Carolina Paralegal News Paralegal news for North and South Carolina

By Sylvia Hsieh, Dolan Media Newswires BOSTON, MA — Some law firm marketing gurus are going gaga over Google+, the latest social media platform. Though it’s only been out for about four months, Google+ is already generating a heated debate ...

Tagged with: Google+

By Dan Bobinski, Dolan Media Newswires BOISE, ID — The manner in which Yahoo recently fired its CEO Carol Bartz was totally inappropriate. I know things are changing in how businesses operate, but I don’t think we’re at the point ...

Tagged with: Is there a better way to fire someone? You bet there is

By Pat Murphy, Dolan Media Newswires BOSTON, MA — An American Bar Association ethics panel has proposed rule changes that would make it easier for lawyers to engage in cross-border practice, while making clear that one’s “virtual presence” in another ...

Tagged with: ABA

More than a dozen State Bar of Wisconsin members are seeking permission from the state’s highest court to earn Continuing Legal Education credit for teaching a legal specialty course in a paralegal program. Attorney Richard Opie, coordinator of the paralegal program at Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wis., filed a rules petition on July 28 to amend Supreme Court Rule 31.05(3) to expand the authority of the Board of Bar Examiners to award CLE credit.

Looking to hire a paralegal or legal support staffer? Find the ideal candidate while avoiding pitfalls by following these interviewing tips from recruiting experts:

ST. LOUIS, MO — As the lead smelter’s gray smokestack towers above her, Brenda Browning walks toward a grassy hollow next to the low-slung Herculaneum City Hall building. A paved driveway leads to nowhere. Two white clothesline posts stand absently nearby. This used to be her home. Now, like the plaintiffs who achieved a stunning court victory against the corporations running the smelter, she lives someplace else, her lead-tainted home abandoned and eventually razed.

For young children whose families are tied up in court hearings, sometimes nothing is more comforting than playing with other kids or crawling into a small, safe space. In the Multnomah County Courthouse, in downtown Portland, children who may otherwise have to attend hearings can find respite in a former jury room that the Multnomah Bar Association converted into a free, drop-in child care center run by Volunteers of America.

Paralegal positions, while less lucrative than starting associate jobs, are becoming an attractive option for unemployed lawyers looking for work. “I would say for every five resumes we receive today for paralegal positions, two are from either recent law school graduates or experienced attorneys,” said Mary Arnberg, chief human resources officer at Milwaukee-based Quarles & Brady LLP.

Faced with what increasingly is becoming an issue for bar associations across the country, the state Supreme Court has determined that a Texas paralegal services company was engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in Rhode Island. The Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee conducted an investigation into Low Cost Paralegal Services and its operator, Dominique M. Salazar, after the defendants used Internet advertising to target Rhode Islanders for legal services.

Corporate litigation is often inevitable, but preparation for that inevitability is controllable. Why, then, during a meeting involving corporate litigation are the legal and IT teams introducing themselves across the table? The truth is that successful companies have embraced the brotherly bond that IT and legal departments share in this age of technology. IT and legal teams should be talking every day. It’s crucial to avoiding document retention problems, e-mail archiving and a host of other complex issues that are crucial to managing discovery.

By Jane Pribek [email protected] Go ahead – get rid of that inclined leather chair. Sure, it looks cool. But it’s an instrument of torture for your back, if you regularly spend time using a computer. So says Patricia Seeley, a ...

By Tony Ogden, Dolan Media Newswires Thanks to a new iPad app, lawyers and paralegals can now safely bring all their client information with them wherever they go. iClient for Attorneys is the latest addition to the iPad-equipped practitioner’s repertoire.  ...