Working as a paralegal was not Eva Resnicow's first career; but she said that her current position as a freelancer gives her mental stimulation, variety, and many opportunities to help those in need.
This lifetime New Yorker graduated with a bachelor's degree in French and film from Yale University, originally intending to be a writer.
"I was a freelance writer and editor and have published hundreds of articles," she said, "mostly performing arts and book reviews, in newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, the New York Observer, and the New Republic. I also worked previously as a freelance book editor."
After establishing herself in the literary world, Resnicow married and decided to become a full-time parent. It was not until her divorce in 2000 that she began considering the legal profession as a career possibility.
"After my divorce," she said, "I needed more steady work. I realized I could transfer my skills in research, writing, and editing to the legal field; but I didn't want to invest the time and money at that point in my life to going to law school."
Resnicow began doing legal research, writing, and editing on a freelance basis and completed her paralegal certificate coursework at New York University in 2002.
Even with her Ivy League background and literary experience, Resnicow said, "I had trouble breaking into the field…. Law firms seemed to want kids just out of college for entry-level positions, but I finally got a job as a proofreader at a large law firm."
Later, she was offered a paralegal position at a small business litigation and civil rights firm.
"I really enjoyed working with these incredibly smart and dedicated attorneys," she noted, "and they appreciated my intelligence and somewhat unusual skill set.
"Unfortunately, I had to leave after a little more than a year because of a family crisis that required me to be at home for the next six months."
While Resnicow attended to family matters at home, several of the attorneys in her acquaintance requested her assistance with legal research, writing, and editing. Soon, she began building her business through word of mouth as more lawyers benefited from and appreciated her skill set.
Currently, Resnicow works as a litigation paralegal with an emphasis on conducting research and writing for attorneys. She also assists attorneys with trial preparation and throughout the trial process.
"Another aspect of my work is helping individuals going through divorce," she said.
"Being unfortunately very familiar with the process myself, I had helped out some friends when they were divorcing; and they recommended me to others. With people who are represented, I help to reduce their legal fees by doing 'hand holding,' helping them to take care of 'housekeeping' matters with their estranged spouses, and drafting correspondence and papers for their attorneys' approval.
"With those who decide to pursue their cases pro se, I help them to understand the legal process and prepare documents in the proper format. I also recommend that they retain an attorney as a consultant for questions of law."
The law provides Resnicow with an assortment of stimulating intellectual challenges, and freelancing gives her work almost boundless variety.
"The most difficult challenge," she said, "is the typical freelancer's problem of workflow. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by work; and at other times, I could use more."
Still, Resnicow said that the most gratifying part of her career is "the pro bono work I do helping parents of children with special needs to negotiate the byzantine New York City special-education system and get their children the services to which they are entitled by law."
Within the legal community, she has noticed that the "critical factor" of attorneys' fees is undermining many people's ability to afford legal protection.
"It has gotten to the point where few individuals can really afford to pursue their rights under the law."
"Only businesses and the very wealthy can afford to pay $350 an hour and upwards for a lawyer. The most obvious area is contested divorce. Few people embarking on a contested divorce truly understand what they are getting themselves into as far as legal fees are concerned. Most of them end up spending far more than they had imagined, or else they run out of money and have to drop their lawyers and proceed pro se. There are various programs for the very poor to obtain free or low-cost legal representation, and the wealthy can afford it, but there is nothing for the vast majority of those in the middle."
Of her legal education, Resnicow said, "I found the paralegal course at NYU to be very helpful in exposing me to many different areas of law, and I think the certificate helps on one's resume.
For future paralegals, Resnicow recommends "getting a broad intellectual background as an undergraduate so that you learn to think and write, rather than pursuing a narrow professional goal early on.
"But nothing can replace the practical learning experience of actually being in the thick of it at a law firm. Working at a small firm gave me the opportunity to learn everything about litigation, which I don't think I would have gotten at a large law firm."
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