var googletag = googletag || {}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.pubads().disableInitialLoad(); });
device = device.default;
//this function refreshes [adhesion] ad slot every 60 second and makes prebid bid on it every 60 seconds // Set timer to refresh slot every 60 seconds function setIntervalMobile() { if (!device.mobile()) return if (adhesion) setInterval(function(){ googletag.pubads().refresh([adhesion]); }, 60000); } if(device.desktop()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } else if(device.tablet()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } else if(device.mobile()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } googletag.cmd.push(function() { // Enable lazy loading with... googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ // Fetch slots within 5 viewports. // fetchMarginPercent: 500, fetchMarginPercent: 100, // Render slots within 2 viewports. // renderMarginPercent: 200, renderMarginPercent: 100, // Double the above values on mobile, where viewports are smaller // and users tend to scroll faster. mobileScaling: 2.0 }); });
Download App | FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
 Upload Your Resume   Employers / Post Jobs 

Matthew Shawver, Legal Assistant at Hinkle Elkouri

published September 01, 2008

Published By
( 33 votes, average: 5 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.
<<Shawver left Wichita to earn a bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico with a double major in economics and political science. After graduation, he worked for a few years for the State of New Mexico but always kept the idea of going back to school to obtain a law degree in mind. Shawver recalls, ''I thought that by working in a law firm as a legal assistant I would have a better feel for whether pursuing a law degree would be a path I wanted to follow. During my interviews with law firms in Albuquerque, they all said the same thing: I needed a prior substantive law background or a legal assistant degree from an ABA accredited legal assistant program. I returned to Wichita, Kansas, and was hired as a part-time legal assistant and completed my Associate of Science degree at Wichita State University and have been working as a legal assistant for the past 22 years.''

When he first got out of school, Shawver worked for a medium-sized law firm where he says the legal assistants were encouraged to work in all practice areas in which the firm practiced. ''Accordingly,'' he says, ''I provided assistance to the attorneys who practiced in the following areas of the law: real estate transactions, corporate and transactional work, oil and gas, bankruptcy, securities, probate and estates, and litigation. I subsequently worked for the state's largest public utility in Topeka, Kansas, and for the City of Wichita Law Department.'' Shawver says that he did intern in the beginning of his career, and that the internship was a requirement of the legal assisting program where he received his Associate of Science degree. He states, ''Technically, I ‘interned' the last semester of the program at the law firm where I had been working part-time as a legal assistant for the prior six months.''


Although he doesn't currently belong to any professional organizations, Shawver says that in his early years working as a legal assistant he belonged to the local chapter of the National Association of Legal Assistants (Kansas Association of Legal Assistants), in addition to serving on a legal assistant committee at Wichita State University. Shawver says that he credits what success he's had as a legal assistant to ''those attorneys I've worked with who challenged me while at the same time being supportive and patient while I learned.'' He says that there are many benefits to the paralegal profession and that ''work is constantly challenging, both intellectually and from a time-management perspective, which I find exciting.''

Shawver works at Hinkle Elkouri Law Firm LLC, which, as he says, is the second largest law firm in Wichita, Kansas, and a large firm for a city with a population approaching 500,000. He works in the firm's estate planning/probate/real estate practice group where the majority of his work is ''primarily focused on real estate acquisitions and sales, transactional work, and trust funding work associated with estate planning.''

When asked if he has any advice for his peers in the legal field, Shawver says, ''Continually strive to learn. Keeping abreast of changes in your area of the law is imperative. Equally important is remaining technically proficient with computer software, whether it be legal, word processing, or accounting/spreadsheet programs. And remember that a proficient legal secretary is one of the most valuable assets you can have as a legal assistant. Always treat them well.''


 
Q. What do you do for fun?
A. I enjoy riding motorcycles, reading, and gardening.

Q. What CD is in your CD player right now, or what was the last song you listened to?
A. The CD currently in my player is Time Out by the Dave Brubeck quartet.

Q. What's the last magazine you read?
A. Air and Space Smithsonian.

Q. What's your favorite TV show/movie?
A. I am a fan of the Coen Brothers and especially enjoyed the movie Raising Arizona.

published September 01, 2008

( 33 votes, average: 5 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.