Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Perhaps this is the end of Superlegal Fun?

When I started this blog it was intended to allow me a place to vent and try to bring some humor to my work life. It seems that purpose may have come to an end.

Etiquette: Neeeded

Today was quite possibly the most annoying day of my life - EVER. A combination of circumstances created by others meant I got nothing done and did only other people's work today. In fact, I think I came close to doing something for everyone in the firm, except myself. This prompted me to think of a few of the etiquette rules that could have prevented my agony:

Friday, August 26, 2011

How a paralegal assists attorneys at trial

I realized during a call with my mom the other day that some people have no clue what paralegals do to assist attorneys at trial. My mom basically thought I was there to sit in the back of the courtroom and look pretty (thanks, mom!).

Here is a list of 10 things a paralegal does to assist an attorney in the courtroom during trial. Attorneys can use this list to reform the way they use their paralegals to streamline their trial practice (there are too many to list, so I picked 10):

Thursday, August 18, 2011

What the crap, you [blanking] moron?!?!?!?!

I learned today from an out-of-the-office auto-reply email from B-Dub that Secretary X was promoted to a "legal assistant."
WHAT THE CRAP? Are you [blank]ing kidding me? On what planet does someone, who should be fired, get PROMOTED? Not in the normal world, I thought.

Draft response to said auto-reply email:

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Monday, August 15, 2011

Things typical and annoying today

1. Associate successfully argued a motion to dismiss without a specific ruling, and without asking, if the case was dismissed with prejudice. Genius. When I asked her whether it was with prejudice, she just stared at me like I was talking Greek! I tried to explain how important that ruling is on a motion to dismiss, but I was met with nothing but blank stares. I gave up. I guess we'll wait and see what happens.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Work-Life Balance for Paralegals

One of my readers recently asked whether there is good work-life balance for paralegals.  This is an excellent question. (Thank you, Indy!)

Thursday, August 11, 2011

I want to be a Paralegal! What school should I go to?

Getting a job as a paralegal can be difficult, as in any profession these days (except perhaps for blogging, woohoo), but it can be made easier if you have some credentials backing you up. The more letters you stick after your name and the more colleges you have listed in your C.V. the better for bringing in the dough. How many letters you put after your name is a matter of time and the money you can put into education. There are several options for this, depending on what you're willing to put into it. You owe it to yourself to get the best credentials you can.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Friday, August 5, 2011

Waiting for a verdict

After you run a marathon to get to trial prepared, and after closing arguments are done, you finally realize that there is nothing to do but wait for the jury to return the verdict.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Legal TV genius: David E. Kelley

Legal shows are rarely very good. It is hard to catch and keep the attention of the general public with law, and rarely does a show succeed. I think I have at least taste-tested the majority of them, rarely becoming enthused about any one series. It seems that it may be even harder to keep the attention of legal enthusiasts, like myself, because the shows rarely portray the law, judges, lawyers, and their staff accurately. Producer David E. Kelley is the common thread in every legal show I have liked and loved. He is a legal TV show super genius. Plus, he had the good fortune to marry Michelle Pfieffer in 1993. (Random fact, unrelated to law)

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

One of JD's career choices

JD told me he used to be a used car salesman. Life makes a little more sense now.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Manners, manners!!

I worked all weekend preparing for a major trial starting today. To my surprise, Passive Aggressive Paralegal also worked all weekend. I asked her if she also had a trial soon. She said she had one in September. Well, that may not be too far off, but I have THREE trials between now and then. She asked how my trial was coming along - the one that starts today. I told her there was still a lot to do, but that I would be at the office all weekend working on it.