Paralegal Student Realizes It’s Never Too Late to Start Over

It’s never too late to start over, and 43 year-old Loganville resident Kristine Bratcher is evidence of that as she finds herself in her senior year at Emory University in a certificate program to become a paralegal.  What all she does in a day to help put food on the table, continue her education and [...]

2012 Paralegal Superstar Calendar Now Available

The new calendars are here!! The new calendars are here!! Keeping track of important dates on your calendar is easy when you can view 12 months of inspiring images that reflect twelve of the best and brightest Paralegals of 2012. This high-quality calendar is printed on thick 100lb cover weight paper and adds impact to any [...]

January 2012: Jana Kaplan

Jana Kaplan has been working in the legal field since 1999, when she ran a small two-attorney general practice, concentrating primarily on residential real estate closings.  After working there for a year, Jana was presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity to live and work in Australia for one year, which she did from [...]

Autistic Paralegal Reflects on “Good Grief”: A Holiday Inspiration

It’s now been over a year since Mom died. It’s unbelievable how fast those 365 days have come and gone. As I sit and write this, I think a lot about what happened during those 365 days. More importantly, I think about what I’ve accomplished. The funeral took place on Thursday, December 2. It was [...]

Environmental Law Offers New Opportunity for Paralegals

Mother Nature has a unique but simple way of taking care of herself—a sort of “no BS” attitude towards unnatural manipulation that has routinely come back to bite many people and corporations where it hurts. At the beginning of December, the EPA released a report saying that Monsanto’s program for monitoring suspected cases of resistance [...]

Introducing ParalegalGateway’s 2012 Paralegal Superstars

ParalegalGateway.com is proud to announce the 2012 Paralegal Superstars!    The following twelve Paralegals clearly exemplify some of the best and brightest of our profession. 1.   Jana Kaplan (Georgia) 2.   David Johnson (Florida) 3.   RoxAnn D. Mack (Colorado) 4.   John Goudie (Wisconsin) 5.   Joncilee Miller Davis (Texas) 6.   Belinda [...]

  • Other Recent Articles

  • Attorney Blames Staff for Error. Oops. He had no Staff!

    Attorney Blames Staff for Error. Oops. He had no Staff!

    A Rhode Island attorney has been ordered to perform 20 hours of pro bono legal work in family court guardianship matters to resolve a legal ethics case. It began with a billing dispute concerning several family court guardianship cases for children in the same family, the Rhode Island Supreme Court explains in a written opinion (PDF). Milan [...]

  • Paralegal Found Alive, Details of Disappearance Still Unclear

    Paralegal Found Alive, Details of Disappearance Still Unclear

    Roxanne Lawrence, the paralegal who disappeared from her Las Vegas office last Friday, has been found alive. According to police and family members, Lawrence was located on Friday. Authorities did not release information on where she was found or details on her disappearance. Family members handed out more than 500 fliers this week and traveled [...]

  • Family of Missing Paralegal Covers Ground Across Las Vegas

    Family of Missing Paralegal Covers Ground Across Las Vegas

    Family members of a paralegal who went missing from her office last Friday morning are not giving up hope. Loved ones are traveling all around Las Vegas and the surrounding area, hoping to find someone who saw something. Roxanne Lawrence’s relatives say they plan to cover as much ground as possible. So far, they’ve traveled [...]

  • Paper Court Filers in Florida May Receive a Penalty

    Paper Court Filers in Florida May Receive a Penalty

    The Florida Senate is considering a bill that would impose a surcharge to submit a paper filing to a court. Courts have attempted to build the adoption of eFiling in different ways. In some counties, such as Orange County, California and San Francisco County, the courts will mandate it for specific types of court filings. [...]

  • CAN YOU IDENTIFY ME? is seeking local and national VOLUNTEERS.

    CAN YOU IDENTIFY ME? is seeking local and national VOLUNTEERS.

    If you are interested in helping victims of homicide, human trafficking, abuse, kidnapping,  and families of missing loved ones  this might be the right volunteer opportunity for you! We are currently seeking volunteers for help in the following areas: Research Writing Editing Online Administration Graphics Website Design *all volunteers must sign a confidentiality agreement and [...]

  • 2012 Paralegal Superstar Nominations

    2012 Paralegal Superstar Nominations

    It’s that time of year again!  ParalegalGateway is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Paralegal Superstars!!!  If you know a Paralegal who has made a significant contribution to the Profession, their community or both, please complete our online nomination form.  Feel free to nominate yourself as well.  We will evaluate all applications and elect the [...]

  • Paralegal Cooks Up A Great Idea

    Paralegal Cooks Up A Great Idea

    Our friends at Richmond BizSense recently interviewed Melissa Krumbein who is about to open Kitchen Thyme, a space that has two kitchens and equipment that people can rent and use to cook for their families or host an event or party. Krumbein has been stirring up the idea since December but recently leased a 3,500-square-foot [...]

  • October 2011: Pamela Starr

    October 2011: Pamela Starr

    After a lifetime of working as a paralegal for ‘biglaw’, Pamela Starr decided it was time for a change – the year was 2008. It was an obvious and natural transition – the legal industry had finally begun to embrace technology and, well, the economy could no longer support law firms. Bankruptcy courts had transitioned [...]

  • FRCP Readiness: 10 Practical Tips for Paralegals

    FRCP Readiness: 10 Practical Tips for Paralegals

    The amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP)[1] place a tremendous amount of responsibility on parties to meet and confer to identify and resolve issues related to the preservation and production of electronically stored information. The rules also reinforce the notion that lawyers must communicate with their clients to become familiar with their clients electronic [...]

  • Atlanta Paralegal Murder Cold Case Closed After Seven Years

    Atlanta Paralegal Murder Cold Case Closed After Seven Years

    John Ray was awaiting law school acceptance letters seven years ago. Ray was a role model for his family. He was a paralegal for the Fulton County conflict defender’s office and was a U.S. Army veteran who mentored youth in Atlanta’s Lakewood Heights neighborhood. His promising life ended on the night of May 16, 2004, [...]

  • Defining the Practice of Law (Iowa)

    Defining the Practice of Law (Iowa)

    Nonlawyers may do tax work because tax work is not necessarily the practice of law. Comm. on Prof’l Ethics & Conduct v. Mahoney, 402 N.W.2d 434, 436 (Iowa 1987). However, over thirty-five years ago we described actions this court would consider the practice of law if performed by a suspended attorney. Comm. on Prof’l Ethics [...]

  • September 2011: Ann Jackson, RP

    September 2011: Ann Jackson, RP

    Ann Jackson is the sole in-house paralegal at Cypress Communications, Inc., a leading provider of voice and data communication services to business customers, with corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. At Cypress, she reports directly to the company’s General Counsel, handling a wide variety of issues as part of a small legal department. She manages the [...]

  • Terry Mills

    Paralegals Rock! (And Terry Mills Has an Album to Prove It)

    Terry Mills launched her debut album last year and is on the verge of releasing a music video, but she isn’t quitting her day job. Mills has worked as a paralegal the past 30 years but has dabbled in music since she was a child, singing with her five siblings on road trips, playing the [...]

  • Witness Statements

    Witness Statements

    It is important to memorialize the sequence of events in any given incident.  One way to accomplish this is to obtain statements from the percipient witnesses.  Nailing down a witness’ version of how an incident occurred early in a case can be one of the most important components of a thorough investigation.  A paralegal should [...]

  • Nonlawyers Drafting Documents in New Jersey

    Nonlawyers Drafting Documents in New Jersey

    Preparing corporate operating agreements, by-laws, resolutions, and similar legal documents is the practice of law and may only be performed by lawyers. Nonlawyers, however, may present to customers prepared, fill-in-the-blank certificates of incorporation, certificates of formation, statements of qualification, and certificates of limited partnership (collectively referred to as “certificates”) and type, transcribe, or translate the [...]

  • Legal Assistant asked to take Blame

    Legal Assistant asked to take Blame

    For the past four years, New Jersey criminal defense lawyer John Koufos has been named a “rising star” by Super Lawyers magazine. And the New Jersey Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division recently gave him a professional achievement award. But the young lawyer has since been brought down to earth on charges that he seriously injured [...]

  • The Attorney–Client Privilege Is Not Limited to Communications Directly Between a Client and His or Her Attorney

    The Attorney–Client Privilege Is Not Limited to Communications Directly Between a Client and His or Her Attorney

    The issue also arises as to whether the legal opinions may be shared with a non-attorney agent retained by the attorney to assist with the representation without losing their confidential status. It appears that they can, as such an agent would fall into the category of “those to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for the [...]

  • Ohio Paralegal Denied Right to Represent Party in Divorce Case

    Ohio Paralegal Denied Right to Represent Party in Divorce Case

    The parties were divorced in 2005. Appellant filed a motion for reallocation of parental rights and responsibilities (which in the body of the motion was in fact a request for modification or termination of support) and a show cause motion on October 21, 2009. Appellee filed a motion for an increase in child support on [...]

  • New York Attorney Disciplined for Sharing Fees with a Nonlawyer and for Paying for a Referral

    New York Attorney Disciplined for Sharing Fees with a Nonlawyer and for Paying for a Referral

    The Committee on Grievances found that the attorney accepted $5,000 from Client Roe’s family and did no legal work on his behalf; that the attorney shared legal fees with a nonlawyer, Inmate Doe, to compensate him in part for his “legal” work and for recommending the respondent’s services to other inmates. In re Saghir 925 [...]

  • Pro Se Representation Does Not Apply to Representing a Corporation in Court

    Pro Se Representation Does Not Apply to Representing a Corporation in Court

    In Washington state, with limited exceptions, individuals appearing before the court on behalf of another party must be licensed in the practice of law. Because a corporation is an artificial entity, necessarily its interests in a court proceeding must be represented by a person acting on its behalf. Representing another person or entity in court [...]

  • August 2011 Beverly Johnston

    August 2011 Beverly Johnston

    Beverly is a former resident of Fayetteville, North Carolina and moved to the Raleigh area in 2001.  Her paralegal career began as a by-product of a divorce over twenty-two years ago.   She has been employed by Hillco, Ltd. Legal Department since 2001 as Legal Administrative Manager.  Prior to that time she worked primarily with small [...]

  • Nonlawyer Officer of a Texas Corporation Files Motion for a New Trial

    Nonlawyer Officer of a Texas Corporation Files Motion for a New Trial

    Some cases suggest that a document filed in court by a non-attorney purportedly on behalf of a corporation is void.  But, even though a non-attorney cannot represent a corporation, the Supreme Court of Texas has held that a non-attorney can perfect appeal on behalf of a corporation. A document filed in court by a non-attorney [...]

  • UAE’s First Filipino Paralegal Team to Publish User-Friendly Law Guide

    UAE’s First Filipino Paralegal Team to Publish User-Friendly Law Guide

    The first team of Filipino paralegal volunteers in the UAE is publishing a guide to the laws and the rights of expatriate workers. “Filipinos are facing problems mostly due to an ignorance of the law,” said Areiz Macaraig, the legal adviser for the Filipino expatriate rights group Migrante-UAE. “The paralegal volunteers will work on a [...]

  • How to Create a Discovery Plan

    How to Create a Discovery Plan

    Attorneys devote an enormous amount of time on the discovery phase of litigation. The California Civil Discovery Act encompasses California Code of Civil Procedure §§ 2016.010 – 2036.050. California Code of Civil Procedure § 2019.010 outlines the methods of discovery as oral and written depositions; interrogatories; inspections of documents, things, and places; physical and mental [...]

  • Are Paralegals Exempt in Connecticut?

    Are Paralegals Exempt in Connecticut?

    As you probably know, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Connecticut’s wage and hour laws require most employees (called “non-exempt”) to receive minimum wage plus overtime at time-and-a-half for all hours worked each week over 40. Also, employers must maintain records of all hours worked by non-exempt employees. “Exempt” employees are exempt from those [...]

  • Disclosure of Status: Florida Requires More Than Calling Oneself FRP

    Disclosure of Status: Florida Requires More Than Calling Oneself FRP

    Recent Changes in Requirements for Florida Registered Paralegals RULE 20–7.1 GENERALLY A Florida Registered Paralegal shall adhere to the following Code of Ethics and Responsibility: (a) Disclosure. A Florida Registered Paralegal shall disclose his or her status as a Florida Registered Paralegal at the outset of any professional relationship with a client, attorneyslawyers, a court [...]

  • A Nonlawyer Cannot Represent a Limited Laibility Company in Court Even If The Company Has Only One Owner

    A Nonlawyer Cannot Represent a Limited Laibility Company in Court Even If The Company Has Only One Owner

    A limited liability company (LLC) must be represented by a lawyer in order to litigate. This is simply an application of the general rule prohibiting laypersons from representing other persons or entities in court proceedings. Because a layperson does not have a lawyer’s professional skills or ethical responsibilities, such representation imposes undue burdens on opposing [...]

  • Allen Mihecoby

    July 2011: Allen Mihecoby

    Allen Mihecoby, CLAS, RP® is currently employed as the Manager, Law Department for BNSF Railway Company, the second largest railroad in the United States.  Previously, he was employed as an in-house paralegal for a publicly traded corporation involved in high end retail and luxury goods in Dallas, Texas.  His experience has been primarily with large [...]

  • Bonnie Sweeten

    Paralegal Bonnie Sweeten Pleads Guilty to Fraud

    Philly.com:  After two years of courtroom denials, former suburban paralegal Bonnie Sweeten admitted Tuesday in federal court to a three-year series of frauds that cost law clients, her employer, and a frail former in-law close to $1 million. Sweeten, of Feasterville, whose faked 2009 kidnapping drew national notoriety, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to [...]

  • Improper Use on Nonlawyer Staff

    Improper Use on Nonlawyer Staff

    Two-year suspension was warranted for Ohio attorney who, while acting as guardian for incompetent ward, withdrew all of ward’s assets from trust account but failed to use the assets for wards’ benefit, and allowed staff to prepare and file false statements concerning wards’ assets, in violation of numerous rules, including those prohibiting conduct that is [...]

  • Failure to Supervise Nonattorney; Allowing Nonattorney to Sign Attorney’s Name on Checks (NY)

    Failure to Supervise Nonattorney; Allowing Nonattorney to Sign Attorney’s Name on Checks (NY)

    Attorney violated disciplinary rule requiring adequate supervision of non–attorney employees by employing non–attorney office manager and, while attorney was seriously ill and absent from her office for several months, knowingly allowed employee to issue and signed his name on at least 17 checks from her attorney escrow account. In re Mednik 923 N.Y.S.2d 195 (N.Y.A.D. [...]

  • UPL in Rhode Island

    UPL in Rhode Island

    That Low Cost Paralegal Services engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in Rhode Island in violation of R.I.G.L. § 11–27–12 by falsely holding itself/herself out to Rhode Islanders, through internet advertising targeting Rhode Island, as competent and qualified to prepare legal documents for uncontested divorce and to assist with a child support problem, which [...]

  • Troubling Role of Paralegal in Billing (Washington State)

    Troubling Role of Paralegal in Billing (Washington State)

    Troubling Role of Paralegal in Billing (Washington State) A review of Van Camp’s reconstructed billing statements is extremely troubling and illustrates the unreasonableness of this fee. In describing his process, Barber, the paralegal tasked with the reconstruction, testified he went through the file page by page, building a timeline and accounting for any possible work that [...]

  • Nonlawyers Doing Tax Work; Work Suspended Lawyers May Not Do (Iowa)

    Nonlawyers Doing Tax Work; Work Suspended Lawyers May Not Do (Iowa)

    Nonlawyers may do tax work because tax work is not necessarily the practice of law. Comm. on Prof’l Ethics & Conduct v. Mahoney, 402 N.W.2d 434, 436 (Iowa 1987). However, over thirty-five years ago we described actions this court would consider the practice of law if performed by a suspended attorney. Comm. on Prof’l Ethics [...]

  • Bankruptcy Court Questions Naiveté of Debtor – When the Debtor’s Spouse is a Paralegal

    Bankruptcy Court Questions Naiveté of Debtor – When the Debtor’s Spouse is a Paralegal

    Allegations in credit card company’s complaint, that Chapter 7 debtor ran up more than $3,700 in charges against her account in space of roughly one month, at time when debtor’s total unsecured credit card debt of more than $88,000 was in excess of her ability to pay it and when debtor, through her paralegal spouse, [...]

  • Practical Pointers for Trial Binders

    Practical Pointers for Trial Binders

    I haven’t met a litigation trial lawyer yet that doesn’t use trial binders. In fact, binderizing a complex case from the date of inception is a great way to help your attorney stay organized. What are trial binders? A trial binder is a binder where various documents are organized, properly tabbed, and indexed at the [...]

  • Brynne Williamson

    June 2011: Brynne Williamson, PP, PLS

    Brynne Williamson is a probate paralegal at Helsell Fetterman LLP in Seattle, Washington, specializing in estate and trust administration and taxation issues.  Brynne is registered with the King County Bar Association Legal Assistant program, which authorizes her to present ex parte matters before the King County Superior Court. After graduating from the paralegal program at [...]

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