How Much of a Career Risk Should You Take Switching Specialties?

It's a sure-footed, absolute and positive, no mistakin' it gamble. Switching specialties, that is. Bored with what you're doing? Fed up with a paltry salary? Peeking over the fence to see who makes more money? Seeking that enigma: better challenge? Tonya Pierce addresses the topic today. She's making some good points. The main one being: THINK before you leap (and other relevant...

About 1/3 of Law Firms Plan to Hire in 2012

Well, here's a breath of fresh air.  According to the Denver Business Journal, a Robert Half Survey found that 1/3 of law firms surveyed are planning on increasing their attorney and non-attorney staff in 2012.  Of course, the Negative Nellies can interpret that to say that two-thirds of law firms surveyed do not plan on increasing staff in 2012.  Is the glass...

Paralegal Knowledge Institute Makes Its Debut

  Attention experienced paralegals!  There's a new outfit in town, the Paralegal Knowledge Institute (www.paralegalknowledge.com) that launches this week.  Designed specifically for the paralegal assignment, the Institute is offering gold-standard courses, webinars and publications.  The purpose of the Institute is to bring to the paralegal community a new...

Virtual Paralegal’s Gutsy Message: “BigFirm, Listen Up”

Pamela Starr, a virtual paralegal who says she is located anywhere her laptop is, had a strong response to my post this weekend about Jones Day's decision to lay-off non-attorney staff. The 2500 lawyer firm announced last week that it was letting go an unspecified number of legal staff because the jobs can be done by voice mail, e-mail, iPhones and other electronic devices. Pamela, who...

New Association for Bankruptcy Paralegals Forms

We've seen a number of new associations spring up lately.  This is a great sign!  It means that paralegals are getting much more involved in the profession, are more interested in ever in promoting the field and are developing more leaders.  While it's nice to have the old standby's, it's even more exciting to see fresh, new ideas, concepts and organizations...