Custer was thrilled by the honor, but struggled to explain it. Eventually, she decides it's probably because of her systematic approach to work. Custer is a big believer in systems and checklists.
"I do have a very systematic approach to my work," she said. "And I think that my system is easy to teach other paralegals. It can be easily understood for people entering the profession, and I hope experienced people will learn something too."
What's on her checklists? "You'll have to read the book," she says. The top-15 paralegals have each written a chapter in Bruno's book, and Custer's will focus on her specialty, corporate real estate law.
Custer's system is always changing because she's always learning new things from her colleagues at Glast, Phillips & Murray in Dallas and through her local and national paralegal associations.
Custer started working in the legal profession when she was 19. Newly married and expecting her first child, Custer knew she wanted a job "where I could use my mind and where I would be challenged."
Her mother-in-law was a legal secretary for a circuit judge in Dallas, and Custer went to work with her one morning.
"She showed me how to use a dictaphone and type pleadings," she said. "Then that afternoon, she took me to my first job interview, where I was hired to work as a receptionist for a legal placement agency."
She eventually became a legal secretary and did that for seven years. Then one of the attorneys she worked with decided to open his own practice and invited her to come along. The attorney, who specialized in corporate real estate, also offered to send Custer to paralegal school. She jumped at the opportunity.
"I sort of came into the profession backwards," Custer said. "But I can't emphasize enough how important a good education is. It is so important for paralegals to get the education."
Although Custer specializes in real estate, she has tried many areas of the law throughout her career. While she initially thought she would love to work in litigation, she found it too contentious and prefers transactional law. Custer said she is very detail-oriented and organized, which serves her well in transactional work.
"It gets too personal, someone has to lose. I don't really like family law either," she said. "With real estate, the buyer is happy, and the seller is happy."
When Custer's attorney in the solo practice moved back to a firm in Dallas, she joined him. The attorney mentored Custer, and they worked together for about two decades. Custer has also worked in bankruptcy, intellectual property, business, and corporate law. The diversity kept her employed when the real estate market was in a slump.
"I kept my job when others didn't because I was willing and able to do other things," she said. "No job is too small. We're there to support the attorneys. I'd stock books in the library if there was nothing else to do."
Custer urges new paralegals to specialize, but to first get as wide variety of experience so that they too can survive if their practice areas suffer.
Active in both local and national paralegal associations, Custer served on the Dallas Area Paralegal Association board of directors for six years. The associations are important to success in the profession, she said, because often you learn more from the other paralegals there than you would in your firm. Custer said she was never shy about asking paralegals from other firms for advice on different areas of law. Attorneys, she said, generally tell you what they need done, not how to do it.
"I'm never shy calling someone up and asking the best way to do something," she said. "I have my systems, but I always change them when I get good advice from other paralegals. I'm always learning something new."
