First Online, Interactive 8 Week eDiscovery Courses Hit the Market

Every paralegal today, no matter what your practice area, needs to be acutely aware just how essential thorough eDiscovery knowledge has become to your job. Whether you are in litigation, corporate transactional, in-house, government, risk management or other related practice areas, eDiscovery is going to apply to various aspects of your position. If you take a look at any of the job postings,...

Paralegal Sentenced to 3 Years for Mortgage Fraud

  This isn't the kind of thing we want to hear.  The New York Law Journal reports that a paralegal who took part in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud and foreclosure scam was sentenced to three years in prison. Apparently, from 2004 to 2007, the paralegal, 33, and 26 others including mortgage brokers and loan processors at the Brooklyn-based firm AGA Capital NY...

Is Your State One of the Top Five Worst for Lawsuit Fairness?

Do you know how your firm ranks in terms of lawsuit fairness? The U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) released its survey ranking the states with the best and worst legal climates in the country. According to the survey, the states with the worst legal climates are California (46th), Alabama (47th), Mississippi (48th), Louisiana (49th), and West Virginia (50th). The states with the...

The Job Seeker’s Paradigm – You Might Hold the Upper Hand Even in This Market

 From our guest blogger, Tom  Dezell:Be the Answer to the Hiring Managers’ Problemsby Tom DezellToday’s labor market is an employer’s market. Companies can select from arguably the largest candidate   pool in history. Discouraged job seekers often complain that the disparity in numbers contributes to an atmosphere of employer arrogance. Their advantage of supply over...

They Shoot Paralegals, Don’t They?

I was reading The Empowered Paralegal blog the other day and a paralegal was discussing the superior status she thought she had over paralegals who did not have paralegal degrees. In particular, she brought up the Erin Brockovich story and the subsequent movie that was made. Ms. Brockovich, she stated, was not a "real" paralegal because she did not have a paralegal...

It’s Lookin’ Good for Real Estate Litigation Paralegals

David Netzer of Litigation Support Careers is our guest blogger today: We all read conflicting reports regarding employment – but what is the real story?    At present, the market stretches to both ends. At one end, some companies are hiring while others are in the middle of a hiring freeze and at the other end, are continued layoffs.  A company may issue a press-release...

New Survey Shows Paralegal Salaries Going Down

  Not so good news out here in the paralegal world. The new 2010 Salary Guide from Robert Half Legal just published, shows that paralegal salaries are dipping. The salary guide is a review of actual starting salaries in 2009 and an extrapolation of these trends into 2010.  Salaries have dropped from between .02% and 3.7% nationwide.  Senior Paralegals (7+ years) are...