Personal injury law encompasses a number of tort suits, including medical malpractice, products and strict liability, class-action suits, accidents, and negligence cases. Paralegals and legal assistants in this exciting field help clients on both sides of the "v." through settlement negotiations and the litigation process. "I work on an average of four or five different cases per day," Hrouda said. Focusing mainly on products liability suits, Hrouda conducts online research about manufacturers and obtains medical records, police reports, and autopsy reports. In addition, he also serves as his firm's IT support person. "Mainly, my job is making sure that everything gets done on time," says Jessica Swedenhjelm, a litigation paralegal focusing on asbestos cases and a member of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Paralegal Association. "I do a lot of summaries of medical records and ordering them, as well as making sure that depositions and motions [are properly filed]."
One of the greatest challenges of the job is wading through the plethora of legal documents, or what Hrouda calls a "document dump," such as "when you're going up against a large company and they snowball you with documents and you're trying to muddle your way through," Hrouda explained. "Often, there are so many defendants involved, and all rely on the same experts," agreed Swedenhjelm. "You have to keep track of who's involved and who you have to get what information from." For legal staff in the field, it's essential to understand the scope and timeline of litigation. "You take a case from beginning to end," said Hrouda, noting the importance of familiarity with the litigation process. "Organizational skills are also important; you have to be able to stop and then pick up from where you left off," Swedenhjelm explained.
Personal injury paralegals and legal assistants must also polish their people skills. "You're constantly talking to people," said Hrouda. "With clients, sometimes [the paralegal is] easier to get a hold of than the attorneys." In fact, client interaction is such an integral part of the job that paralegals are often asked questions they can't legally answer and must "watch the fine line when clients start asking for legal advice," Hrouda warned. Furthermore, "there's a lot of interaction with other firms," said Swedenhjelm, "and it's always good to have one good contact at every firm that you can rely on." This is one area where paralegals are often in charge of legal and factual research, so knowing where and how to find information is important. And the job doesn't end with tort law: according to Hrouda, it's not uncommon for a case to touch on laws from different states or different fields. Hrouda recalls one instance where he had to research issues in family law while dealing with the estate of an emancipated minor, for example.
So what is the future of personal injury law? Many states have newly instituted or proposed measures for tort reform that may drastically change the profession in the coming years. Still, for now, personal injury is one of the most vital and thriving areas in tort law.
What about some of those well-known negative comments associated with the job? "I do get some negative connotations with ambulance chasing and advertising," chuckled Hrouda, "but I work for an extremely reputable firm. If you portray yourself right and handle yourself as a professional, then you're going to be treated professionally."
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