Just the kind of news we don't want to hear. A judge sentenced a paralegal to 16 months in prison for embezzling more than $600,000 from a West Hartford law firm, the New York Lawyer reported today. Karen Davis-Jenkins was found guilty of taking more than $600,000 from the Law Offices of Jefferson D. Jelly from 1997 until May 2005. The law firm is a sole proprietorship and employs up to...
This just in from The Cowen Group: Despite the grim news we posted here in yesterday's Estrin Report regarding the worst legal field layoffs since 2004, The Cowen Group has issued a press release with good news for law firm technology positions: "Despite deep and ongoing layoffs in many other industries and the legal sector at large, our research shows job growth in the legal...
It's not looking too good when the Labor Department announces large layoffs in the legal field. Most of the time, the legal field is either not mentioned or is pretty quiet when job sector information is announced. That's all changed. According to The AmLaw Daily, the U.S. legal service sector lost 1,100 jobs in May, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics released last...
I love it when I come across valuable information that someone has taken the time to put together in order to give us the best. Genie Tyburski, law librarian at Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll and publisher of the legal-research resource The Virtual Chase, has compiled her list of 10 Essential Web Sites for Litigators. Leaving out common sites such as Google, Lexis, Nexis,...
Some folks just can't catch a break. The New York Lawyer reported that major law firms are expected to layoff more associates and staff whether or not the economy picks up - or so they would like you to believe. Only one firm, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, said it had anything to do with the economy. Calling the layoffs "redundancies and inefficiencies", the present tough...
Talk about nerve! Or addiction? Excitement? Thrill of getting away with something? The ABA Journal.com reported that a West Virginia lawyer has been suspended for e-mail snooping. Apparently, the lawyer accessed his wife's e-mail account at the law firm at which she worked as an associate along with eight other lawyers at her firm at least 150 times over a two-year period. The West Virginia...
Here is a classic case of "everything old is new again". The Wall Street Journal today reported that the latest in vacations is the "staycation" - staying at home instead of getting away on your personal time off. The ABA Journal picked up the article with a story about a frugal lawyer who chose to stay at home instead of spending two weeks at a lovely beach....
We may be about 4 months late with this report but heck, we just found it. The ABA's Law Practice magazine issued its 19th annual report on what's hot; what's not in the legal field. Here is a refreshing look at some interesting and exciting new developments specifically for paralegals:Hot New Areas for Paralegals: Virtual Assistants. A form of outsourcing that is new. VAs are...
The National Law Journal published an article the other day entitled "Ecosystem of Legal Services Is Evolving". It was written by Mehul Patel who was previously the Chief Marketing Officer of a major San Francisco law firm who is now the EVP of Axiom Legal, a "new" type of contract attorney provider. Only Axiom Legal does not claim to be a contract attorney...
Paralegals in a union???? Yep. According to The Star-Telegram.com, protesters who marched Monday morning in Ft. Worth weren't airline employees, and airline management wasn't the target. This demonstration was conducted by employees of the Allied Pilots Association, and the managers being criticized are union pilots. The Allied Pilots Staff Employee Association represents 23 employees...