Family Law Legal Staff: What to Know About Working in a Personal Field Clients often seek the help of a firm during a time of emotional upheaval, and that is most apparent in the field of family law. Encompassing divorce and custody issues, paternity and support actions, adoption law, and pre-marital and marital legal issues, family law offers legal staff a uniquely personal way to help and interact with clients. (97 views)
How to Become a Lobbyist: A Guide to a Successful Career You don't need a law degree to become a lobbyist, but that has not stopped a number of lawyers from entering the lobbyist playing field. And though a law degree is an added advantage, it's hands-on experience and who you know that count. (9253 views)
How to Achieve Your Goals as an Attorney: No-Nonsense Advice From Deborah Schneider Too often, people commit to law school without the foggiest notion of what it means to be an attorney, said Deborah Schneider, co-author of Should You Really Be a Lawyer?(Decision Books, 2004) (74 views)
Nicole Kreidler Paralegal: A Profile of the Gerlach Beaumier Law Firm in Duluth, MN Ever since a high school class in civil and criminal law, Nicole Kreidler wanted to enter the legal profession. LawCrossing speaks with the general practice paralegal about the advantages of a small firm and her volunteering spirit. (131 views)
How LRAPs Can Help You Pursue a Career in Public Interest Law More law school graduates are able to pursue careers in public service than ever before because of loan repayment assistance programs (LRAPs) at more than 50 law schools. The programs help students manage educational debts that can exceed $100,000 in exchange for pubic interest jobs. (136 views)
How Pro Paralegal Alicia Ashley Achieved World Champion Status Through Dedication Alicia ''Slick'' Ashley is a world-champion paralegal. By day, she works on corporate litigation cases at Sullivan & Cromwell in Manhattan. Last month, she knocked out Elena ''Baby Doll'' Reid in front of more than 1,000 people at Harrah's Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, NV. LawCrossing talks with the pugilist paralegal about juggling her two careers. (92 views)
Remember that Counselor is Another Word for Lawyer: Get to Know Melinda Sarafa As a white-collar crime litigator and a former public defender, Melinda Sarafa has represented clients ranging from low-income immigrants to a Miami nightclub owner suspected of organized crime activity. While the stakes in such cases might be vastly different, Sarafa, a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder in New York, says attorneys must never forget their ultimate roles as... (356 views)
Resolving a Legal Dispute: How to Deal With an Indignant Father - A Guide for Attorneys The case of Angry Father v. Fed-Up Principal , now pending in the U.S. 7th Circuit, never will be ranked among the great cases of the 21st century. Even so, it provides a nice little case study for a course in Human Nature 101. (14 views)
Nidia Moscotte, Professional Litigation Paralegal at Baum Hedlund Law in Los Angeles As a litigation paralegal for plaintiffs' firm Baum Hedlund, Nidia Moscotte often meets her clients at their worst. Most have either been injured or lost a loved one in an accident. It's the extreme emotion of the job that Moscotte loves. When people come to you in pain after losing a loved one, she said, they become more than a client. They become part of your life. (99 views)
Paralegal Peter Nater Celebrates Grammy Award Win - An Inspirational Profile We all like to trumpet our successes, but when Peter Nater came to work at the New York City Law Department on a recent Monday morning and told his colleagues he had won a Grammy over the weekend, many presumed he was delusional. (418 views)
Lee A Paige, CLA: Senior Legal Assistant at Morrison Foerster LLP in San Francisco, CA For many, becoming a paralegal is a second career. While other areas of the economy stagnate, the paralegal profession has been booming over the last few decades, attracting hordes of professionals looking for a second career. LawCrossing talks with star paralegal Lee A. Paige about the challenges of retraining yourself and the importance of getting an education—well... (633 views)
ASU Center Bridging the Gap Between Science and Law - A Comprehensive Look The Center for Study of Law, Science, and Technology at The College of Law at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, takes law and brings it together with health care, biotechnology, intellectual property, environmental science, and several other disciplines in certificate programs, courses, and conferences. The center, in its 20th year, covers so much ground that... (19 views)
Part 2: An Inside Look at the Requirements & Responsibilities of Becoming a Law Professor While many begin law school with the goal of becoming a law professor, for others, the path to a career in academia is not always a straight line. For Mike Madison, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, an interest in teaching came years after he graduated from law school. (7276 views)
Mary Burns, Executive Legal Assistant for the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club and NALS President: A Profile Hey sports fans, how about a legal career with a ball club? Most ball clubs—baseball, basketball, football—have in-house counsel these days. LawCrossing speaks with Mary Burns about the business of sports and sports law. (643 views)
Discover International Law Through Whittier Law's Center and Certificate Program Doing a wide range of work within a chosen field and seeing many sides of an issue is very important, says Rachel Stevens, a second-year law student at Whittier Law School, Costa Mesa, CA. ''Only then can you have an educated opinion on what you believe,'' she says. (78 views)
Whittier Law School's International Programs Grow in Popularity with New Center The Center for International and Comparative Law (CICL) at Whittier Law School, Costa Mesa, CA, has not only introduced new international programs to the law school but also has created a home for those already in progress. (25 views)
Concord Law School: Get an Online Law Degree from Anywhere Through the Internet, you can shop online, pay your bills, and chat live with a friend in Bulgaria, all without leaving the comfort of your home. So why not earn a law degree online? In 1998, Kaplan, Inc., the titan of school-preparation testing, pioneered the concept by establishing the nation's first online law school. A legal education is now just a few clicks away. (663 views)
Pioneering Paralegal Shelley Widoff on Lower Standards for Paralegals | Founder of the Boston Paralegal Resource Center Fiercely independent and proud of the paralegal profession, Shelley Widoff is worried that it's too easy to become a paralegal these days and that the reputation of the profession is eroding as a result. (355 views)
Notre Dame Moot Court Competitors Carry Skills Into Chosen Legal Fields: How to Become a Lawyer 101 Jeremy Moseley and his moot court team partner represented Notre Dame at the National Moot Court Championships run by the American College of Trial Attorneys and held in New York this past February. They did not win. (They lost in the first round.) ''We did not do as well as we wanted,'' says Moseley. (122 views)
Corporate Lawyer Michael J. Mais Provides Insight on Being a Municipal Attorney | LawCrossing On any given day, Long Beach (CA) Assistant City Attorney Michael J. Mais might find himself advising the Airport Advisory Commission on open meetings law, explaining an intricate zoning regulation to city council members, or interviewing applicants for a summer internship position. (69 views)
Yale Law Students Take on Human Rights Issues - Focusing on Individuals, Communities and the International Scene Because human rights law often moves beyond the law into the realms of philosophy and politics, it is only fitting that the students working in Yale Law School's human rights clinic have vocations that include the law—but are not restricted to law alone. (290 views)
Lois Boyd: Founding Member of Fenwick West and LAMA, Past President of LAMA Thinking of becoming a Chief Administrative Officer at a law firm? Ever wondered how one becomes a CAO? LawCrossing speaks with Lois Boyd about her serendipitous career path from paralegal to top administrator at a high-tech, Silicon Valley firm. (497 views)
"The Struggle to Find a Place for Moses in the Legal Profession" - How to Become a Successful Lawyer Despite Overcrowding Is there any room for Moses in an American courthouse? Or must the old lawgiver of Exodus 20 be forever banished into outer darkness? (23 views)
Strategies to Streamline Your Personal Finances and Avoid Tedious Drudgery There's so much unpleasantness involved in keeping financial house — receipts that multiply like bunnies, the incessant parade of bills, ever-changing tax laws, retirement account acronyms, and a forest's worth of ''consumer agreements'' that become obsolete before trash pickup. I'm not sure which is more stressful: Trying to make smart money decisions or getting through... (4 views)
Teveia Barnes: From President of Lawyers For One America to Driving Legal Action on Social Justice Issues Remember ''One America,'' Bill Clinton's initiative to promote discussion about race relations in the United States? Then President Clinton reached out to the legal profession to encourage attorneys to do more pro bono work and promote diversity in law firms. LawCrossing speaks with Teveia Barnes, a woman who revived Lawyers For One America, even after the ''One America''... (289 views)
Nick De Dishman: Paralegal at Schroeder Law Offices and Director of Operations for Western Water Fight in Portland, OR While world attention focuses on various battles for oil, people have been fighting over water for decades, and fights for water rights are likely to increase as demand for the precious commodity increases. LawCrossing speaks to De Dishman, a paralegal who works on water rights and acts as Secretary and Director of Operations for the National Federation of Paralegal... (93 views)
Gain Legal Insight: How Court TV Can Benefit Law Students Nowadays celebrity news equals interesting news. Add to that celebrities on trial and on TV, and you have started an obsession. If you disagree, just consider the Investigation Channel, more popularly known as ''Court TV,'' which has become a top-rated giant among cable stations. Viewed in almost 80 million homes, the channel broadcasts trial coverage of some of the most... (2022 views)
Plato Cacheris Joins New Law Firm: What to Know About the Legendary Lawyer's Move in 2021 For more than four decades, Plato Cacheris has been involved in some of the most high-profile cases of our time, from Watergate to Monicagate. LawCrossing speaks to the legendary attorney about his life at the bar, his new firm, and the dramatic changes he has seen in the legal profession. (1683 views)
How To Reduce Billable Hours & Increase Profitability For Law Firms Back in the late 80s, Stephanie Morris graduated from law school, clerked for a federal judge, and then started practicing as an associate in a reasonably sized, big city law firm. ''It was mandatory that every associate bill 1,800 hours a year,'' she remembers. She labored in the firm, before a trip to the doctor confirmed her belief that her work environment ''was crazy... (611 views)
Should You Consider a Career in the Military JAG Corps? - A Guide to Military JAG Life If you've seen the TV series ''JAG'' or the movie ''A Few Good Men,'' you have some familiarity with the Judge Advocate General's Corps. The acronym is used to describe a practicing lawyer in any one of the armed services, more properly called judge advocates. (7790 views)