Paralegals in Pop Culture (Rebroadcast)

Episode Notes

Transcript

The Paralegal Voice

Paralegals in Pop Culture

09/29/2017

[Music]

Carl Morrison: Hello everyone. Welcome to The Paralegal Voice, here on Legal Talk Network. I’m Carl Morrison, a certified paralegal, devoted to law, and your newest host at The Paralegal Voice.

I’m a certified paralegal and paralegal educator and I’m devoted to not only the paralegal profession but to all legal professionals, from legal support professionals to paralegals, and to those whom we support, attorneys. I’m devoted to helping others enhance their passion and dedication for the paralegal profession through entertaining and engaging interviews.

My guest today is Lisa Stone. Lisa stone is a senior paralegal for T.D. Williamson and is an advanced certified paralegal through NALA. She has been a paralegal for nearly 22 years and currently serves as the communications officer for the Tulsa Area Paralegal Association, a NALA affiliate. She is an active member of NALA and is a member of the NALA Certifying Board.

And of course, I have known Lisa for many years during my time in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I guess, you could say, we do go back. Welcome Lisa.

Lisa Stone: Hi Carl. Thank you so much for having me.

Carl Morrison: Thank you so much for agreeing to be my guest on our first show together and first show as the new host for The Paralegal Voice.

Before we begin, we would like to thank our sponsor, Thomson Reuters Firm Central, cloud-based legal practice management that streamlines your day and automates non-billable administrative tasks so you can accomplish more with less.

And also NALA; NALA, the professional association is a professional association for paralegals providing continuing education and professional certification programs for paralegals at  HYPERLINK “http://www.nala.org/”nala.org.

NALA is a force in the promotion and advancement of the paralegal profession and has been a sponsor of The Paralegal Voice since our very first show.

We would also like to thank Boston University, offering an online certificate in Paralegal Studies. If you are seeking a professional credential or just want to further develop your skills, Boston University provides an affordable, high-quality, 14-week program. Visit  HYPERLINK “http://www.paralegalonline.bu.edu/”paralegalonline.bu.edu for more information.

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The goal of The Paralegal Voice is to discuss a wide range of topics important to the paralegal industry and share with you leading trends, significant developments and resources you will find helpful in your career and everyday job. My guests will be engaging and informational with a little bit of fun thrown in, and for that reason, I’ve invited Lisa Stone to be with me today.

Our topic today is “Paralegals in Pop Culture”. Lisa, you recently penned a blog entitled “Paralegals in Pop Culture”, which I have to say was really entertaining and I thought it was a great topic.

First, why don’t you tell the listeners about the blog itself and sort of its purpose?

Lisa Stone: Okay, well, the blog actually belongs to my local affiliated association, which is the Tulsa Area Paralegal Association or TAPA. We have about 85 members in the Tulsa area and we are celebrating our 35th anniversary this year. For many years, TAPA has put out a quarterly newsletter kind of an old-fashioned PDF document and we decided this year to move into the 21st Century and get rid of the quarterly newsletter format and go to a blog, which enables us to reach our members in real-time with information about, not only our meetings and events, but just topics of interest to paralegals and legal professionals. It also enables us to reach an audience beyond that membership.

And so, one of those features, we do some fun things including book reviews and other notable things, and so, I recently wrote a blog-post on “Paralegals in Pop Culture” because that’s one of my favorite topics, and we will have an upcoming post on podcast, so you might find that interesting.

(00:04:57)

Carl Morrison: Great. I will tell you I love following blogs, and of course, I still have to keep in contact with my friends and family back in Tulsa. And so, when I saw that the Tulsa NALA affiliate was running a blog; of course, I immediately had to subscribe to it and follow it, and I love it. I think you guys are doing a fantastic job with the blog; so kudos to you.

Lisa Stone: Great. Thank you.

Carl Morrison: So let’s talk about the most recent blog that you penned, which is the “Paralegals in Pop Culture”. I’m like you, I love pop culture, period. But I love it when I can marry my passion for the legal industry and pop culture, so when I saw this, I was like, oh my gosh, this is a great blog.

So do you think the paralegals in the paralegal profession are really fully represented in pop culture?

Lisa Stone: No, I think there can certainly be a lot more paralegals represented in pop culture. There’s plenty of lawyer characters, but there’s very few true paralegal or legal support professionals in pop culture. Paralegals are often behind the scenes, as you know, and that seems to play out in movies and television as well. We’re often in the background, if at all.

Carl Morrison: I agree with that, 100%. I don’t think we’re fully represented in any of these sources of pop culture. So should there be more depictions in any legal dramas, legal books, TV, so on and so forth, out of the paralegal profession, do you think we should be more fully depicted?

Lisa Stone: Yeah, I do. I think it would really — again, it just reinforces what we do and that we are there. We are here and the kinds of services we provide and our role that we play; yeah, it would be fun to see more paralegals out there in the movies and TV, and books.

Carl Morrison: I tend to think of us as the unsung heroes in the legal story per se because we are. We are in the background, supporting our attorneys, so yeah.

Lisa Stone: Right.

Carl Morrison: Do you think that these appearances in pop culture, help the paralegal profession or do you think it hurts it?

Lisa Stone: That’s a tricky question.

Carl Morrison: I do think it brings attention to what we do and that’s important, but the paralegals that we see; especially in movies and on television are often depicted as walking a fine line with the ethical boundaries and often crossing into what I would consider unethical territory. It makes for an interesting movie or television program, but it can — I think it can cast a negative light on our profession and the ethics that we hold so dear.

Carl Morrison: I have found as an educator especially teaching the intro level courses when students come into a program, kind of some of the things they think we can do, based on what they’re seeing in whether it be a TV show or movie based on those ethical lines that are crossed and their perception and pre-notion that, oh, wait, we can do that. Well, no, we can’t, and so, yeah, I think it is a tricky question, depending on how we’re being depicted and how it’s being presented.

Yeah, it might not be a positive light and going back to the prior question, yeah, we need more depictions of our profession, but it needs to be in a more positive light, I think.

Lisa Stone: Right. I do think and I’m sure that law schools see the same thing with young new lawyers or law school students is that what we see in the movies and TV, is that we will be a crusader for justice and use any means necessary to represent our clients or seek justice, and often those means are unethical and cross those boundaries. And those are lessons that students need to learn early on that this is real life and we can’t behave the way that they always behave on the screen.

Carl Morrison: Exactly right, and that’s where the paralegal educators come in and have to kind of do a little bit of what I call cleanup work and help educate them on the importance of ethics.

So let’s talk about the first movie that you reference, Erin Brockovich, and I will admit, I loved the movie, and I’ve known many other paralegals and attorneys who have really given a positive praise for the movie and its depiction of the individual, what I call here as a paraprofessional.

Tell me first, what’s your overall take on the movie? How did you see that role?

Lisa Stone: It’s one of my very favorites. I’ve watched it so many times, it’s one of those where if I’m just flipping channels on the weekend and it’s on cable somewhere, I always watch it. I just love it.

(00:10:01)

It is an inspiring movie, especially if you have a passion for justice for the little person or the individual going up against the behemoth of some sort. It’s the classic David versus Goliath type story.

I also had the opportunity to hear the real Erin Brockovich speak several years ago at a Women in Law Conference and she is very impressive, and she does not look like Julia Roberts either.

Carl Morrison: I am with you. I always love the story of David versus Goliath and helping the little guy out, and I am with you. I think it’s a great storyline.

Do you think Julia Roberts portrayed the role of the lawyer’s assistant accurately?

Lisa Stone: She is unlike any other lawyer’s assistant or legal support professional I have ever seen. She is quite a bit more brazen than I would be, but on the other hand, she is very assertive, she is very driven, she is tireless, she is passionate about seeking justice for these people.

I think another thing that can be taken from her depiction is that she really moved forward and took initiative in that movie when she discovered the facts of this case and the file that had been kind of stuffed down into a lot of other records and was largely being ignored by this law firm. She without waiting for someone to instruct her what to do, she just took initiative, seized it and jumped on it, began investigating it, running down information herself, and continued that throughout the case, which is a good — I mean she may have used tactics and methods I wouldn’t use by taking initiative like that, seizing on it, is always a good idea, and it can move you forward in your career.

Carl Morrison: I agree with you, 100%. That is one thing about a particular role in the movie that I also agree with you on that. She took initiative, granted. I am with you. There are some things that she did that I would not have done, but I teach students the importance of taking the initiative and not always just sitting back and waiting for the next direction from your supervising attorney. Take the initiative to go one step further and do what’s necessary to help progress the case along. Now you have to tamper that with of course the ethics in whatever the situation might be, but I think initiative is a good thing and it’s a characteristic and a skill that is important to help make you succeed as a paralegal.

Lisa Stone: Very much so. Another thing I do like about this depiction of a paralegal or an assistant compared to others, so we see in movies is there was a tremendous amount of time that Erin spent just combing through boxes and mountains of documents and records and files, and that’s rarely depicted in representations of paralegals. It’s all about the glamour of being in a courtroom or your deposition or something or a trial, but rarely do they show the real life works that we do which is often spending days, weeks, and months just looking at records, searching for that smoking gun, tracking down information. I thought that was well-depicted in this movie.

Carl Morrison: I agree with you, 100%, the fact that the movie demonstrated that, hey, it’s not always a wonderful, beautiful job per se, career. I wish I had a dollar for every time I had to go into the storage unit to dig through boxes looking for records, so.

Lisa Stone: Right, sitting in some remote little office, trapped in there for weeks on it and looking at boxes and boxes of records piled to the ceiling.

Carl Morrison: Right.

Lisa Stone: We have all done it.

Carl Morrison: Right. We have all done it. Exactly right, exactly right. So what would you say are some of the shortcomings of the movie?

Lisa Stone: Well, I think, you hone in immediately on the way. And it was depicted in the movie, at least her behavior was often, and frequently unprofessional. In addition to her choice of wardrobe, which is another issue, but her 14:31 behavior, the way she spoke to her coworkers and the abrasive tone that she took with opposing counsel. It’s fun.

(00:14:38)

Again, it’s fun and entertaining on the screen in this classic David versus Goliath battle, but it’s very unprofessional, and as we know a paralegal’s behavior represents our attorney, and even when I’m in a situation where I’ve been pushed to the limit, or maybe my firm or my company or my legal department is under attack by the other side by our opponent, I must react and respond professionally because it is a direct reflection on the attorneys that I support, and so, that’s one of the shortcomings in a way she is depicted.

And then, again, also what we’ve referenced on the floor is that she did cross the medical lines, trespassing on PG&E land, so she could get a water sample and things like that. Those are ethical lines that we shouldn’t cross.

Carl Morrison: Right, and that’s something that’s of course is depicted for entertainment purposes, but yeah, there are some things in the movie that — like I said as an educator are kind of have to do a little bit of clean up to help educate incoming paralegals.

Well, it’s time to take a short break for a word from our sponsors, Thomson Reuters Firm Central, NALA, the Paralegal Association, Boston University, and ServeNow, a nationwide network of trusted prescreened process servers. When we come back we’ll continue our discussion about paralegals in pop culture with Lisa Stone.

[Music]

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[Music]

Carl Morrison: Welcome back to The Paralegal Voice. I’m Carl Morrison. My guest today is Lisa Stone, a certified paralegal and blogger who works as a corporate paralegal in Tulsa.

Lisa, before the commercial break we were discussing some of the shortcomings in the movie ‘Erin Brockovich’ which you and I both have decided we both loved that movie, but let’s take a moment and look at truly one of the moments in the film that I call was really an embellished moment in the film, and it’s at the end of the movie when she’s in the office after the success of the case.

When the movie first came out our senior partner took us to see the movie as a group, all of us paralegals, and at the end of the movie when Erin receives that $2 million bonus check. Of course, I had to turn to my senior partner and I had to say, “Hey John, when can I see that bonus, that $2 million bonus?” And needless to say, 20-plus years later, I’m still waiting for that bonus check.

Lisa Stone: Uh-oh, yeah, me too. Yeah, I can think of a number of cases where I felt like I had put in blood, sweat and tears, and I never saw a bonus check like that at the end.

Carl Morrison: I am sure there are many of us that have not seen that bonus — that level of a bonus check, so yeah.

Lisa Stone: Right. I was so sure I will never see a bonus check like that.

Carl Morrison: But it makes for a great movie. It makes for a really great ending.

Lisa Stone: Yes, a very Hollywood ending.

Carl Morrison: Right, and of course, every semester with new paralegal students I always like to use the Erin Brockovich movie to demonstrate that it’s a great storyline, it’s a great movie. But it may not be a 100% accurate of everything that a paralegal does, and of course, I’ve discussed at some of the things, kind of borderlines on Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) in ethical situations. I mean, won’t you agree with me on that Lisa?

(00:20:17)

Lisa Stone: Yes, definitely, like I mentioned, the trespassing. I think there were probably times in the film where I felt like the counsel that she was giving to the clients bordered on its legal advice, which is definitely prohibited. So yes, there is definitely some UPL situations.

Carl Morrison: Right. And of course, this is not a documentary, so it’s not a 100%. I am sure there are things that Erin did do a 100% right and correct as a paralegal —

Lisa Stone: Right.

Carl Morrison: — and her time helping against PG&E. And one of the things, speaking of the term ‘paralegal’, they really never call her a paralegal or a legal assistant in the movie, and in fact, not once does anyone and her herself did she ever introduce herself as one. Do you think that the public really understood what her actual role was as a member of the legal team in that film?

Lisa Stone: Yeah, the public may not know what her title is and she may not have even had a title at that point in time, but I like that they depict her as very key and holding a very instrumental role in that team that she was more than just their clerical support. She was a valued investigator, she was definitely had built a rapport with the clients that no one else had, she was gathering affidavits and witness statements and reviewing and managing records, she sat with the attorneys at every hearing and court appearance. Those are all things that we do. And so, whether they used the title or not, I think she depicted well what paralegals can do and do, do on a regular basis, and that’s what our profession is about.

Carl Morrison: I agree, 100%. Okay. The second movie I want to talk to you about that you discussed in your blog is always my favorite, always, always, always and it’s ‘My Cousin Vinny’. I am a huge Marisa Tomei fan, I have to admit that. I loved her in that movie, and you state in the blog that her character Mona Lisa Vito could hardly be called a paralegal. Why do you say that?

Lisa Stone: Well, I will say I do like her. I especially like that her name is Lisa. I think that’s a good point to start with, but well, I mean, she is — first of all, she is in a romantic relationship with her attorney, which is not necessarily wrong, they are engaged and there is certainly plenty of husband-wife or partners, attorney/paralegal teams out there, but she is just very unorthodox, she is very unlike any paralegal I have ever known. I don’t even think she started off in that role, she is just with Vinny as his fiancée and his companion on this trip, this out-of-state trial, but she does step up and become his assistant in many ways.

Carl Morrison: She may not have a full paralegal education. Of course, we don’t even know what her background, education background is in the movie, which is not paramount to the story of the movie, but yeah, we don’t know really what is her true background other than that she is helping Vinny out and helping him with this particular case.

Lisa Stone: I think she does introduce herself as an out-of-work hairdresser at one point.

Carl Morrison: That’s right, that is correct, but there are many paralegals that have chosen a second career as a paralegal having done something else. So I will say that she does do a lot of things in the movie that a paralegal would do. She does help Vinny with a legal analysis, almost helping him virtually practice law in a way. Would you say that what she is doing defines her as a paralegal by default?

Lisa Stone: Yeah, I think you make some good points there. I do — I remember a scene where she is telling Vinny about disclosure of records through discovery. I don’t think they used the word “discovery”, she keeps calling it disclosure, but it’s essentially the equivalent of discovery that the prosecution has to turn over their files and their records and whatever evidentiary support they have before the court appearance. Vinny didn’t seem to understand that until she explains that.

Carl Morrison: Right.

Lisa Stone: So she is definitely — somewhere she is read up on the criminal procedure for that state, that jurisdiction. So yes, she is — that’s a lot of what we do. So she does definitely step into a paralegal role by default.

(00:25:05)

Carl Morrison: And it’s funny because a lot of times even when you go through a program, a paralegal, an actual formal paralegal program and you learn all the basics, most of what you learn is on the job. You’ve got the core knowledge but you are learning almost every day and I, 25-plus years later, still learn every day as a paralegal, so.

Lisa Stone: Right.

Carl Morrison: The other movie you referenced is John Grisham’s, ‘The Rainmaker’, another great movie. Tell us about what I call the paraprofessional character in the movie, he goes by the name of Deck Shifflet and he refers to himself as a paralawyer. What kind of message do you think the movie sends by depicting a lawyer who has never passed a Bar exam to act in a paralegal role; good, bad or otherwise?

Lisa Stone: Yeah, on the one hand I hate that it sends the message that paralegals may just be failed lawyers or people that are otherwise failures because they can’t pass the Bar exam, but on the other hand it could be a good representation, in that he has clearly given up on the Bar exam and accepted this other role instead of abandoning the law altogether, he has decided to hitch his wagon to a young lawyer and help him learn procedure and process and become a better and more experienced lawyer, which is something that we’ve all done. We started working with brand-new young lawyers who have just passed the Bar, there’s a wealth of knowledge that an experienced paralegal can share with those new lawyers because they graduate law school not knowing a lot about the actual mechanics of practicing law, the procedures and things like that.

So I guess that part of it is good, because that’s — he really does walk Rudy Baylor who is the lawyer character through how to take this case to trial.

Carl Morrison: You bring up a really good point and I am sure — I know you have done it and I have done it and many of us paralegals that have been doing it for many, many years when you work in a law firm and especially in larger law firms, the more seasoned paralegals are paired up with the entry-level associates, and what I always tell students is that an attorney is the master of the law and a paralegal is a master of the procedure, and we are there to help support our, especially the new attorneys and like how Deck Shifflet in ‘The Rainmaker’ is, he is there to help the main character, and I am blanking out on his name now.

Lisa Stone: Rudy.

Carl Morrison: Rudy, thank you. Rudy actually has to have that help with the procedure. So yeah, I agree with you. What are some of the ethical issues?

Lisa Stone: Well, I mean, when we first meet Deck Shifflet, he is sort of an ambulance chaser paralawyer. He is trolling hospital wards, watching for car accident victims who are in traction and in pain and signing them up as new clients. So there is — I think he walks a fine line with his solicitation of clients, and then later in the movie he and Rudy put on kind of a little fake scenario for their opposing counsel to trap them into some jury tampering. And so, I don’t know that they did anything completely wrong, but there is a lot of just kind of ethical gray area with the way they took that case to trial, but they were also up against — much like the Erin Brockovich movie, they were up against the Goliath and they were representing a little guy, and so it’s another Hollywood depiction of the ends — the end justifies the means in ethical behavior.

Carl Morrison: Right, and you bring up a good point about the ethical gray areas and teaching students that it’s not always 100% black and white, there are still some gray areas, but there are some very, very gray areas depicted in this movie.

So couple more questions here. There’s been numerous references in movies, in TVs, in books about paralegals in the paralegal profession, do you think all these depictions have helped our profession in general?

Lisa Stone: I look at it as all attention can be beneficial, so anytime the word “paralegal” or a depiction of someone who does what we do is in a cultural lexicon, it just brings attention to our profession, it may not be the most flattering or positive attention, but it does remind the public that we exist and that we do more than just clerical work or just answering a phone.

(00:30:06)

There are legal support professionals out there that can do a lot of helpful and useful things to support an attorney. So I do think it just puts us out there and that’s the most important thing.

Carl Morrison: And I agree. I agree 100% that anytime that we can be depicted even if it’s not in a positive light, but our profession, in general, I think it helps us overall.

Lisa Stone: Right, right.

Carl Morrison: Do you think that there are improvements to be made in the way our profession is represented?

Lisa Stone: Oh, absolutely. It will be nice to see a depiction of paralegals who are successful at what they do while staying within ethical boundaries and guidelines.

Carl Morrison: Right.

Lisa Stone: I mean, a lot of what we do would be very boring on screen. I don’t think it would sell a lot of tickets at the box office, watching us go through records, watching us sit at our computer all day. So that’s why we don’t get a lot of screen time in Hollywood, but yeah, it would be nice to see more creative depictions of the kind, and the broad and very nature of what paralegals do especially outside of litigation.

Carl Morrison: Right, I mean, although I disagree with you, I think it would make for a great movie to see an individual sort through 75 boxes of documents. I’m being fictitious here.

Lisa Stone: Well, there would be that, there would be that exciting moment with some musical montage in the background when you finally find a smoking gun in box number 78.

Carl Morrison: Right, exactly right. Okay, I got to ask you. Talking about pop culture what’s your absolute favorite movie or TV or book that depicts a paralegal character?

Lisa Stone: Well, it probably really is ‘Erin Brockovich’. I just — I absolutely love that story. I love that it’s a real true story. Like I mentioned earlier, I like that it shows that not everything she did to get to work on that case was glamorous, there was in fact little of it was glamorous. She spent countless hours sitting out in that dusty Water Resources Board office going through mountains of documents that were literally piled to the ceiling into the rafters, that’s very realistic, and then of course, you love the Hollywood ending with the justice for the victims in that case, and then — and learning about what Erin went on to do and to achieve after that case, she has a very successful career now, doing a lot of toxic tort litigation and then acting as a consultant. So I do, that’s obviously my favorite depiction of what we do. What about you, Carl, who’s your favorite?

Carl Morrison: Uh-Oh. So I’m going to have to agree with you. My favorite is Erin Brockovich. I, like you, there’s just so many different things that I love. I love her tenacity, I love her passion that she has and drive not only to support her attorney but more importantly the clients that she’s representing.

She is truly dedicated to, not only the law but to our clients; and number two, I loved how it really showed a true, like you said a representation of what we do, it’s not everything we do is glamorous, and I loved how it showed her working late into the night, her sitting up in bed with documents, working around the clock. It affects her family, her children, her boyfriend at the time, and how it truly shows that, yeah, our work when we’re really dedicated and driven we make sacrifices, and I thought it really made and depicted accurately the life of a busy litigation paralegal, having done litigation forever in a day.

I saw myself in her in many different scenarios throughout, the fact that she was able to rattle off phone numbers and addresses off the top of her head for however many hundreds of clients, I almost could do virtually the same thing. You get so intimately aware of your client and you know them inside and out more than you even know yourself, and I thought that was such a great depiction, and of course, I wish I had a dollar for every time I worked past 10:00 p.m. or on a weekend as a litigation trial attorney and I’m sure you can agree.

(00:34:56)

Lisa Stone: Oh, yes, yes. Those days are behind me now, but yes, I have had many of same experiences, yes. I have had my whole living room floor covered with stacks and stacks and stacks of documents, trying to organize thousands of pages of records, things like that.

Carl Morrison: “Years and tears”, that’s what I say, it’s “years and tears.” Okay, I got a fun question for you. So we’re talking about paralegals in pop culture, if someone wrote a book or a script of your legal life, who would you want to play you in that movie or in that book?

Lisa Stone: That’s an interesting question. Not necessarily because she looks like me or I look like her, but I always like Sandra Bullock. I think she plays a good normal middle of the road-type person, that’s just probably how I would be depicted, and I like that she can drive a bus at 60 miles an hour and keep a bomb from blowing it up.

Carl Morrison: While sorting through 500 boxes of documents, so yes.

Lisa Stone: Right, right.

Carl Morrison: Lisa, this has been great. I really had a great time with you. I think this is a great topic about paralegals and how we’re demonstrated and depicted in pop culture. If any of our listeners want to get in touch with you or if they wanted to follow the blog, how would they do that?

Lisa Stone: Well, our blog is at  HYPERLINK “http://www.tulsaparalegals.wordpress.com” tulsaparalegals.wordpress.com. You can also visit TAPA’s website which has a direct link to the blog, which is just  HYPERLINK “http://www.tulsaparalegals.org” tulsaparalegals.org.

Carl Morrison: Perfect, great. Lisa, thank you so much. It’s been great having you on the show. I really appreciate you coming here and talking about your blog and specifically this one about pop culture and paralegals, and thank you for doing this.

Lisa Stone: Well, thank you so much, Carl. I always enjoy talking about our profession, and especially in a pop culture context. I could talk about that all day long, so this has been fun.

Carl Morrison: Great, thank you. Let’s take another short break now. Don’t go away, because when I come back, I’ll have news and other paralegal tidbits to share with you.

[Music]

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Carl Morrison: Welcome back. The following are some upcoming paralegal and paralegal-related conferences worth noting, and more importantly, attending. So please note these on your calendar, and be sure, if you haven’t registered for one that you do so soon and attend.

Now 66th Annual Education and Networking Conference will be in full swing, October 4th through 6th at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in beautiful Norfolk, Virginia.

Great sessions and some fun events are lined up. Of course, I will be in attendance and I’m looking forward to networking, learning, and having a lot of fun. National Federation of Paralegal Associations is having their annual convention and policy meeting, October 12th through 15^th, in fabulous New Orleans, Louisiana, and I will tell you guys, I love New Orleans and I wish I could be there. I know they’ve got great education lined up and members and non-members alike are going to have a great time.

The American Association for Paralegal Education is having their 36th Annual National Conference, October 18th through 21st at the Sheraton Albuquerque in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Unfortunately this year will be the first time that I’m going to miss it and missing the Paralegal Educators Conference, but I know they’ve got great speakers lined up in education in store for the attendees.

And finally, we come to a new segment of the show, I’m calling ‘The Listener’s Voice’. This is an opportunity for you as a listener to send me an email with any of your questions, your career celebrations, anything related to the paralegal profession you want to share with me. I’ll read them and I’ll select those to actually read on the air, and so, if there’s a particular topic you want to hear about, or have a question that you’d like for me to answer or particularly if there’s a guest that you have a question for and I can reach back out to them and get an answer for you. Send me an email and let’s make your voice the listener’s voice known and heard. So send me an email at [email protected].

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That’s all the time we have today for The Paralegal Voice. Stay tuned for more information in upcoming podcasts for exciting paralegal trends, news, and engaging and fun interviews from leading paralegals and other leading legal professionals.

Thank you for listening to The Paralegal Voice, produced by the broadcast professionals at Legal Talk Network. If you’d like more information about today’s show, please visit  HYPERLINK “http://www.legaltalknetwork.com” legaltalknetwork.com, subscribe via Apple podcasts and RSS, and find Legal Talk Network on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn or download Legal Talk Network’s free app in Google Play and iTunes, and reminding you that I’m here to enhance your passion and dedication to the paralegal profession, and to make your paralegal voice heard.

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Outro: The views expressed by the participants of this program are their own and do not represent the views of, nor are they endorsed by Legal Talk Network, its officers, directors, employees, agents, representatives, shareholders, or subsidiaries. None of the content should be considered legal advice. As always, consult a lawyer.

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