This weekend I was asked to do a job profile for a friend who is thinking about a career as a paralegal. Although my answers are somewhat atypical, being a self-employed legal assistant/paralegal, it was still an interesting experience to really take a few minutes to do a broad overview of what I’m doing, what I’ve done throughout my career and if I would do it again if my choices were different today. I should have pointed the...

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I’ve read some really fascinating posts about the legal system, the changes needed (see the comments at this ABA post for example), the cost of law school, tuition, salaries for new lawyers and so much more. As a virtual paralegal I read these posts partly to stay on top of changing values within the system I am a part of. I also read them with the pure fascination of one who truly wants to see some innovation take place within the system....

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I was reading again yesterday a post over at Law21 about law school and the legal system. It was a fascinating read since Jordan touched on whether students going into law school truly realize what the realities are for them once they finish law school. It reminded me of when I first decided to go to school to become a paralegal. I took a couple of years off after high school (in my family it was a big deal simply to have graduated high school,...

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So recently I was contacted by a couple of very nice ladies that actually live quite close to me. They had found me through my blog! They recently started up an independent paralegal practice, providing document preparation services for the general public, including things like uncontested divorce documents, dependent adult applications and will preparation. And I have to admit that my first reactions to their business were “cool!”...

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I love working as a virtual assistant, but there are things I miss from my days in a law office environment.  One of these is the legal research I was sometimes able to assist with.  For me, it was a really fascinating aspect of my job.  Probably partly because I enjoy reading so much that I happily read anything and everything. I also enjoy puzzles and solving things, so reading caselaw to find the nuggets of information that could help or...

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Thanks to Jordan Furlong of Law 21, I found this recent article from the American Bar Association, which is very positive sign of the growing acceptance of legal outsourcing, including outsourcing to non-lawyer support staff such as virtual legal assistants and virtual paralegals. Lawyers with concerns about the ethics should be reassured by the ABA’s opinion on the matter.  A couple of points noted in the ABA article: U.S. lawyers are...

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