Excellent article describing trends in the legal profession: "Demographic shifts, globalization and increased corporate governance are three key factors changing the way law offices operate, according to a just-released white paper from Robert Half Legal, a legal staffing service specializing in attorneys, paralegals and other highly skilled legal professionals. The paper is titled The...
As described in this article, closing access to salary info may lead to less of a lockstep approach to pay. And perhaps paralegals will also be paid for their performance, not simply years in the field: "When Robert Tucker and 35 other partners jumped ship as Arter & Hadden was sinking in 2003, they wanted to leave behind the infighting about money that had pervaded some of the...
One of my least favorite tasks -- & I'm sure others' as well -- billing time! "As Abraham Lincoln once said, "A lawyer's advice is his stock in trade." That short phrase has been repeated by attorneys throughout the years and is etched on brass plaques hanging in law firms worldwide. "Clearly, Abe knew the value of his expertise. He also was reportedly a stickler for...
Yes, you might be able to have a balance between work & life, Virginia: "Every working person in Corporate America feels the need for work-life balance. The legal community is no different. The Boston Bar Association was recently commended for establishing a Task Force which addressed and brought to the forefront the sensitive issue of work-life balance. The findings not only highlight...
Something new that paralegals might use to climb the ladder? "It took legal professionals a while to embrace customer relationship management (CRM) technology, but the advent of products tailored to the specific needs of the industry has made it easier than ever for attorneys to trust the tech with their most sensitive asset. "This is especially true in large firms, which have no...
There's more talk about outsourcing legal research & paralegal jobs. One report says that by 2015, 79,000 jobs will be outsourced; half will be legal staff & paralegals. Will your job be one of them? "General counsel should know of the dramatic increase in compensation levels for associates working for large Texas firms. As in the past, the reason for the increase was that Texas...
Check to see if this article helps you answer that question: "When Hurricane Andrew blew away Robert Zinn's car dealership in 1992, he decided it was time to put his degree from Cornell Law School to full-time use. Fourteen years later, as the chief operating shareholder of Akerman Senterfitt, he's still worried about the weather. "The beginning of the 2006 hurricane season is just...
Fashon news for law firms from the Daytona Beach News Journal: "Tank tops and flip-flops in a law office? No way. "But shorts? "They're OK -- if they're tailored, conservative 'city shorts ' paired with a matching jacket, according to Patti Humphreys, legal administrator and keeper of the dress code at Rice & Rose, a Daytona Beach law firm. "'They're nice and fresh and...
Have paralegal billing practices gotten out of control? The New York Sun seems to think so: "A bitter legal brawl over attorneys' fees has erupted in a national cosmetics pricing class action lawsuit, with feuding camps of plaintiffs' lawyers slinging allegations of flagrant billing abuses and extortion. "Among the alleged abuses were bills of $195 an hour for work by paralegals who...
...the number of legal secretaries is dwindling." Excellent article! "Not only are work opportunities for paralegals growing but their work is increasingly sophisticated. Always in demand, paralegals have become the technology-proficient information managers often called upon to go to court alongside the attorney. "'Paralegals today are much more relied upon,' Steefel, Levitt...