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The Life and Career of Natalie McKenney: Paralegal, Minneapolis, MN

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published January 22, 2007

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<<"I was actually studying criminology and law as part of my undergraduate degree," said McKenney. "I worked for a short time as a paralegal, and then I went and worked elsewhere on more of the criminology law side of it as an assistant probation officer and ended up coming back to Halleland, and after about three or four years of getting really involved in the practice and everything that's done here at the firm, I really decided that the paralegal niche was where I wanted to be, as opposed to actually being an attorney."

For McKenney, part of the lure of paralegal work was the prospect of overall case management. She revels in the challenge of managing the minutiae. Explained McKenney, "I think that's probably one of the things that—as a paralegal at this firm in particular—that paralegals are really charged with and responsible for […] that overall case management, kind of making sure nothing falls through the cracks, always being on top of deadlines, being the first one to take a crack at something, whether it's drafting discovery or routine correspondence to make sure that the ball keeps rolling so that the attorneys can be traveling or taking depositions or product inspections, so there's a lot of responsibility, but at the same time, there's also a lot of reward for the responsibility that you take on when you do your job and you do it well."


Do hard work and good connections actually equal fate? McKenney said that she was friends with a woman who worked as a receptionist at Halleland, Lewis, Nilan & Johnson, and she notified her that the partners were seeking someone to hire in the primary capacity of a document clerk—basically to be an assistant to a paralegal and be responsible for everything from routine filing to sorting through things and organizing documents with specific instructions on projects.

"So that's kind of how I got my 'in,' I suppose, was working at that initial level, and then I guess I had really good working relationships with the attorneys that I worked with through that paralegal and through that position," said McKenney. "I actually did a little stint as a legal secretary while one of the partners that I work with [had a] secretary […] out on leave, so I really got to see all aspects of litigation and litigation support from paralegal to document clerk to legal secretary, and I enjoyed it, and I've been with the same group of people ever since."

Now a tenth litigation paralegal at Halleland, Lewis, Nilan & Johnson in Minneapolis, McKenney has worked on products liability the entire time she has been with the firm. In the last four to five years, she has added labor and employment law work to her resume.

"I work for a defense litigation firm, and I work primarily in the areas of product liability, general personal injury, and employment law," she explained. "The clients that we represent are corporate defendants in cases both regionally and also nationwide. The types of cases I work on would range […] from defending sexual harassment claims to multiple deaths as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning from products. On a day-to-day basis, I am pretty actively involved in defense strategy meetings, planning throughout the litigation process up to and including attendance at trial. So [I end up] pretty much being involved in every aspect of the litigation, always with trial in mind."

On the subject of emotional highlights, McKenney shared the following story about serving as an integral part of a two-week bench trial on a sexual orientation discrimination case:

"I sat at counsel table for all two weeks, was invited to come back into the judge's chambers when he was having conversations with counsel, and I would say that it was a lot of personal sacrifice from the preparation to actually being in trial, but it was extremely rewarding. The knowing that all of your work pays off, even if it's just a personal satisfaction to know that you've done a job well-done—you've done the best job you can do. It's always great to get to trial, even if you don't win—and we're actually still awaiting a decision on that case—but that's always something that's emotionally rewarding…to be able to go through the highs and lows and at the end of it still come out of it and feel like 'gosh, I'd do it all over again.'"

It's impossible to anticipate what might happen in a day in the life of a paralegal, as was emphasized in another tale involving prop planes and a three-hour drive to inspect a bridge in Northern Minnesota:

"We had a case where there was a vehicle fire and death as a result of it related to an accident that occurred on a bridge in Northern Minnesota, right on the border of Canada," explained McKenney. "And so we had some expert engineers who had to come out and look at the design of the bridge, and we needed someone who had knowledge of the case and where we were going to go out there and attend, so I literally had to—it was a very remote place—had to get on a prop plane and fly to Minnesota [and] then rent a car and drive as fast as we could to get there because it was the only way we could get there."

"It was so remote the only way we could get in was to drive, and we had to be done in time to get the plane back the same day, so I went out there. It was pretty cold; it was the middle of winter. [I] had to take photographs, oversee the inspection, and let the expert witness know what the parts were that we were interested in taking a look at. So those sorts of things are things that I have done in the past—not as glamorous as going to trial, but [equally rewarding]."

According to McKenney, technology is one of the biggest issues facing the paralegal profession today. Said McKenney, "There've been some recent changes, actually, that I think were just approved…federal rules as far as electronic discovery. So trying to get a handle on the way everyone in business uses technology and how that's going to change our practice more than it already has in terms of the detailed discovery process and making sure that we're complying with new rules—and it's new to everyone—so trying to figure out how to wade through those waters and do it appropriately and in a way that's efficient."

She continued, "I think the other thing, too, and I think our firm Halleland does a great job of doing this, [is] recognizing the value that paralegals have as far as client service and having paralegals be an integral part of the litigation team. Our clients, I think, do a really good job of recognizing that, but I do think that sometimes some people really don't know what paralegals do. So I do think there is still that challenge out there of educating clients and even attorneys at some level [about] the value that paralegals can lend to a litigation team."

When asked if she had any advice for students who are preparing to become paralegals, McKenney responded with an admonishment not to limit yourself regarding what you think you want to do and what you might want to focus on without taking the opportunity first to explore what's out there.

"I would say that I probably never thought that I would have spent a significant portion of my time working with engineers on engineering principles and things of that nature, but I've learned so much about different business practices and things of that nature—so really just to have an open mind going into the paralegal profession about knowing that there are a lot of opportunities out there in the litigation field and actually in the legal field generally," said McKenney.

McKenney is married and is the proud mother of a two-year-old son. She is active on the parent advisory committee at his nonprofit daycare center. When she is not actively enjoying his every growing minute, she takes pleasure in traveling, leisure reading, and watching independent films.


 
WHAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT...

MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Scientists there have answered the age-old question: “Do human beings swim slower in syrup than they do in water?”

Before I tell you the answer, I'll tell you how they found it. They filled a swimming pool with a syrupy mixture and made people swim in it! Actually, they asked for volunteers.

This fascinating experiment took place at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and was headed up by Edward Cussler and competitive swimmer and student Brian Gettelfinger.

SciGuy blogger Eric Berger reported on his website that the two brave men gathered more than 300 kilograms of guar gum, an edible thickening agent found in salad dressings, ice-cream, and shampoo, and dumped it into a 25-meter swimming pool. We won't tell you what it looked like; just use your imaginations.

16 volunteers—a combination of both competitive and recreational swimmers—took turns swimming in a regular pool and in the guar syrup (yuck!). Cussler's and Gettelfinger's results were published in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Journal and stated that whatever swim strokes the volunteers used, their times differed by no more than 4%; neither swimming in water nor swimming in syrup resulted in consistently faster times.

It seems that while swimming through syrup generates more friction or drag—the stickiness factor—it also allows a swimmer to generate more force per stroke. The force and the friction cancel each other out.

So now you know...
 



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  6. The Life and Career of Natalie McKenney: Paralegal, Minneapolis, MN

published January 22, 2007

( 23 votes, average: 4.8 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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