tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25212453051786342232012-02-15T23:45:17.337-08:00Experienced worker, fledgling entrepreneur: musings on my entrepreneurial lifeDaphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-11017461363538628322011-08-08T09:47:00.000-07:002011-08-08T09:47:57.706-07:002011-08-08T09:47:57.706-07:00

I have downsized. Oh, I don’t mean my paycheck, although for the time being while I’m getting my business going, that’s true too. (Just you wait . . . I’ll be back making the medium bucks again any time now!) No, I mean I’ve downsized in terms of the size of the offices I work with, and the size of the cases I work on. It’s still a novelty! In BigLaw in recent years, I tended to work on

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-14582128158291235662011-07-20T12:10:00.000-07:002011-07-20T12:10:43.309-07:002011-07-20T12:10:43.309-07:00

Do you want to know the thing I love most about teaching?* Well OK, the two things I love most? Well OK, maybe the three things? I love it when students ask good, thoughtful questions and participate in discussion. When they ask a question not because they suspect it’s going to be on the test, but just because they’re interested and curious - that's a terribly gratifying thing! Such as

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-43210017112638616622011-07-06T10:32:00.000-07:002011-07-06T10:32:37.666-07:002011-07-06T10:32:37.666-07:00

Oh wait . . are you kidding?!? Not for me! I’m teaching all summer long – our program doesn’t take a summer break! So me, I’ll likely be plugging along at my own office desk through the variably hot, mild or overcast summer weather of beautiful Sonoma County where I live. Vacation Snorkeling! But for much of the working western world, it’s that time when employees begin pondering escape from

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-9657351859302821862011-06-15T15:12:00.000-07:002011-06-15T15:27:36.548-07:002011-06-15T15:27:36.548-07:00

Well, there was a little flap in the legal twitterverse and blogosphere last week with what was widely perceived to be a quite ill-informed attack on paralegals over at ATL. A number of my colleagues have responded to this admirably in their own blogs here, here and here, as well as in a large number of comments to the post, and I don’t want to rehash what’s already been very well said. In fact,

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-73110212609985440192011-05-27T12:03:00.000-07:002011-05-27T12:03:41.766-07:002011-05-27T12:03:41.766-07:00

No folks, it’s not a roller coaster ride. Did you know (well, how could you know?) that I used to beg my father to take me on roller coasters when I was very young? I loved 'em; I couldn't get enough of those nail-biting, scream-enducing amusement park rides!  But I digress.No, the terror doesn't come from the standing up in front of a class of 12 and talking about Discovery. Perhaps that would

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-78359996072121459452011-05-14T12:15:00.000-07:002011-05-14T12:15:32.464-07:002011-05-14T12:15:32.464-07:00

Question: What’s the best learning work environment for a litigation paralegal? Answer: Any work environment can be an excellent learning experience – a paralegal just might learn different things in different settings. Tiny firm. In my experience, this is the place that affords a paralegal the chance to perform the most substantive tasks. This happens because there are fewer hands to do the

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-43323668130015765902011-04-29T14:22:00.000-07:002011-04-29T14:22:04.595-07:002011-04-29T14:22:04.595-07:00

OMG it's been f-o-r-e-v-e-r since I posted last, where have I been? I've been here! Pretty, eh?  Plus when I haven't been frolicking in the desert, I've been Crazy Busy. Enough of that, onward with the thoughts I've been thinking while reading Daniel Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. The farther I read in this provocative book, the more I realize that it has vast

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-75567291386663692902011-04-11T15:44:00.000-07:002011-04-11T15:44:17.172-07:002011-04-11T15:44:17.172-07:00

If it’s work then it can’t be play, and if it’s play then it can’t be work. Or can it? Think about this. Imagine a little kid who loves to draw. During play time at preschool, she draws because that’s what she loves to do. Then imagine she’s told that as a reward for drawing during play time, she’ll get a pretty blue ribbon. And for a while at school, she gets the ribbon every time she draws.

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-28447317228719409192011-04-04T18:57:00.000-07:002011-04-04T18:57:19.993-07:002011-04-04T18:57:19.993-07:00

Onward with my musings about Daniel Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. What with the little explosions that keep going off in my head, it feels like the 4th of July around here! One of the big premises of Pink’s book is that lots of biz owners believe something about employees that research shows is flat wrong. And based on that flawed belief, biz owners use means of

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-33496337185996547242011-03-24T11:13:00.000-07:002011-03-24T11:13:50.356-07:002011-03-24T11:13:50.356-07:00

Do you know what one of my amazing nephews bought me for Christmas? Daniel H. Pink’s mind-blowing book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. (The other amazing nephew bought me another wonderful book, but that’s fodder for a different future post.) I didn’t read it right way, and now that I’ve started I find it hard to put down, and it’s causing my synapses to fire overtime. So

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-37313571110079402862011-03-10T16:15:00.000-08:002011-03-10T16:15:08.200-08:002011-03-10T16:15:08.200-08:00

Yes folks, it has been a trying week here at Chez Moi, otherwise known as Sonoma Freelance. And an illuminating one, as I've had a chance to see upclose and unpleasantly personal just how well all my business data backup efforts are working! (The answer is, pretty well, fortunately!) In the middle of last week, I thought things were going along swimmingly. I was busily working and writing and

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-24765610020086591192011-02-22T09:21:00.000-08:002011-02-22T09:21:30.740-08:002011-02-22T09:21:30.740-08:00

Lee Rosen, in his insightful blog Divorce Discourse, had a couple of great posts a while back (here and here) about the importance of cultivating a culture in a law office in which everyone teaches others how to do what they do, and everyone learns what others are doing. Every employee, from partner down to receptionist, should be both teacher and student. This appeals to me on many levels:

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-51906239887752135102011-02-14T17:42:00.000-08:002011-02-15T10:48:50.964-08:002011-02-15T10:48:50.964-08:00

Paralegals work in an environment that is constantly changing and knowledge about technology innovations, new areas of opportunity, recent cases, and paralegal industry news can help paralegals stay ahead. Blogs written by experienced paralegals can be an excellent source of useful information that can help you be more effective at your job. Here are a few reasons why reading paralegal blogs can

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-89393972575984941072011-02-11T12:15:00.000-08:002011-02-11T12:15:44.463-08:002011-02-11T12:15:44.463-08:00

You know what I haven't done in a really really long time? No, taking a vacation to Italy is not what I had in mind, although that's true too! It's writing a Six Word Memoir. In fact, I haven't done one in so long, that more recent readers probably don't even know that it's one of my things. See this for the origins of this folderol eccentric exercise. I've found myself too busy this week! Too

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-35938937993782528372011-02-04T16:26:00.000-08:002011-02-04T16:26:01.588-08:002011-02-04T16:26:01.588-08:00

When I worked in BigLaw, there were plenty of opportunities to exchange ideas and commiserate with co-workers. The office was veritably pulsing with fellow paralegals, IT folks, litigation support people, legal secretaries and document clerks who were all involved somehow in the endeavor of providing excellent service to firm clients. Everyone had a role to play in getting the firm’s work done,

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-18188105669209804752011-01-27T05:04:00.000-08:002011-01-27T05:04:00.168-08:002011-01-27T05:04:00.168-08:00

No really! Quit laughing! There are things I miss about my life in BigLaw! Such as: 1.  I miss having all my MCLEs and training programs paid for by someone else. 2.  I miss having a team of staff to manage. 3.  I miss the opportunities to teach training programs. 4.  I miss the afternoon latte breaks. Note: there is no Peet's Coffee in walking distance of my home office :( 5.  I miss specific

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-61333027950239714402011-01-20T17:34:00.000-08:002011-01-20T17:34:58.343-08:002011-01-20T17:34:58.343-08:00

Running my own business requires a different mindset about time management than that which served me as a law firm employee. I have many more tasks requiring my attention, and a different set of priorities. This has necessitated a "re-think" about the organization of my time. As a paralegal in a law firm, my to-do list flowed from my case deadlines, and assignments from attorneys. After all,

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-38404915387953280912011-01-12T15:52:00.000-08:002011-01-12T15:52:20.168-08:002011-01-12T15:52:20.168-08:00

Some readers might be aware that there have been a lot of blog posts and tweets flying about the blawosphere and twitterverse recently about the wisdom of pursuing a law degree. The argument goes that law school is expensive, the resultant school loan debt is enormous, and there are no jobs! This topic has been batted about for some time now, but the most recent furor was instigated by last

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-30514440713518793162011-01-03T19:39:00.000-08:002011-01-03T19:39:35.168-08:002011-01-03T19:39:35.168-08:00

A virtual paralegal can offer huge benefits to a litigation practice, providing savings in both time and money. The purpose of this series has been to discuss those benefits, and answer some of the questions litigators have about working with a virtual or remote working paralegal. In recent posts I discussed a way to think about the title "virtual paralegal," the readily available technologies

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-90661493496140258862010-12-21T08:19:00.000-08:002010-12-21T08:19:37.331-08:002010-12-21T08:19:37.331-08:00

Can a virtual paralegal benefit a solo or small office litigation practice? Absolutely! The purpose of this series is to discuss those benefits, and answer some of the questions litigators have about working with a virtual or remote working paralegal. In recent posts I discussed a way to think about the title "virtual paralegal," the readily available technologies virtual paralegals use, and

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-57406048615237727752010-12-14T13:09:00.000-08:002010-12-14T13:09:43.856-08:002010-12-14T13:09:43.856-08:00

Can a virtual paralegal benefit a solo or small office litigation practice? Absolutely! The purpose of this series is to discuss those benefits, and answer some of the questions litigators have about working with a virtual or remote working paralegal. In recent posts I discussed a way to think about the title "virtual paralegal," and the common, readily available technologies used in working

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-71013592149075843572010-12-09T10:00:00.000-08:002010-12-09T10:00:04.431-08:002010-12-09T10:00:04.431-08:00

As noted in Part 1, many virtual paralegals encounter resistance among litigation attorneys to utilizing our services. Even though their offices might be perfectly suited to using a virtual paralegal, many litigators are most comfortable with a contractor whom they can see and hear, no matter how small their office might be. In my last post, I discussed ways in which confusion about the title

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-64767261198004538972010-12-03T12:56:00.000-08:002010-12-04T11:28:21.624-08:002010-12-04T11:28:21.624-08:00

In the legal industry, virtual paralegals are gaining ground in a number of practice areas, such as bankruptcy, corporate matters, and estate planning. However the reality encountered by many of us working virtually is that in the area of litigation many attorneys and law firms are reluctant to contemplate hiring virtual paralegals. To be sure, there are bold exceptions. For example, I work with

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-55544848439246591042010-11-23T18:27:00.000-08:002010-11-23T18:27:25.767-08:002010-11-23T18:27:25.767-08:00

With apologies to @NameTagScott, who claims he even wears a name tag to bed and whose blog I find inspiring, I hate name tags at networking events and business meetings. Let me say that I’ve always hated name tags. However my reasons were different when I was young. Back then, I hated them because I thought they weren’t “cool.” And I had a hard enough time trying to appear cool without adding

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521245305178634223.post-88903503468027855792010-11-12T12:55:00.000-08:002010-11-12T12:55:26.571-08:002010-11-12T12:55:26.571-08:00

I read an article today on Software (tweeted by @donnaseyle) called Business | 5 Reasons Law Firms Hire Virtual Legal Receptionists, by Ben Anton, which was a dead-on description of why virtual receptionists are so beneficial. It prompted these thoughts of my own. Here is my assessment of why law firms – and solo practitioners – benefit from hiring virtual paralegals. Time is at a premium in

Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07248633946963049477noreply@blogger.com2