it comes to using cliches, that dog won’t hunt.

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Patti’s Paralegal Page today posted the link to the  new The North Carolina State Bar Handbook noting that the rules governing the certification of paralegals can be found in Subchapter G.

The stated purpose of the rules is certainly laudable:

The purpose of this plan for certification of paralegals (plan) is to assist in
the delivery of legal services to the public by identifying individuals who are
qualified by education and training and have demonstrated knowledge, skill,
and proficiency to perform substantive legal work under the direction and
supervision of a licensed lawyer, and including any individual who may be
otherwise authorized by applicable state or federal law to provide legal services
directly to the public; and to improve the competency of those individuals
by establishing mandatory continuing legal education and other requirements
of certification.

And the powers and duties of the certification board are quite formidable:

Subject to the general jurisdiction of the council and the North Carolina

Supreme Court, the board shall have jurisdiction of all matters pertaining to certification

of paralegals and shall have the power and duty

(1) to administer the plan of certification for paralegals;

(2) to appoint, supervise, act on the recommendations of, and consult with

committees as appointed by the board or the chairperson;

(3) to certify paralegals or deny, suspend or revoke the certification of paralegals;

(4) to establish and publish procedures, rules, regulations, and bylaws to

implement this plan;

(5) to propose and request the council to make amendments to this plan

whenever appropriate;

(6) to cooperate with other boards or agencies in enforcing standards of professional

conduct;

(7) to evaluate and approve continuing legal education courses for the purpose

of meeting the continuing legal education requirements established by the

board for the certification of paralegals;

(8) to cooperate with other organizations, boards and agencies engaged in the

recognition, education or regulation of paralegals; and

(9) to set fees, with the approval of the council, and to, in appropriate circumstances,

waive such fees.

Here are the “Privileges and Limiations” of certification under the program:

Privileges Conferred and Limitations Imposed

The board in the implementation of this plan shall not alter the following

privileges and responsibilities of lawyers and their non-lawyer assistants.

(1) No rule shall be adopted which shall in any way limit the right of a lawyer

to delegate tasks to a non-lawyer assistant or to employ any person to assist him

or her in the practice of law.

(2) No person shall be required to be certified as a paralegal to be employed

by a lawyer to assist the lawyer in the practice of law.

(3) All requirements for and all benefits to be derived from certification as a

paralegal are individual and may not be fulfilled by nor attributed to the law firm

or other organization or entity employing the paralegal.

(4) Any person certified as a paralegal under this plan shall be entitled to represent

that he or she is a “North Carolina Certified Paralegal (NCCP)”, a “North

Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal (NCSB/CP)” or a “Paralegal Certified by

the North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification.”

Of course, the real nuts and bolts of the program are in the Standards for Certification which are too long to post here. However, the issue of certification and regulation of paralegals is important enough that it is worthwhile reading through the requirements of North Carolina’s program. 

I do note that the educational requirements can be satisfied by obtaining a J.D. While I understand the reasoning behind this, we do need to keep in mind that there are significant differences between the roles of attorneys and those of paralegals. A J. D.  does not necessarily (and most likely does not) provide a person with the skills necessary to be a professional paralegal. The hope, I suppose is that the other standards for certification compensate for this, thus ensuring that those certified are qualified to do paralegal work.

In any case, I’d like to here from North Carolina paralegals and attorney with their impressions of the program and how it is working.

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Two posts in a recent edition of ABAJournal.com News , directed at lawyers, seem of equal importance to paralegals. Apparently Mark Hansen has been attending the ABA Techshow as he reports on two presentations whose initial lines seem to be contradictory: “Hot Topic: Keeping Data Secure at the Coffee Shop” that warns “freedom to access the Internet practically whenever and wherever we want carries risks from thieves, hackers and nosy neighbors—a possible ethical violations of client privacy” and “Don’t Let Fear Block Your Mobile Versatility” that states, “lawyers can reasonably protect sensitive data by taking a few fairly simple precautions.”

However, the theme is really consistent – and important: The mobility technology on which we are all coming to rely more and more presents great opportunities, but also some risks. The key to take advantage of the opportunities, but take steps to manage the risks. The theme of The Empowered Paralegal: Effective, Efficient, and Professional” is such management. The point is to identify a problem, survey and develop options for resolving the problem or at least managing its effects, deciding on a plan for addressing the problem, implementing the plan, and assessing the results. The principles are applied to time, work space, workload, client, attorney, and litigation management, but can – and should – be applied to management of the use and risks of that use of technology, especially mobile technology. Perhaps I’ll cover the topic in the next edition, but since a new edition is not even in the works at the moment, take a few minutes to read the ABAJournal.composts by clicking the links above.

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After a little span marked by the absence of paralegal crimes on my news feed, I find two such stories today.

There is an inherent conflict in the role of paralegals. On the one hand they are expected to be reliable, responsible, self-starting individuals able to work independently of hands-on direct monitoring. On the other, they are supposed to work under the supervision of an attorney. The extent of the necessary supervision is open to discussion and has been discussed here several times. However, without offensive to the thousands of honest paralegals, that supervision really ought to include regularly double-checking and auditing of accounts under the charge of the paralegals as this story indicates:

Ex-Pima County paralegal pleads guilty in fraud case

Kim Smith, Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Monday, April 2, 2012 12:02 pm

A former paralegal with the Pima County Attorney’s Office pleaded guilty to two counts of forgery with intent to defraud Monday in Pima County Superior Court.

Brenda Pinckney could be placed on probation by Judge Michael Miller next month or she could receive a prison term of between 1 1/2 and 7 1/2 years.

Pinckney, who worked for 12 years at the Pima County Attorney’s Office, was indicted Jan. 5 on charges alleging she stole more than $4,000 from the office – money intended to reimburse crime victims and witnesses for travel to Pima County Superior Court and per diem costs.

She faced 19 felony charges including fraud, theft, forgery and aggravated taking the identity of another person.

As part of her job, Pinckney, 36, was responsible for obtaining funds from petty cash and giving them to the witnesses.

Pinckney was accused of submitting reimbursement requests for nonexistent addresses and for court events that didn’t happen, according to a letter notifying Pinckney of her impending termination. She was also accused of not returning the required receipts or forging the signatures of victims and witnesses on the receipts she did return.

Some of the receipts were for travel from as far as San Jose, Calif.; Hermosillo, Sonora; and Page.

On Monday, Pinckney admitted submitting false reimbursement forms for travel to and from Yuma and Flagstaff for more than $442.

The key here is probably the fact that she worked in the office for 12 years and played off the trust she had built up over those years.

The next story is not so easy to fathom. First there is no indication as to why the alleged prepetrator is being labelled a “paralegal” and there is little indication as to what the “paralegal’s” role was in the scheme. But we have seen the phenomenon before. In all likelihood there is a split in this cases. In some the paralegal is a knowing, willing, and perhaps avid participant because of their inherent character. But I also suspect there are a fair number of paralegals who start out honest, but become involved in schemes hatched by attorneys or other persons in power over the paralegal out of fear of saying “No,” desire to please, or lack of understanding of the import of what they are being asked to do. In any case, here’s the second story of an alleged paralegal crime.

Massachusetts Paralegal Charged in Property Mortgage Scam

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In a post The Estrin Reportreprinted in the most recent issue of KNOW, The Magazine for Paralegals Chere Estrin spells out “10 Ways to Sink Your Paralegal Career – Guaranteed.” My position is that a sinking paralegal career can be summed up by “unprofessional” and letting yourself be managed by events rather than managing them. Hence a good part of my motivation for writing The Empowered Paralegal: Effective, Efficient, and Professional,” providing (I hope) clear and concise information and techniques to be effective, efficient, and professional. Chere does a very good job here of emphasizing a “Top Ten” list, taking a paragraph or two to explain each, while summarizing my theory by advising that we all be the master of our own ships. I’m providing the link here. Just click through to the article or the magazine for the full article.

(The magazine has a number of worthwhile articles in this issue – as is often the case – including a good story on Marianna Fradman’s journey for a childhood in the Ukraine to President of the New York City Paralegal Association, one of the most active, vibrant, and professional such associations in the country.) Anyway, here’s the list:

Here are 10 top reasons why your career may be stalled, dead-ended or become routine and repetitious:

1. You Are Your Own Worst Career Manager

If you don’t watch out for your career and goals, no one else will and you may become a candidate for right-sizing, downsizing, merging or purging.

2. Breadth, Not Depth of Skills

You do not want to be a one-trick pony. In today’s paralegal field, there is a greater emphasis on the breadth of your skills not just on the depth.

3. Don’t Be a SMEL (Subject Matter Expert on Life)

We all know these folks – the ones who have the answer to everything. They’re annoying, really.

4. Not Being a Tall Tree

You want to be noticed in a positive manner. Do not try to blend into your paralegal department to avoid attention.

5. The Living Resume

You’ll hear over and over to keep your resume up-to-date. There must be a good reason.

6. The Written Word (and Picture) Remains

What you write in emails and instant messaging can be used both for and against you.

7. Don’t Burn Those Bridges

What a temptation it is to “tell all” in the exit interview! Telling your boss and colleagues what you really felt about them, particularly when you’re angry, is a potential future career buster.

8. Don’t Disconnect or Isolate

The reach of social networks and professional sites should not be underestimated – even for paralegals. Take a look at LinkedIn.

9. Technical Complacency, Ignorance or Denial

Never make the assumption that you have all the computer skills you need. New technologies are emerging at a furious rate and to remain relevant, you need to learn these new skills.

10. Lack of Soft/People Skills

In today’s market, paralegals that assume simply having updated skills will give them a ticket to career advancement, have their heads buried deep in the sand.

Above all, be responsible for your own career. Being the master of your ship instead denying what’s going on at the helm, guarantees a move forward in a growing, changing and fantastic journey.

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