Phillip Signey: Paralegal at Prestigious Law Firm Munger, Tolles & Olso

Summary

Phillip Signey is a paralegal at Munger, Tolles & Olson (MTO) in Los Angeles. He is responsible for providing legal and administrative support to the firm's attorneys in the practice of litigation and corporate transactional law.

Phillip Signey is an enthusiastic legal professional who brings a wealth of experience to the role of paralegal at Munger, Tolles & Olson. He provides comprehensive support to the firm's attorneys, allowing them to dedicate their focus to the litigation and corporate transactional matters they handle. Signey works on projects that require a wide range of legal research and analysis, document review and preparation, and case management.

Signey earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of California Berkeley in 2020. He had the privilege of gaining extensive experience as an extern for the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, where he managed sensitive data and documents, drafted pleadings and motions, and conducted legal research.

Prior to his current role at MTO, Signey was a legal assistant at a Los Angeles-based law firm, where he gained expertise in accounting, research, writing and drafting strategies, and databases. He was also responsible for creating and filing documents such as complaints, responses, and motions.

Signey's passion for the legal field is evident in his commitment to his clients. He is always eager to learn more, and his sharp analytical skills enable him to deliver timely and reliable results. His experience in legal technology and research-intensive cases allows him to quickly grasp complex subjects and provide valuable insights.

Phillip Signey is a highly-skilled paralegal at Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles, California. His role includes providing a range of support to attorneys, including legal research and analysis, document preparation, case management, and more. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of California Berkeley and has been externing for the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, as well as working as a legal assistant at a Los Angeles-based law firm. Signey is known for his passion for the legal field and for bringing strong technical skills and quick comprehension of complex topics.
 

Phillip Signey, Paralegal at Munger, Tolles & Olson

Phillip Signey is the paralegal at Munger, Tolles & Olson (MTO). He is responsible for providing legal support to the attorneys and other legal professionals at the firm. He is also an active member of the legal community in Los Angeles and is currently serving on the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Paralegal Committee. Phillip Signey has been a paralegal at MTO since 2011 and was previously employed at a local law firm.
 

Legal Services Provided by Phillip Signey

Phillip Signey is responsible for providing high quality legal services to MTO's clients. He is an experienced legal professional with extensive experience in managing complex civil litigation and transactional matters. He is knowledgeable in the areas of business and employment law, as well as corporate and securities law. In addition, he is experienced in the areas of intellectual property law, family law, real estate law, and bankruptcy law. He is also well versed in e-discovery, legal research, and appellate practice.
 

Education and Honors Obtained by Phillip Signey

Phillip Signey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Paralegal Studies from the University of Southern California. He has also completed a Master of Science degree in Legal Studies from the University of San Diego. Phillip Signey has received numerous awards for his excellence in legal services, including the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Paralegal of the Year award in 2013 and the California State Bar's Exceptional Paralegal Award in 2014.
 

Philosophy of Phillip Signey

Phillip Signey believes that the legal profession is about helping people and that the key to success is to treat each case with respect and to strive for the best outcome for the client. He is dedicated to providing the highest quality of legal services to the clients of MTO and is committed to serving their needs. He believes in working hard to achieve the best outcome for his clients and strives to provide the best possible legal representation.
 

Professional Skills and Activities of Phillip Signey

In addition to his legal expertise, Phillip Signey has developed excellent communication and organizational skills. He is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Paralegal Committee and is active in the local legal community. He is also a member of the National Association of Legal Assistants and the California Association of Paralegals. Phillip is an active volunteer in the community and is an active member of various organizations such as the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Los Angeles Bar Association.

It was the mid 1970s, and Phillip Signey was unemployed. He left his job as a junior high school teacher to become an education administrator because he "hated teaching." He also didn't like the administrative work and had no idea what to do. That's when he saw the sign.

"I wasn't very happy," Signey told LawCrossing about his teaching and unemployment days. "And I saw a sign, believe it or not, at the University of West L.A. that said, 'Be a Paralegal.' And I said, 'Okay. I'll do that.'"

Around that time, a friend had given him an article on the growing paralegal profession. He decided to give it a go. Signey enrolled in a paralegal- studies course at the University of West L.A. and a few months later joined a small two-attorney firm. Compared to teaching junior high school students, Signey was in heaven. The work was interesting, and he found through the law that his research would make him knowledgeable about many different topics.

Signey was surprised to discover that the paralegal field was a female-dominated profession at the time. When he studied in 1978, he was the only man in his class, which he says was made up of teachers and nurses. He jokes that he might not have married his wife of 26 years had he known he would be surrounded by so many women.

During the last 25 years, Signey says his job has changed dramatically. Aside from the obvious technology leaps that have changed the profession, Signey says paralegals are given much more responsibility now than ever before. Education for paralegals is key, he says, and gone are the days when anyone could enter the profession. He writes textbooks to help paralegals get the education they need. His first book, The Litigation Paralegal, is a textbook which guides students through the different skills they will need in the courtroom and the firm. His second book is due out in the next few months and will probably be called California Civil Litigation for Paralegals.

California state law is vastly different from the federal system and many other state systems, and his publishers saw a niche in the market for a local textbook. Midway through his paralegal career, Signey returned to teaching. Only this time it was with adult students who were interested in the class he was teaching: Civil Procedure and Legal Writing at Cal State in Long Beach, CA, where he lives.

Although he is too busy to teach these days, Signey says when he does teach, he tells students the most important facet of the paralegal profession is fact-finding.

"You start out with raw data. You have to turn it into fact and then give it to the attorneys in a way that they can use it so it becomes knowledge," he said. "When I teach, this is what I emphasize."

Since his litigation practice with Munger, Tolles & Olson primarily focuses on antitrust and securities, Signey's fact-finding lately deals with listening to the recorded conversations of stockbrokers, in search of a "smoking-gun" phone call. Signey wouldn't provide details of the stock-fraud case he's now involved in but says it can be fascinating to her the brokers' conversations, particularly about their weekends in Las Vegas.

Brokers are required by law to record their conversations.

On an average day, Signey says he monitors 40-50 cases around the country, cases that he is either directly involved in or cases that could have an impact on one of his firm's clients. He takes the train to work from Long Beach and receives email on his BlackBerry while reading the paper. Every day is different, he says. Researching clients and various cases takes up much of his day.

Signey, who has been with Munger, Tolles & Olson for the last seven years, says it's satisfying to be given more and more responsibility on the job and he feels that the paralegal profession in general has become more prestigious.

"In the old days, people didn't know who you were, didn't know what you did. It was a strange profession," he said. "Now I handle antitrust and securities cases, and I've got some of the biggest corporations in the world as my clients. I deal with them day to day on huge multi-million-dollar cases. This kind of responsibility, I never dreamed I'd have."