Not everything is always public in a law firm. Particularly, whether the partner you are working for is an equity or non-equity partner. Paralegals don't always know or care, for that matter. But this volatile economy has caused new meaning to the word, KNOW. If you are assigned to work for a non-equity partner, you might want to check around and find out whether that...
Something we always suspected now has some scientific research backing it. According to today's National Law Journal, science is now helping us understand how juries make decisions in crime and punishment. The articles states that: "Researchers from Vanderbilt University used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines to chart brain activity as subjects were...
Taking advantage of this new era of social networking, a smart paralegal has identified a need and filled it. Robin Elizabeth Margolis, paralegal, realized that IP paralegals and e-discovery paralegals have positions that demand unique knowledge but no specialty associations existed to address their positions.
Using LinkedIn, Google Search, and other Internet tools, she formed two...
Gloomy news! Brown Rudnick,Mayer Brown, Squire Sanders today all announced layoffs of staff including paralegals in San Francisco, Chicago and cities other than financially devastated New York. On the "good" side of things, Bryan Cave says no layoffs expected but no raises or bonuses either. Yikes! Mayer Brown lays off 55 staff, 33 attorneys; Squire Sanders asks 20...
Most definitely, e-mail is killing the art of the phone call.
But there is a new trend now that simply amuses me - and that is the sending of an e-mail to book an appointment to make a phone call. It used to be that if you needed to call someone, you would simply pick up the phone and call. If Mr. or Ms. SoandSo were in, they took the call (or not). You leave a voicemail and at some...
Oh, I'm almost ashamed to print this. But then again, it's not like it was my fault. However, when someone from the profession screws up so badly that it hits MSNBC, well, that's not good.
It seems that a juror who vanished during Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial told the judge Monday she lied about her father dying and flew to California to see horse...
The National Law Journal published an article this morning stating that due to the economic crisis, some law firms are deciding to forgo their annual holiday celebrations and donate money instead. When I was with the law firm, I hated those parties. Contrary to what people think is an outgoing personality, I'm really a wallflower. I don't dance too well, would never drink in...
For those of you who thought that the fax machine would never dramatically affect messenger and delivery services; that the Internet was a trend and could not affect old-line traditions such as encyclopedias; and that no one in their right mind would want to carry a portable phone with them so they can be reached every minute of every day; here's another one for you: the ABA has given a thumbs-up...
It's getting crazy out there. Legal Week, (the British top rag) reports that Fried Frank announced yesterday that it's cutting 73 staffers including paralegals in its New York office and DC offices. That's 10% of its 730 staffer headcount in New York and Washington, D.C. including paralegals, librarians and part-time assistants. A spokesperson told Legal Week that the lay-offs have not come...
Outsourcing paralegal work to India is a big, big business in the U.S. Primarily the choice of BigFirms in Legal Land, the idea is to have lower end work performed by competent paralegals for a lot less money and still receive the same quality as you would if a U.S. paralegal completed the task. Now, the U.K. is on the bandwagon. With over 500,000 paralegals (twice the number in the...