The Destruction of New Year Resolutions

Oh the things I was going to do this year! I was going to exercise daily, eat at least one piece of fruit each day, and most importantly, send out monthly status letters to clients.

Thanks to the brutal cold and other dead-of-winter realities, I'm finding that the exercise resolution is more a dream. Knowing that it is too cold to run outside right now and too dark when I get off of work to bother anyway, I set my alarm clock for "early" this morning so that I could work out to a DVD in my apartment. I woke up "early" but snoozed through to "late" thanks to the below-freezing temperatures outside of my thick blanket of blankets. Except for the quick run from my door to my car and the intense yet involuntary shuddering which was the result of my exposure to the frosty air, I am sad to report that no actual exercising was accomplished.

But that's okay. There's always tomorrow. In the mean time, I'm eating better, right? It turns out that eating at least one fruit a day is harder than I thought. I should have started last night, but I didn't want to eat fruit before bed. I'm not sure why, but it did not seem right. And everyone knows you don't eat fruit for breakfast unless you're having a big breakfast. Fruit on an empty stomach is not good. I barely got to leave the office for lunch, so I didn't make it to my apartment for that apple. And here I sit at night, already fat and happy from a soup and salad dinner. When oh when will I find the right time to add a healthy piece of fruit to my diet?

Perhaps the most insufferable disappointment is that I have not mailed out the inaugural batch of monthly status letters yet. To be fair, I have worked a total of two days, only 16 hours, in the new year. I have twenty-something more days of non-mailing before this project becomes a total failure. But I am discovering that this extra work just makes my stack of other to-dos seem taller. Because status letters are not urgent, I fear that I will put them off until next year by accident. Do you ever have that dream where you have forgotten something extremely important and only remember when it is far too late? I'm going to keep having that dream until I send these letters out. They are the monster under my bed.

After such a stress-free holiday, the real world is causing me to re-evaluate all these crazy "goals." Perhaps I need to give up a resolution or two. Tomorrow, I think I will eat chocolate all day, move as little as possible, and then, just maybe, get those status letters done.

'Tis the Season...

The season, that is, for your author to find herself so immersed in holiday goings-on that she barely has time to pen a blog entry or two. But while my extra-curricular self is basking in the busy and joyous holiday season, my office self has time-travelled to the New Year. I'm making all sorts of resolutions for 2010 as we speak. While I'm sure to add more, I have compiled a short list of projects I am going to begin when I get back from the holidays. Because I don't have several years of experience or an attorney with several years of experience using an assistant, please feel free to leave your own suggestions. I might just add them to my list to help our office become as productive and efficient as possible.

1) Monthly status letters. I've always wanted to do this, but I have gotten so bogged down in my many other duties that it has been pushed to the side for far too long. I'm not saying we don't keep in touch with our clients. We definitely do. I already send letters for every step of a case. But it is my goal to start sending letters even between steps, just to let the clients know we have not forgotten about them during a period of waiting in the case. I intend to give clients a rundown of their case over the entire previous 30 days as well as a heads up on what is to come. Again, while our office already keeps in touch with most of our clients on a week to week basis, I believe the monthly letters will provide a big picture view which will help explain how much progress has been made or perhaps why little to no progress has been made in certain situations.

2) Working 30 days out. I got this idea from Linda Whipple, who was quoted by Mr. Mongue at The Empowered Paralegal in his entry entitled "Combating the 'Hire an Out-of-work Lawyer as a Paralegal' Trend", as follows:

"I also work 30 days out from a deadline – got a pre-trial conference coming up? I’ve already set up the attorneys’ meeting, exhibit exchange (meaning I have my exhibits already prepared and ready for trial), and provided a draft of a pre-trial statement to my boss – this is a signal to Bob that we are now moving from 'pre-trial' mode to 'trial' mode."

While the Boss and I have a pretty smooth work flow, we have not yet reached a pace of 30 days out on anything. Sure, I look thirty days ahead just to see what is coming up, but preparing him for trial a month ahead of time? I had never even considered it until I read Ms. Whipple's comment. Granted, every practice is different, and with only two people in our office and my job duties including everything from taking out the trash to emergency case research, it might be nearly impossible to create trial notebooks and summarize depositions without another set of hands. Still, I would like to come as close to meeting that mark as is humanly possible. There is always room for improvement.

3) Paper - less. Yes, I know I had the audacity to denounce paperless offices once on this blog, and I still don't believe going completely paperless is time-feasible or within our means right now. However, since I have actually begun to think about it, and since we are running out of filing space here at the office, I am starting to see the benefits of using less paper. So, I'm going to focus on saving our electronic notifications to file rather than printing and filing them. I'm going to email clients when feasible and appropriate. I'll even try saving online research materials to file rather than printing them out. While we cannot go completely paperless, I believe being paper-less will have its benefits.

4) Curtains or shades for the front windows. What does this have to do with office administration? you might be wondering. Oh, dear reader, everything. On sunny winter days, I sit in a pool of sunshine. Beautiful though it may be, it is hotter than hot. Our big shop-style windows bleed heat into the office during the winter because the sun is angled at us from the south. This keeps our heating bills low, but it also keeps me in a constant state of persperation. I keep telling myself we need curtains or shades (something 50-60's style, to make us look classic), but I never remember long enough to do anything about it. So, starting in 2010, we will have shades.

There you have it. My super short list of resolutions for the new year. The Boss doesn't know about these yet, but I believe when I bring them up, hopefully this week, he'll be on board. In the mean time, I still have a few weeks before the New Year. If you have any tips or suggestions you believe could help a small law office (or me), please don't hesitate to leave your comments here.

All In A Day's Work

I've been feeling like Wonder Woman the past few days, though nothing exceptionally interesting or exciting has happened at the firm.

Well, I take that back. Interesting and exciting things have happened, though the very nature of the business means I can't tell you about it. Sigh. It's hard to write a blog about being a paralegal sometimes. I have to leave out all the juicy stuff.

Still, I've been drafting complaints and motions and petitions in a whirlwind of paper and bytes. But it amazes me that I have been so busy, and I am worried that the work is going to run out soon. November - January is our slow time at the office, and since the recession took a little longer to hit Alabama, this year I think it will be v-e-r-y slow. Perhaps I should have paced myself, but I am trying so hard to bill right now since the Boss always seems stuck in a meeting or out of the office for some reason or another.

It's not the Boss's fault though. Clients drop in unexpectedly needing to speak with him urgently. The phones are ringing off the hook right now, but so few of the callers are willing to speak with me, the paralegal. The Boss himself had to explain to a client that she could meet with me to pick up her estate planning documents if he wasn't able to be there when she planned on coming in. Though I had already told her this, she kept subtly insisting that the lawyer should be the one to hand her the documents. Sigh. In a way I don't blame them. It's hard for people, especially new clients who do not know us very well, to understand that I am not just the girl who answers the phones and greets them at the door. Because my desk is in the lobby of the office, though, I understand the misperception.

On a lighter note, we recently switched from using Lexis Nexis to using Westlaw, and as a result, we were given some free books. I'm excited because many of these books are full of forms... and for some reason I love forms. They state things ever so much better than I can with my simple words. They make petitions sound elegant and complex. My own writing is very straight forward and no nonsense. Sometimes I wish I had a softer rhythm and larger vocabulary. Then I remember that our judges in Baldwin County seem to favor substance over form any day. I am learning not to assume that all judges are like our Baldwin County judges, though. So perhaps the forms will help us in Mobile County court. Ah the diversity between the two counties' legal communities... but that is a topic for another day.

Race Against Time

In my job as a paralegal, I am nearly perfect. I'm not gloating - I did say "nearly" after all.

Hyperbole aside, I feel like I'm pretty good at keeping the office moving forward. I am a fast worker who can turn around assignments like that. Since you can't see it, like that is really fast. I also try to be thorough and complete. I try to jump on tasks before being asked. As soon as we win a default judgment, I try to prepare the collection paperwork.

It is my job in our office to keep track of the progress of major client collection cases. We represent several HOAs and landlords that are in constant needs of these services. On these cases, my job is to make sure they move. We don't want to end up sitting on a case that does not get scheduled for trial because the defendant never answers and we forget to move for a default judgment. So I calendar and check and draft letters telling people they have 14 days to respond to us before we file a complaint. And when we file, I keep up with service, and if service fails, I try again. And once they are served, they usually don't answer and we move for the default. Okay. So, as I was saying, I'm pretty decent at this and many other daily tasks.

One thing I am not good at is babysitting the Boss. I know, I know, it's part of my job. Or rather, most people think it should be. I've said before that he gets his own coffee, and ties his own shoes. But the longer I work with him, the more dependent he becomes on me... which is a good thing. A great thing even. I still have a job in a bad economy because of this very fact. But I only recently came to realize that he really really does need me to mention things like the deposition tomorrow morning or court next Monday. Not because he's incompetent or wants to be babied -but because his plate is full and the Now work keeps him from checking on the Later list.

I figured this out when the same situation occurred twice within a two week period. He came in one Monday morning right after I arrived. I had just made coffee and had not turned on my computer yet. We did the morning chat thing for a few minutes while he sat down and got ready to assign me something. Then suddenly "Oh crap." He had a deposition in fifteen minutes.

The Boss went flying out the door and I sat there wondering why I hadn't remembered. After all, part of my job is to know what the Boss needs before he knows he needs it, isn't it? #ParalegalFail

One evening the next week, I was clearing off my desk and getting ready to leave. The Boss was in his office doing the same when, "Wow, glad I checked the schedule. Hearing tomorrow morning at 8:30." #MajorFailAgain

But at that moment, I took out a yellow Post-It and wrote "Check next day before you leave!" This Post-It has saved my life if not his several times now. Because it is sitting there right by my phone, it encourages me to check the next day several times. It even encourages me to check the next week and even the next month. But most importantly, the next day. I have no way of knowing if my reminders are helping the Boss keep track of important dates, but I like to think that he was on time for his 9 am status conference this morning because he received the email I sent Friday evening before leaving the office.

My Boss was self-sufficient for so long, and still is in many ways. Still, I've begun to notice how much I do for him and the firm these days compared to one year ago. I enjoy the responsibility and the sense of fulfillment that comes with being someone's Number Two. But at the same time, each day marks a new way he relies on me. And every little thing I forget, each tiny mistake I make, feels like a major letdown on my part. It seems silly to be so involved in how good or sucky I am at my job in our little office. You big firm people would probably laugh at me. But it's terribly important to me that I am the best paralegal, the best all around assistant that I can be, even as my responsibilities grow and evolve.

That's why I have the Post-It. It won't be the last of them, I'm sure. With my new system in place (better late than never), at least the Boss shouldn't have to race away at lightening speed to make it to early morning appointments anymore.

Words That Do Not Mix: Paperless Law Office

I keep reading about all these strange entities called paperless law offices. I try to imagine a place where you don't go digging through endless D's to find the John Doe file (or numbers, if that's how your firm's filing system works), but it is difficult.

Perhaps the first reason I have a hard time envisioning a paperless office is that my own office is very paper-full. We print everything, from the e-filed orders to drafts of motions for review. We make copies of everything that leaves the office. When I am researching case laws, I print out the cases to highlight the pertinent parts. We print emails from clients to place in their files for quick future reference.

Now, I understand that everything we choose to print could actually be saved to file, and we could scan all of our paper documents into the system. But that is impractical for a law firm with one lawyer and one paralegal and, at any given time, fewer than 100 active client matters. I would spend much of my day scanning documents. Some days would be completely shot.

But let's imagine that we had a third person who's job was only to scan documents and store them. While we're at it, let's imagine that my office also has enough electronic storage for the endless amount of data being shoved into the system. It would still be impractical for my firm to go paperless.

First, I must print out research material for the sake of my poor eyes. It is unhealthy to stare at a computer screen for hours of reading. I also have to highlight the relevant parts. Second, since we keep copies of everything that leaves the office, we keep copies of all signed letters. It seems impractical to print a letter, sign it, then rescan it into the system before sending it off. At least, in our office it is.

And if time and effort cannot be saved, then going paperless to save paper seems silly, too. In my office, we would still hit the print button. But without a file in which to save the newly printed paper, we would shred it when we were done. In our office, that is a lot of wasted paper. In a medium to large firm, I'm imagining a ton of wasted paper a month as lawyers and staff print hardcopies to read or pass around or for various other reasons then dispose of them only to reprint the next time they need to have a hard copy.

I could have it all wrong. Perhaps being paperless is great. It's probably the next best thing, for firms that have the staff, the time, and the money to do so. One look at the dwindling space in our small office will convince anyone that files take up precious space. I am sure large non-paperless firms have entire warehouses devoted to file keeping. At my firm, our closed files take up one small conference room and half a storage closet. And those constitute only four years worth of a new firm's cases. If we don't move into a bigger place or find safe storage for our closed files, we will drown in paper within five more years. So I completely understand the benefits of going paperless. I just doubt it is as without paper as it sounds.

The Paralegal with Many Faces

The Boss recently surprised me with brand new, uber professional business cards. They look just like his, but with my name and designation as a certified paralegal NALA-style. I have worked for him for nearly two years, but this moment spoke to me in an I-am-here-to-stay kind of way. I definitely can't leave before using all of those business cards, at any rate.

As I read my card, with my title printed so clearly, I began thinking of all the things I do as the paralegal at our tiny firm. I am the clerical staff, the mail room, the coffee maker, the filer, the runner, the paralegal (of course), the notary public, and the receptionist. I take on all of these roles as the need arises, just like most people who work in small offices. The Boss, also, is not too proud to pour his own coffee, or to answer the phone when necessary. I've even caught him making copies before. This is the nature of a small office. When the population of the workplace constitutes the owner and his one employee, both are pretty self-sufficient.

Apparently the big firms require less effort from their attorneys when it comes to tasks that don't require a license. Our new neighbor, we'll call him Newbie, who just left a big firm and now works in the office above us, has convinced me of this. He had been with the big guys just long enough to forget how to function without the full support staff- paralegals, secretaries, IT professionals, etc. His current staff consists of his wife on a part-time basis until they learn that working together will result in one of their untimely deaths (very likely his own). But when she is not there, he relies from time to time on my expertise in certain areas, such as "where things go" when they are scanned into a computer.

It all began with a phone call last week asking me how to save a document as a PDF. I explained that we use CutePDFWriter. He ended up emailing me the documents so that I could save, convert, and email them back to him as PDFs. The next call came hours later, asking what kind of scanner the Boss has. The Boss and I both have all-in-one printer/copier/fax/scanners. I think they are fabulous. Newbie informed me that he already had a printer, so an all-in-one machine could get redundant. A few hours later, he returned with an all-in-one machine.

It was not long before another call came in.
"Do you have any extra USB cords down there?"
I checked. We didn't.
"My scanner didn't come a USB cord."

I went upstairs to examine the situation. He was right. His machine did not come with a USB cord. I think that's the way it is these days. The companies just expect you to have your own cord. "You'll have to buy one," I shrugged. But he needed to scan something that very moment. I asked if he had any USB cords hooked to something else that he could afford to go without for a bit. "Well," he hesitated, "I suppose I could unplug my printer's USB cord, at least for awhile." I tried not to smirk then as I asked, "Is there a reason you don't want to use your new all-in-one as your printer, too?"

But this is not where it ends, Reader. Once we had him up and running, I returned to my desk downstairs. I was right in the middle of recording an entry in my notary journal when the phone rang again. "When you scan something, where does it go?" I marched up the wooded stairs in my heels one more time to show him how to name a file and direct where it is to be saved. I'm sure this information was somewhere in a manual that came with the machine, but he did not appear to have time to look. I'm not sure the thought of a manual ever crossed his mind, actually. I suppose in big firms, IT is but a phone call away, and the secretary scans all of your documents for you.

The Boss just shook his head when I returned to our office. He was smirking, and I think I heard him mutter something about "fancy lawyers" when I walked past his door. As for me, I have one more title to add to my rather long list: IT Extraordinaire!

Networking for Newbies

I am jumping in head first trying to become involved in local paralegal organizations and my own community. It sounds easy, in theory. Show up, meet people, organically meld with those people because you have common jobs, ideas, or goals, and then proceed to work together to make the world a better place. If only.

In two weeks I have four different opportunities to humiliate myself in a vain attempt to network and expand my social and business circle. I am right in the middle of this two week period. The first one occurred tonight, at our local Chamber of Commerce's monthly Business After Hours event. Every month, one business or organization belonging to the Chamber hosts a little shindig after the work day. Sometimes the host provides alcohol, from what I hear.

Let me begin by explaining that I have never been to a Business After Hours event. My Boss only recently had to explain to me that I can go to Chamber events because the business, not just he individually, is a member. So when this event came up and he mentioned it to me, I thought, why not? I'll go mingle, meet people, and eat free food. At least I was right about the free food.

Our tiny, rural town hosted the area-wide Chamber event tonight at the town hall. I can say in full honesty that the food was delicious. Someone had made scalloped potatoes or hashbrowns (whatever they were, they were covered in cheese and possibly sour cream) that caressed my taste buds with soft and smooth flavor. And the chocolate pudding... oh! the chocolate pudding! But this is where the comfort ended.

When I walked in, everyone was wearing a name tag. I should have found one and written my name on it, but I get horrible stage fright in large groups of people I don't know well, and I tend to forget common sense things. I hide it by doing silly and obvious things like walking around the room, alone, with my head held high, daring someone to accuse me of not knowing a soul. I could probably handle myself better.

When I saw two people I sort of know, I was drawn to them like a magnet. I stood by them making forced small talk through the door prize drawings, trying to think of witty and intelligent things to say. Wishing I knew them better. I saw many familiar faces as I glanced around, but no one I could say I really know. I was about to leave when I ran into the Town Coordinator. That is not her real title, but it might as well be, as she seems to put everything together. She urged me to return to the food table for more pudding and coffee. So I went back for a hot cup of coffee, I don't know why, really, perhaps because I was nervous and eager to please in whatever little way possible. That's when I ran into the Boss.

Now, during work hours, the Boss and I get along quite swimmingly. I bow to his authority and he, in turn, gives me great freedom. Or something like that. It's your basic casual work situation, and one of the reasons I like my job so much. But meeting the Boss in a social setting is... different. I find him to be an amicable person at work, so why wouldn't we have the same dynamic outside of the office? Of course, I ask that question as if I don't know, but I believe the answer is me. I am a completely awkward person when I am outside of my comfort zone. The office is my comfort zone. A Business After Hours where I know few people and the Boss knows everyone... Not so much. I wanted very much for him to introduce me to people, help break the ice in at least one conversation, something, anything. But everyone left after the door prizes anyway. And I did, too.

In a way, I'm glad the Boss doesn't do the introduction thing. It would be helpful to me, really, but I need to be able to handle myself on my own, without prodding from others. But I swear, in the moment, all I could think about was how sad and left out I must appear to everyone around. In actuality, I am probably the only one there who noticed how awkward and alone I was feeling.

After the After Hours event, I came home and readied myself for what would be my first live Paralegal Mastermind call with Vicki Voisin. I normally listen to the recording when she emails it out, but this week, I decided to do it in real time. If you are a paralegal, and you do not know Vicki, get to know her. Stop reading right this instant and make your way to the Paralegal Mentor website or her blog. Sign up for her newletter, her call, her classes, whatever you can. Then please come back and continue reading this post, and perhaps leave a comment that will make me feel better about having an awkward night.

Speaking of awkward nights, the Mastermind call is an interactive experience, where you can ask questions and make comments at various times throughout. Even via telephone, I had stage fright. I had to make myself press *6 to make the one comment I did, and I blubbered my way through it. But I did it. And Vicki graciously allowed me to self-promote Paralegalese, too.

I have two more possibly awkward, uncomfortable events coming up within the next week. The next one will be the Alabama Association of Paralegals, Inc. (a NALA affiliate) summer educational conference this weekend. I am looking forward to it, but I will not know one soul there. I expect I will be standing or sitting alone for much of the time, arguing with myself as to whether to approach someone for a conversation or remain set off, like a leper. I will force myself to meet people. And I will make silly conversation while striving to sound half-competent. I will probably ask weird questions. Or at least, they will come out of my mouth in a weird way. But I will expose myself to a greater community of paralegals in my state, and I may even make a friend or two.

Next Tuesday, I have been invited to the monthly meeting of the Baldwin County Association of Legal Professionals (a NALS affiliate). I expect to falter through introductions there, as well, and, since it is at a restaurant, a quiet and shy meal. But perhaps I will be able to coax my brave and confident professional persona out a bit to make a few friends and business acquaintances. Either way, I will be there, diving in head first to whatever awaits.

If you are able to pull anything from this post, reader, I hope it is that networking takes practice, that awkwardness is sometimes a necessary evil in order to achieve growth, and that if I can do it, so can you. If you are a new legal professional... if you are an experienced but shy legal professional... if you are in a non-legal profession, just get out there. Be awkward, be friendly, and most importantly, be there.

Time Out for A Moment of Encouragement

When I first decided to enter the paralegal career, I geared up to constantly be on the defensive. I just knew that many attorneys, especially young ones fresh out of law school, would look down on me and my lowly position on the legal totem pole. In a few instances, my assumption turned out to be correct. Fortunately, ignorance is usually the proponent of such attitudes, and ignorance is fairly easy to cure. I remember talking to one baby lawyer last year about my studying for the NALA certification exam, and how I excited I would be to be able to add "CP" or "CLA" to the end of my name. All of a sudden, an understanding came to his face, and he said, "So that's what those letters mean! I thought our staff was just making it up!" I do not know whether he appreciates the staff members at his firm more because of my revelation, but I believe that conversation revealed to him that paralegals, while we usually have not spent three years in law school, take our jobs and roles very seriously.

Even more fortunately, I have met many more lawyers who respect the paralegal's role, whether they take the time to realize it or not. My Boss, for instance, grew up working in law firms. He learned early on how important the non-attorney staff are to a firm. He once told me a story about winning over a particularly grumpy lawyer at a firm he interned with during law school - all because he was on friendly terms with a secretary who knew exactly how the grumpy lawyer liked his briefs drafted. When my Boss calls another law firm, unless he has a specific reason to talk to the other attorney, he usually asks for the attorney's paralegal. He consistently lets me know when I've performed well or done something that makes his job run smoother and easier.

I also date a lawyer. Now, he might just be biased because of our relationship, but he's been only encouraging and never condenscending when I talk about my job and what kind of roles I would like to play both in the smaller realm of my office and the larger realm of the career itself. He seems to recognize that value of staff, the knowledge we can bring to the table, and the various roles each person on a legal team plays.

I am intrigued with the state bar associations that have begun to outspokenly recognize the paralegal's role in a law firm. It is encouraging to realize that so many lawyers out there understand how important the paragal's role is.

Legal Talk Network has released a podcast aimed at paralegals - The Paralegal Voice. It is a tribute to the growing role paralegals are taking on and the expansion of this career.

For all of these reasons, I have learned to let go of the defensive position I took at the very beginning of my career. While there will be lawyers who fail to understand the positive aspects of using paragals, and while there will be paralegals who fail to understand the importance of their own place in their firm, the legal community is quickly opening itself up to paralegal professionals. I am excited to have entered this world when I did, while the profession is dynamic and expansive. It makes me happy to read about legal teams working together and depending on each other, rather than lowly paralegals cowering in the corner with angry attorneys yelling at them.

I say we keep it up.