This memo will both summarize and analyze the valuable information I obtained during my interview with Mrs. Katrina Nelson a paralegal at Herrling Cark in Appleton Wisconsin on February 16th 2015. Information regarding essential skills and education one must have to be a successful paralegal.
Interview Summary
According to Mrs. Nelson the two most important skills a paralegal need to poses to be a successful paralegal are time management and organizational skills. She believes that learning effective time management skills requires conscious thought and intentional planning to look forward in time and plan ahead rather than simply reacting to emergencies as they arise. With effective time management when emergencies or interruptions occur, you will be better prepared to handle them. Mrs. Nelson also believes that being organize/ multi-tasking are also keys skills to being a successful paralegal. Mrs. Nelson emphasizes that paralegals can be working on countless number of assignments at any given moment. This means that to be a successful paralegal you must be able to keep several different projects in mind when doing research and gathering evidence, all while making sure all deadlines are met. She pressed the point that it is important
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Nelson ethics and professionalism are should always be in the mind of a true professional paralegal. Although paralegals may be working under a Lawyer. They should still be adhering to the code of ethics. There is a misconception about the role of a paralegal, the paralegal is not just a subordinate of a lawyer. It is important that paralegals know there is a professional code of ethics. Also that paralegals will be bond equally to the same code of ethics as any other legal professional or law firm is. It’s the paralegals job to stay strictly within the bounds of this code of ethics, if a paralegal veers away from the code of which the paralegal faces suspension or even termination of their
Hatch, Scott A., Hatch, Lisa Zimmer. Paralegal Career For Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub., 2006. Print.
A Paralegal is defined by the American Bar Association as a person, qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible. Paralegals work under direct supervision of an attorney and follow the same ethical rules of the ABA as a lawyer does. ABA Rule 5.3, states that a lawyer must give such assistants appropriate instruction and supervision concerning the ethical aspects of their employment, particularly regarding the obligation not to disclose information relating to representation of the client, and should be responsible for their work product. Per the State B...
Ethical Behaviour includes obeying the law and specific regulatory rules (CII, 2013), it is necessary that Paraplanners are aware of relevant laws and regulations including: the Financial Conduct Authority’s Principles for Business and Statements of Principle for Approved Persons (CII, 2013) and the Chartered Insurance Institute Code (CII’s code) (CII, 2014) as well as the Data Protection Act 1998 (Data Protection GOV.UK, 2013), Money Laundering Regulations (Office of Fair Trading, 2009) and the Financial Conduct Authority’s six Treating Customers Fairly Outcomes (FCA, 2013). Paraplanners must act with the highest ethical standards and integrity as well as acting in the best interests of each clients (CII, 2014). It is important that paraplanners are aware of the data protection act as clients have a right to expect complete confidentiality about their personal lives such as income and identity (CII, 2013). If paraplanner has a role to play in adviser charging, then paraplanner need to be aware of the anti-money laundering rules, a paraplanner is most likely to be in charge of implementing these rules (CII, 2013). Paraplanners are very much involved in the identification procedures for client, by making sure there are copies of “acceptable” identity kept on file, therefore the paraplanner needs to have received the appropriate training on verification and identification of clients (CII, 2013)
In conclusion as we strive to stay current in this rapid changing and demanding legal field, we need to maintain focus on what is at stake here, the quality of service we demand from lawyers and their agents. Clients deserve to be assisted by the people who know their profession and so, we must be in favor of the legislative movement of the control of the paralegal profession.
Blood flow to the muscles has been shown to increase with exercise (Lombardo, Rose, Taeschler, Tuluy, Bing, 1953). In this experiment, “blood flow” can be roughly measured as “Mean Arterial Pressure”. Mean Arterial Pressure is defined as the average blood pressure in the arteries throughout the entire cardiac cycle. This can be measured by multiplying “Cardiac Output” by “Total Peripheral Resistance”. Cardiac Output in essence is the volume of blood pumped by the heart in one minute, which can be written as the “Stroke volume (milliliters of blood per beat)” multiplied by “Heart rate (heart beats per minute). “Total Peripheral Resistance” can be defined
Establish a framework for professional behavior and responsibilities when professional obligations conflict or ethical uncertainties arise.
The paralegal field is thought to be a high paced glorious career of working alongside an attorney and getting recognition for their work. In reality a paralegal job is nothing like Erin Brockovich (A movie where a paralegal was able to investigate and played an immense part in winning a large case) envisioned from the movie. Becoming a paralegal is appealing because it allows a quick entrance into a professional career field and offers a wide range of daily and career experiences. However, the work-life balance can be poor, the career path often stagnates without continuing education, and the pay is insufficient for the work load. Also, while there are a wide range of paralegal jobs there is also competition and an applicant must possess the ability to step right into the role with little or no training. While expecting much of the work to be comparable to administrative work and document reading.
After meeting Laura Devine at an internship fair last fall on my campus, she made a lasting impression on me that left me inspired to be a part of this program if I received an opportunity. Laura seemed elated when explaining the program and I really appreciated the time she took to expand on her experiences with the program. It was inspiring to see someone so passionate for helping others, while also learning a great deal about the legal system, as I strive to do. I want to help others like Laura has, as this process of being a self-representing litigator, though I have not been in that position, must be incredibly daunting and exhausting. I hope that when anyone is distressed I can assist them, and it seems like this is an amazing organization for me just to do that.
My major is Paralegal Studies and I expect to graduate with an Associates of Arts degree in December of this year. Many years ago, as an investigator for both a private company and a county agency, I was introduced to the legal field. Recently, I was awarded the opportunity to attend college, so I decided I wanted to reenter the legal profession as a paralegal. The paralegal profession appeals to me, because I enjoy the processes of developing a case, as well as its legal aspects. A paralegal is involved in a case from the beginning to the end; from the initial client interview to assisting the attorney during the client’s trial or the settlement process. My goal is to become a paralegal for a solo practitioner or a small firm in my local area who represent clients in different areas of the law.
Additionally, like I mentioned in the beginning, in terms of beneficence, its principle stipulates that ethical theories should strive to achieve the greatest amount of good because people benefit from the most good. In respect for autonomy an ethical theory should allow people to reign over themselves and to be able to make decisions that apply to their lives. This means that people should have control over their lives as much as possible because they are the only people who completely understand their chosen type of lifestyle. The justice ethical principle states that ethical theories should prescribe actions that are fair to those involved. Due to this, code of ethics were put in place for the well being of these professionals and their clients so that in all act on each party’s behalf there will be some sort of
Professionals are people who have equipped themselves with the knowledge and skills in a given field. The interest of improvement of the professional identity is an evidence of how high standards are placed upon the professionals in the community (Johnson et al., 2012). Each profession creates its norms, values and scope of practice that distinguishes it from any other profession. Different legal ethics are upheld and everyone needs to work as per the stipulated ethics in the field to be part of the profession. People in the field are expected to be knowledgeable and independently use decision making in solving various problems that may arise. The decisions made should be within the norms and values stipulated for a profession.
The Paralegal Professional, A reference to the source of legal information chapter 1 and lettures from class powerpoints.
Professionals are people who have equipped themselves with the knowledge and skills in a given field. The interest of improvement of the professional identity is an evidence of how high standards are placed upon the professionals in the community (Johnson et al., 2012). Each profession creates its norms, values and scope of practice that distinguishes it from any other profession. Different legal ethics are upheld and everyone needs to work as per the stipulated ethics in the field to be part of the profession. People in the field are expected to be knowledgeable and independently use decision
In every nurse's career, he or she will face with legal and ethical dilemmas. One of the professional competencies for nursing states that nurses should "integrate knowledge of ethical and legal aspects of health care and professional values into nursing practice". It is important to know what types of dilemmas nurses may face
Criminal Justice professionals make decisions everyday and they have to be able to recognize when an issue involves ethical considerations. Therefore, in order to recognize these issues and make appropriate and correct decisions, it is important that the criminal justice professional study ethics. In order to make a good ethical decision the professional will have to have the ability to apply knowledge of ethics, know the ethical terminology and the concepts needed in making a good ethical decision.