The Paralegal Voice

By default, many paralegal professionals serve as project managers, keeping cases on track and knowing when the next filing is due. But is traditional, linear project management best for all cases? 

Agile project management has been around in other business sectors for 20 years, but the legal field has been cautious and slow to adopt. 

Guest Alicia Mitchell-Mercer is an expert in applying the modern Agile project management philosophy to legal cases and how the Scrum processes fit. Scrum team? Product owner? ScrumMaster? If you’ve been curious, even baffled, by these terms, you won’t get a better 30-minute introduction. Learn how modern project management fits today’s legal needs. 

From start to finish, Agile project management can help track legal projects and review results, then apply lessons learned to future projects. Mitchell-Mercer explains how applying these principles could help your firm work more efficiently, improve outcomes, and better serve clients. As a bonus, there isn’t a high barrier to entry for ScrumMaster certification (and it could add to your personal market value). 

Plus, some insights on how COVID’s push to remote meetings has changed, perhaps forever, legal project management.

Special thanks to our sponsors NALA, ServeNow, and InfoTrack.

New year, new trends. Our field never slows down. Keep up or risk being passed by. 

Host Carl Morrison looks at a dozen developing trends for the coming year and beyond. Everything from the evolution of the Limited Licensed Practitioner field (looking at you Arizona and Utah) to the breakneck acceleration in legal tech, artificial intelligence, workflow automation, and process improvements. 

The post-pandemic “Great Resignation” is creating more opportunities than ever for paralegal professionals. Make 2022 the year you truly understand your value, embrace change, advance your skills, and take charge of your career. 

Special thanks to our sponsors NALA, ServeNow, and InfoTrack.

New year, new … job? The legal field is struggling to find paralegals and fill vacancies during the “Great Resignation.” For paralegals, that creates opportunities to break into the field or to advance your career.

Guest Tony Sipp, a paralegal manager for a national law firm, says it’s more important now than ever for paralegal professionals to know their worth, highlight their skills, and pursue their dreams. Firms are hiring now. 

Hear what hiring managers are looking for today – from soft skills to tech, including e-filing and e-discovery and Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Listen to Sipp’s valuable job seeking and interviewing tips as we head into a promising year for paralegals. Even if you’re happy where you are, it doesn’t hurt to look around or ask for what you want.

Special thanks to our sponsors NALA, ServeNow, and InfoTrack.

Carl is joined by Ki Hwang and Bob Roberts of Bright Line Counsel, an Alternative Legal Service Provider (ALSP). Learn how the field is not only streamlining legal ops and more efficiently serving clients, but also creating exciting opportunities for paralegal professionals. 

Hear how today’s paralegals can leverage their project management and technology skills to advance their careers and focus on meaningful, rewarding work. It’s a whole new world, and paralegal professionals are at the center of it. 

And in the Listener’s Voice segment, Carl takes a question about getting into the field of legal operations and offers tips on making the leap. Is this the next step in your own career? If you’ve got a comment or question, reach out at [email protected]

Special thanks to our sponsors NALA, ServeNow, and InfoTrack.

Host Jill Francisco talks with veteran paralegal (and BFF) Nancy Jordahl about opportunities for paralegals outside the office. Jordahl regularly writes for paralegal and legal professional journals and is a regular speaker at paralegal conferences. 

Learn how to get started, find opportunities, and create the content professionals want (and need). Hear how to spot opportunities to serve on paralegal education advisory boards and even teach the next generation of paralegals. 

Not only are you giving back, but you’ll keep up with the latest developments in your field, guide student curriculum, and build your network (you might even make a little extra money). You can do this. Learn how.

Special thanks to our sponsors NALA, ServeNow, and InfoTrack.

It’s not just the poor. Even the middle class struggles with a complex and costly American legal system. 

Our guest, Toni Marsh, JD, is a professor and director at the George Washington University School of Law Paralegal Studies program and a fierce advocate for the role of paralegals. 

The paralegal profession is in flux. As Americans struggle to access their legal system, constitutional rights are becoming out of reach. Marsh believes paralegals can fill that gap as states explore expanding their role. Legal navigators, legal document preparers, and licensed legal professionals are stepping up. How can paralegals prepare for tomorrow’s legal profession? 

Also, in the “Listener’s Voice” segment, host Carl Morrison answers a listener’s questions about seeking new challenges, perfecting a resume, and finding new opportunities. Got a question for Carl? Email him today at [email protected].

Special thanks to our sponsors CourtFiling.Net, InfoTrack,  NALA, and ServeNow.

The legal profession was already going online and high-tech. But COVID disruptions, working from home, and remote legal processes have supercharged those changes.

Are you up to speed? 

Host Jill Francisco – a veteran paralegal and classroom instructor – interviews attorney and longtime professor Todd Richardson about today’s classroom experience. It’s more than lectures and books. Today’s learning includes new technology, working collaboratively online and in person, and leveraging digital tools to expedite cases, gather information, and navigate the modern legal jungle.

Richardson explores how legal education is changing and how vital learning today’s tech keeps a paralegal valued and vital in the workplace.

He also touches on areas where soft skills still play an important role. Knowing how to integrate tech with interpersonal skills can build and maintain relationships so important in the legal community.

Special thanks to our sponsors CourtFiling.net, NALA, and ServeNow.