Bullying: The Law Firm’s Dirty Little Secret

Diagnosing and Disarming Bullies in the Legal Workplace By Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, “The Stress Doc” ™ In a recent exchange with my dear friend and colleague, Chere Estrin, CEO of Estrin Legal Staffing, she expressed palpable concern about the number of job candidates she and colleagues have encountered who painfully share about bullying in the workplace.  Further, these candidates...

Why You Should Update Your Partner Compensation Structure Now

  by Gideon Grunfeld It’s more important than ever to change your compensation structure for equity and non-equity partners. The end of the year is typically when firms address compensation issues, including adjusting base pay and bonuses. More firms need to go beyond changing the terms of a lawyer’s compensation to adjusting the structure of partner compensation itself. Why Change Your...

Design Heavy Resumes Can Compromise Content Quality

Posted by Tami Riggs The challenge with any resume is to communicate applicant value so that it resonates in the best way possible. Presentation, content, and readability are critical. A resume should illustrate what a candidate has done, what a candidate has achieved, and how these accomplishments can support the position advertised. Resumes ARE marketing documents, and they need to be...

Traveling the Road of Death and Taxes as a Probate Paralegal

By Tina M. Johnson The days, weeks, months and years have passed for this probate and tax paralegal who has over 24 years of experience helping clients craft sophisticated legacy plans and assist with death and taxes as part of administering an Estate and/or Trust. Dealing with death and taxes is often a heavy burden for countless clients. Follow me on a trip down memory lane… and learn why...

Negotiating Change

 I'm sure you're familiar with the Benjamin Franklin quote: “…in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” However, there's another certainty we all must eventually face: “change”. Change means "to make (someone or something) different; or to replace (something) with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better; substitute...

IPLegalEd – The IP Paralegal Certificate Program: Don’t pass this up!

Interview with Adam Bell, Esq., Founder 1.    Tell me about the course, how it got started and what it entails.  I started IPlegalED back in 2002 and we have now trained thousands of paralegals in hundreds of firms, corporations and government departments. More than any other comprehensive training program, I believe. It all started when I was working as a patent attorney at a...

Breaking The Chains Of Hierarchy: Why ‘Nonlawyer’ Must Go

The term is more than just a label; it reflects outdated hierarchies and is a barrier to a more inclusive and collaborative legal environment. Originally Published by ABOVE THE LAW by Olga V. Mack  on June 24, 2024 at 2:48 PM In the ever-evolving landscape of the legal profession, certain terminologies and labels can shape perceptions and the dynamics within legal teams. One such term,...

The Underpaid Paralegal

by Veronica Paulino Are you feeling like an underpaid paralegal? As paralegals, it’s our job to provide support to attorneys and clients, dedicating countless hours to research, investigation, drafting, and client engagement. You serve as the point of contact when the attorney is not available. You also put in just as much dedication and effort into every case as the attorney. How often have...

5 Steps for Creating a Culture That Attracts and Welcomes Employees with Disabilities

by Bruce Anderson With competition for skilled workers at a high and an increased focus on diversity, companies have started to recruit in often overlooked talent pools, including veterans, women returning to the workplace, older workers, and individuals without college degrees. And companies are beginning to embrace one of the largest untapped talent markets of all — people with disabilities,...

 The 10 Things I Have Learned in My First Year as a Freelance Paralegal 

. At the beginning of August 2022, I made one of the boldest moves of my career: I quit my well-paying full-time job as an in-house litigation paralegal at a health and wellness company and put out my shingle as a freelance paralegal. It was simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. Luckily I had a few things in the "Pros" column when I made my decision. One was that I had been freelancing on the...