Carolina Paralegal News Paralegal news for North and South Carolina

Although the vast majority of paralegals work with attorneys and assist in a particular law practice, a few eschew the traditional job description and start their own business.

Using one password for everything is a recipe for a security disaster, especially for lawyers and their particular confidentiality concerns. But keeping track of different passwords for every website isn’t easy.

Sensational cases continue to make headlines, but the number of medical malpractice lawsuits is dropping. Better forensic sciences and the legal might of combined practice groups are among the factors limiting new cases, according to plaintiff attorneys and doctor defenders.

Tagged with: medical malpractice

Stephanie Crosby grew up in Pensacola, Fla., and has lived in North Carolina for the past two decades. She has been a paralegal at Ward and Smith, P.A., in New Bern for almost the same length of time. For the last nine years, she has served as the paralegal coordinator for the firm’s business section and, as of January of this year, she also became the paralegal coordinator for the intellectual property section.

Camilla Pitman has served as the city clerk of the City of Greenville, S.C. since 2007. She has been a city employee since 1995 and previously served as legal office coordinator for the city attorney’s office and as clerk of court for Greenville Municipal Court.

The American Bar Association’s 2010 Legal Technology Survey reported that 56 percent of respondents use social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, LawLink or Legal OnRamp, as compared to only 15 percent in the 2008 survey. As the number of attorneys using social media has more than tripled in the past two years, now is the time for you to join the conversation.

Tagged with: Social meda social media policy

Read the July 2012 issue of Carolina Paralegal news, including news on mastering office politics, workplace Twitter skills, and paralegal entrepreneurs.

If you read our column in January, you’ll know that we believe there is no such thing as a balanced life. We’ve tried. God knows we’ve tried every trick we know to achieve a state of balance in both of our lives. After so many years, we have figured out that it isn’t going to happen! Instead, we have learned to accept this unbalanced life we all have and find ways to live it well.

Fortunately for iPad-toting lawyers, there are a number of great resources available to help you learn how to make the most of the iPad in your law practice.

Roshel Tuska, a Wisconsin native, moved to South Carolina in 2010. She earned her associate degree in the paralegal program at Milwaukee Area Technical College in 2000 and earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2007. Tuska has worked as a paralegal for the past 12 years in medical malpractice, workers’ compensation and insurance defense. Since coming to South Carolina, she has been a senior paralegal in civil litigation for Collins & Lacy. She currently serves as secretary of the Palmetto Paralegal Association.

Barbara Galerno Spearman earned her paralegal certificate in 1995 and has been employed as a senior paralegal in civil litigation in the Greenville office of Collins & Lacy since 2008. She has twice been named Paralegal of the Year by the South Carolina Upstate Paralegal Association and currently serves as its president. A native of Florida, Spearman moved to South Carolina in 1977.

Katie Bricco assembled an unusual jury for her trial advocacy course at Marquette University Law School last year. A four-year member of the Milwaukee-based Brewcity Bruisers professional women’s roller derby league, Bricco invited her Maiden Milwaukee teammates to enter the jury box for her mock trial presentation.

Read the May 2012 issue of Carolina Paralegal news, including news on achieving job security, connecting on LinkedIn, and creating an efficient (and attractive) work space.

Paralegals who move into supervisory positions find they need a much different set of skills once they become the boss

It’s still too early to predict exactly what the big news will be in 2012, but it’s a safe bet that the following 12 topics will be on everyone’s radar.

Tagged with: Facebook HIPAA IP Social media