The Paralegal Voice

Legal professionals are goal-oriented and driven to succeed. But as we approach a traditionally stressful time of year – the holiday season – it’s important that we remember what’s important and to balance work and life and our own health. 

Guest Sonya Sigler is an accomplished attorney who now devotes herself to executive coaching and consulting as well as speaking and writing. Her focus is on work/life balance, understanding your own goals and needs, and focusing on personal development and growth. Mental health and managing burnout in the legal field is crucial. 

Sigler’s story started as a busy mom and attorney and volunteer. She was juggling as many roles as she could when she wound up in an emergency room with heart attack-like symptoms. It wasn’t a heart attack, but it was a wakeup call. Sometimes you need to put yourself first and say “no.” 

During the holidays, we may feel obligated to do too much. Listen to yourself, and if we need to decline an invitation or a volunteer request, it’s OK. As Sigler says, we all deserve a life we don’t need a vacation from.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Books by Sonya Sigler

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Mayo Clinic

Vistage

Hallmark Holiday Movies, Countdown To Christmas

San Diego Paralegal Association

SDPA, Virtual Lunch With Leaders

Guest Cheryl Garner, CEDS, walks through not only becoming a better paralegal, but pursuing higher career goals, earning credentials, and specializing in eDiscovery and litigation support. She’s a litigation manager overseeing her firm’s eDiscovery program, educating attorneys and colleagues on best practices, and staying abreast of the latest trends. Litigation paralegal professionals play a key role in law firm operations. 

Successful paralegals are comfortable with technology and embrace every opportunity to learn. Today’s top litigation paralegals are eDiscovery pros. 

Negotiating with vendors, establishing rates, managing operations, and freeing up attorneys to focus on legal strategy with the assurance that the foundations are strong are all part of a paralegal’s role in litigated cases. 

The skills and demands are always changing and evolving. Preservation, data collecting, and presenting evidence at trial have changed as the legal world shifts from boxes of paper records to electronic documents, emails, and eDiscovery. Tech skills and expertise with digital review platforms are table stakes in this new environment. Learn to uncover opportunities to advance your skills and career.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM)

Relativity

CSDisco

Reveal

Everlaw

What is a "Load File,"

NALA ACP Certification

ACEDS Certification

Electronic Discovery Institute

Rutter Group guides

Matthew Bender Practice Guides

Los Angeles Paralegal Association (LAPA)

NALA, The Paralegal Association

The role of experienced paralegal professionals continues to evolve in exciting new directions. Hear how driven paralegals are finding opportunities in organizational leadership as technology and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to disrupt the legal profession. The sky is the limit for today’s paralegals.   

Guest Tara Kim Eberhart shares how the International Practice Management Association (IPMA) is leading the way with its four pillars: people, process, profits, and progress. Paralegal professionals more than ever are driving the operation of successful firms and organizations creating management opportunities for paralegals.

 What are the best practices and standards of care in management, and how do organizations incorporate these into their own operations and prioritize goals? Practice management and practice support may be two different fields, but they share the goal of driving an organization in orderly, focused manner.   

Moving from daily paralegal duties to practice management and oversight can be an exciting career development opportunity for experienced paralegals seeking new challenges. 

And don’t forget IMPA’s 2023 conference, Building Today For A Successful Tomorrow, Oct. 11-13 (pre and post conference events begin Oct. 9 and wrap up Oct. 15). 

Mentioned in this Episode:

IMPA 2023 Conference, Building Today For A Successful Tomorrow

NALA, The Paralegal Association

Organizations Affiliated With IPMA

California Alliance of Paralegal Associations (CAPA)

National Capital Paralegal Association

Guest Shannon Lex Bales is the author of “The Trial Presentation Companion” and an experienced educator and consultant who helps attorneys and firms follow standards and models for presenting cases using today’s legal tech. When firms go to trial, a lot of them are just “winging it” with the software and equipment, workflow, and skills they need to present a case. Paralegal professionals will find opportunities through education and certifications to professionally prepare and present data, video, and evidence using today’s technology. 

We’ve all seen professionally staged “trials” on television shows. So have the jurors. There’s an expectation firms will present a compelling story digitally in the courtroom. What story is your firm telling and how? 

As Bales says, “Basic legal technology skills are foundational for today’s legal market.” Understanding the use of legal technology in the courtroom is no longer an option. Keep up or fall behind. The skills you learned 10 years ago aren’t today’s skills.

Hear how to actively pursue the tech skills you need to add to your resume as a modern paralegal professional. 

Mentioned in this Episode:

"The Trial Presentation Companion," by Shannon Lex Bales

Cambodia Tribunal Monitor

"White House Executive Office team engages ACEDS to deliver onsite electronic discovery training"

Career Essentials in Generative AI by Microsoft and LinkedIn

Reveal AI eDiscovery and Investigations

Greetings from Day One of the NALA 2023 Conference and Expo! Host Jill Francisco joins NALA past president and experienced paralegal Cassandra Oliver-Divens and paralegal student and first-time conference attendee Joey Jones to share the experience. Learn why the annual NALA conference is a must for today’s paralegal professionals. 

From ethics classes to the latest technology and trends, you’ll hear how paralegal professionals learn from each other and network with organizations and firms across the country. Paralegals have such transferable skills, and the opportunities never fail to surprise. This year’s conference included classes on the newest developments in real estate law, social media evidence, Roe v. Wade, and more. 

Learning can be fun. NALA makes sure of it. Meet your CLE requirements in an engaging, supportive environment. Review, refresh, and recharge. 

Mentioned in this Episode:

NALA 2023 Conference and Expo

ABA Model Roles

NALA student membership brochure

NALA membership online

Let’s talk about bias. Not just “explicit” bias, the conscious bias for or against someone. Instead, think about “implicit” bias, those subconscious decisions we all make about hiring, capability, and value because of our own experiences. It happens every day. 

Guest Al De La Cruz leads the litigation department for the San Diego office of Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP and examines how our own internal biases affect our daily decisions, even if we don’t realize it. 

When legal cases touch on discrimination or other issues in employment law, start with understanding how the decision was made. What was going on? It’s complicated.

To overcome bias, start by being intentional. Learn to reflect on your decisions and understand your own starting point and thought process. It’s not just race, ethnicity, or gender. Think about being tall, short, older, younger, etc.

Bias has consequences across our daily lives, from education to business to economics and the law. Take this opportunity to make the best, most equitable, decisions you can. Start with the Harvard University’s implicit bias test.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Law360 Article, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (free registration required)

Implicit Association Test (IAT), Harvard University

American Bar Association, “Implicit Bias Videos and Toolkit”

New York Times, “Why Many CEOs Are Tall People? The Height Of The Matter” (registration required)

The Economic Times, “The Necktie Syndrome: Why CEOs Tend To Be Significantly Taller Than The Average Male”

“Thinking Fast and Slow,” Daniel Khaneman

“Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,” Malcolm Gladwell

Legal technologies wait for no one, including you. Guest Joy Murao is the Founder and CEO at Practice Aligned Resources, a legal tech support firm that offers a blend of services including e-discovery consulting and advisory, case planning and implementation, vendor and software selection guidance, and trial and war room setup and management.

Murao turned her background as a paralegal professional into helping legal teams incorporate technology and available resources to streamline casework, manage projects, incorporate e-discovery techniques, and maximize efficiencies and outcomes.

In this podcast:

Don’t get passed by. Take action today to become comfortable – even expert – with the latest technology. Sounds intimidating? It doesn’t have to be. Murao offers simple steps to set achievable goals and get started today.

Mentioned in this episode:

NALA conference

NALA

InfoTrack Legal Up Registration

Women in eDiscovery

California Lawyers Association Law Practice Management and Technology

LACourtConnect

Zoom Cat Lawyer

“Newsom's Proposed Courts Budget Includes Millions for New Judges, Courthouses,” Law.com

What’s new for NALA in 2023. Start by getting excited about the 2023 NALA conference with NALA’s chief executive officer, Vanessa Finley. This time in Boston in July. You don’t want to miss it. With 30 educational sessions, CLE credits are yours to earn with three ways to attend: the full, in person experience; a hybrid in-person/virtual package; and the single-day pass in person. Early bird specials available until May 12.

NALA in 2023 is also providing the CP (Certified Paralegal) exam review track covering every section of the exam – including the writing section. (Psst, co-host Tony Sipp is taking the exam and will be participating!)

And the new NALA Compensation Survey Report is out. These are good times for paralegal professionals, we are in demand. The profession is growing by about 12% and salaries are up. Log in to your NALA account and see if you’re getting paid what you’re worth after the COVID pandemic shook things up across the profession.

Plus, the new NALA YouTube Channel. See what you’ve been missing and subscribe today for the latest videos. Advocacy, information, community. NALA works for paralegals. “Be in the now, be in the know, be NALA.”

Resources from This Episode:

NALA conference

NALA

NALA CP exam prep and educational materials

NALA Compensation Survey 2022

NALA on YouTube

Vanessa Finley, previous appearances on the Legal Talk Network

Let’s talk about the art, and science, of billing. We’ll go ahead and say it, billing isn’t fun, but it’s crucial to the success of your law firm. And tracking many of those billable hours often falls on paralegal professionals. Getting work done is important, getting paid for that work is crucial.

You aren’t alone. Everybody hates billing. Tracking your time and entering it into your system isn’t natural, and maybe it’s not even taught. But you can get better at this, make it part of your daily routine.

Guest Karen Tuschak is an experienced consultant who runs her own firm, Spider Silk Solutions. She provides not only coaching and practice management development to law firms worldwide, but she also encourages firms to adopt the latest technologies. She dedicates much of her time helping paralegals understand billable hours and the importance of time capture.

Tuschak says a lot of paralegals “self-monitor” their work, they shave time from a task if they feel it could’ve been done faster. Don’t double check yourself, simply mark down the actual time you spend on a task. If you don’t, not only does it take money from the firm, it makes it hard for managers to spot areas of inefficiency where better tech could help.

This is a great reminder and could change the way you think about your job. Your “time capture” tells your story and demonstrates your value.

Resources from This Episode:

San Diego Paralegal Association

International Practice Management Association

NALA

Our justice system is changing as demand for access to court services grows. Are specially trained paralegal professionals the answer?

Across the country, states are looking for ways to grant special licenses so paralegal professionals can handle some issues that have traditionally required an attorney. New programs with names including “allied legal professionals, “limited licensing,” and “legal paraprofessionals” are opening ways to offer access to justice and, at the same time, opening pathways for paralegals to expand their roles and embrace new opportunities.

This is important stuff that affects us all, even if the stereotype is that “legal aid” projects are for indigent cases, studies find up to 40% of the legal needs of middle-class people go unaddressed due to high demand and costs. There has to be a better way. The medical community developed new ways to provide care (nurse practitioners instead of an M.D.), so why can’t we build a new tier of legal service providers?

It's been a long slog as states individually decide how tiers of limited licensures can ensure access to justice. And it’s been contentious, maybe because the issue isn’t fully understood. Get educated and get involved with this informative episode of the Paralegal Voice.

Resources from This Episode:

The Landscape of Allied Legal Professional Programs (Report)

North Carolina Justice For All Project’s legislative proposal, “Looking Beyond Lawyers To Bridge The Civil Access To Justice Gap”

NALA

NFPA

AAFPE

Limited License Legal Technicians, Washington State Bar

Arizona Legal Paraprofessionals (limited licensing)

N.C. Justice Richard Dietz

American Bar Association, access commissions

Minnesota Legal Paraprofessionals Pilot Program