Former Paralegal Uses Skills to Become Chief of Police – In Liberia

A 41-year old Liberian and former paralegal at a 50-attorney Washington, D.C. law firm has been appointed the Liberian Inspector-General by President Sirleaf.According to allafrica.com, Marc Amblard faced tremendous criticism about questionable skill sets necessary for the position.  His background includes a degree in Agriculture in 1992 from the University of Illinois. ...

In Pursuit of Freedom: The Peter Kirchikov Story

We have never given just bits and pieces in this blog nor teased you with a story in KNOW.  However, I wanted to share with you a bit of the upcoming issue.  Occasionally, we run across stories that move your heart and open your eyes. There are plenty of stories of paralegals who have had arduous experiences and the Peter Kirchikov story is no...

Associate Job Losses May Mean Paralegal Job Gains

  This is the second time this week I read an article about paralegals gaining jobs in this miserable economy.  OK, it's not miserable for absolutely everyone.  But if you're watching Katie or Brian on the BigNews channels, you'll have to agree that most of the U.S. is running pretty lean and mean. Law360 reported yesterday that while associates are fighting to keep...

Smart Battles

In these tough times, the subject of when to go to battle with your employer has come up several times.  People are simply afraid that if they speak up, they will lose their job, lose a client or suffer a loss or reputation.   A couple of years ago, I had a beef with an organization whose management took advantage of a situation.  They simply refused to pay for one of...

New Investigative Techniques for Paralegals Include Social Networks

Paralegals investigating witnesses, plaintiffs or defendants for trial often review medical records, financial documents, school records and employment history.  Now, add to those avenues, social networking. According to an article in this morning's Legal Intelligencer, it is now standard operating procedure for paralegals to include checking a person's page on MySpace, FaceBook,...

Holy, Moly! We’ve Been Snoped!

  Well, it turns out that our story yesterday about technology robbing you blind through your GPS and cell phone is only partially true!  Thanks to Phill Signey and a couple of other fact-finding, industrious, on-the-ball paralegals, it turns out that the story is only partly true.  Now, while the expert who sent this to us does work with the police department, Snopes claims...

American Paralegal in London

Two years ago, an adventurous Boston paralegal named Loni Morganelli, decided to jump the pond.  Landing in a prestigious London firm, Morganelli today is enjoying a unique experience in the paralegal field.  We are pleased to announce that she has joined us as a co-blogger for The Estrin Report bringing a unique and universal outlook to our blawg.  Here is her story: "I...

In Charge of Defining Search Terms? You Could Cost Your Client $6 Million

 A litigation paralegal's job can often include defining many of the search terms used in e-discovery.  That can cost your client big, BIG bucks as reported today in Ralph Losey's blog, e-Discovery Team. Apparently, a trial lawyer for the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) agreed to an e-discovery search of backup tapes to find relevant information....