Dress for Success Event

Because you need a professional wardrobe

Here's an interesting announcement from the Office of Student Life.

My name is Brittany Thomas, and I am the graduate assistant for student life. I am planning a Dress for Success event that will be on Tuesday, March 3^rd from 12:00pm-12:50pm. This exciting event will involve a speaker, fashion show, food, and door prizes for attendees. I am seeking four students to model clothes for the fashion show. The students will get to go shopping with me to pick out the outfits for the show, with the possibility of keeping the clothes after the event is over. I am looking for men and women of all types and sizes as variety is essential! If you are interested or would like more information, feel free to send me an email at bthomas76@ivytech.edu or stop by the Student Life office in Ivy Hall Room 1323. Thank you!

Contact Ms. Thomas if you're interested. You might at least get one good interview suit out of it!

Where Do Paralegal Jobs Come From?

 I know what you're thinking. You've looked through the want ads, through Craigslist, Monster, etc. You've wandered up and down the streets of Lafayette, plaintively checking the windows of law firms for "Help Wanted" signs. Sure, there were a few listings on Monster for paralegals. In Indianapolis. With five or more years of experience. But where are you going to get a job as a paralegal? Does anyone around here even hire paralegals?

The good news is yes! There are plenty of local opportunities for paralegals. But to find them, you need to understand a few things about how law firms are structured.

Most local law firms are on the small side. That is, they are comprised of 1-5 attorneys and support staff. There's no human resources department. So when a law firm needs a paralegal, it's not going to advertise and risk getting 200 resumes that the lawyer is going to have to wade through, or interview the 10 likeliest candidates. Time the attorney spends on the hiring process is time the attorney isn't spending earning money. Or golfing. Both of which are things he or she would much rather be doing.

So how do local attorneys hire paralegals? The attorney solicits the names of two or three highly recommended candidates from trusted sources: the current paralegal (if there is one) or other attorneys. The fact is that most job openings at small firms (and even many large ones) will come to you by word-of-mouth.

What does that mean for you? First, it means that one of the most valuable things you can gain from your time at Ivy Tech, besides a knowledge of the law and good writing skills, is a network. The faculty members here--including me--are delighted when we can introduce a promising paralegal student or alumnus to one of our fellow attorneys. We're helping you, and we're helping them. We are a great place to start building your network.

Part-time jobs and the practicum program are great ways to meet other local attorneys. The more attorneys you know (and make a good impression on, of course), the stronger your network.

But it also means that there's a lot of value in cultivating your relationships with your fellow students. As time goes by, these are the people you're going to turn to repeatedly for advice ... and for the latest word on who has a job opening (or will soon). The next time you're waiting for class to start, put down your phone and start a conversation with the person next to you. Years from now, you'll be glad you did.

Statehouse Trip Registration Extended
 The deadline for registering for the trip to the Indiana Statehouse has been extended until Monday, February 2, at noon. I look forward to seeing many of you there!

Financial Planning Workshop. And Pizza.

This Wednesday, January 28, guest speaker Mary Hayes will be giving a presentation on financial planning. The presentation is based on the book Smart Women Finish Rich, and despite the title, men are invited also. The presentation will take place at 11:30 in Ivy Hall 1120, and pizza will be provided (in case you had any doubts about how sincere she is about inviting the men). Learn something about saving, investing, etc. It all starts with a free lunch.

Bizarre Legal Story of the Day

Here's a story out of Portland, Oregon. In Portland, it appears that it is legal to ride a bicycle while naked, but not to play the violin. 

I can't make this stuff up. 

Our would-be naked violinist is bringing a civil rights suit in an effort to make sense of it all for us. Kudos. 

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/naked_man_arrested_after_playing_violin_outside_federal_courthouse_seeks_1 

Harvard--Yes, Harvard--Speaks up in Favor of Community Colleges

By now you have heard that President Obama spoke in favor of making two years of community college free to eligible students. Don't put your checkbooks away--it's not exactly a done deal. But if you're curious to hear what Harvard thinks about the topic, and to hear from at least one Harvard faculty member who got her start at her local community college, you can check out the link below. 

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/01/the-case-for-community-college/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01.23.2015%20%281%29 

The Saga of Frank the Cat

Last post of the day. As you can tell, I had a lot pent up. 

Anyway, this is a great contract case out of Cincinnati. It's got a sick cat named Frank, an attorney with the email handle fasteddie, and the Holy Grail. You gotta know I can't resist this. It turns out to be a "meeting of the minds" problem.

Who says the law isn't a good time?

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/courts/2015/01/21/sick-cat-big-bill-upset-owners-lawsuit/22119247/

Lawyer's error costs firm big bucks; Paralegal gets blamed

 I ran across this article about a $1.5 billion screw-up at a prestigious law firm, and had to share. The initial lead line that I saw said something like "Paralegal commits billion dollar mistake," and I figured I ought to take a look so I could warn you not to do the same. 

Since--as you know--paralegals are supposed to be working under the supervision of a lawyer, I was pretty curious as to how this came about. And my suspicions were correct: yes, the paralegal committed the error, but multiple lawyers failed to take any steps to oversee her work, and then threw the paralegal under the bus. Kudos to the paralegal, who had absorbed enough of the law firm atmosphere to drag "some dude from the mailroom" with her. 

The moral of the story? Yes, we all expect you to do your best work. But no one person should be single-handedly responsible for a huge case. Everyone should be checking everyone else's work, not just nodding and signing off on it. I'm not sure how many billion-dollar deals are going on in the law offices of central Indiana, but if you're on a large case, don't be afraid to ask someone--anyone--okay, not the dude in the mailroom, but anyone else--to check your work. And if they just glance at it and sign off, you might be protected from liability, but the firm won't be. If you want to go above and beyond, insist that your work get a good going-over. They just might thank you later. Or at least, not throw you under the bus.

See the full story at http://abovethelaw.com/2015/01/mayer-brown-simpson-thacher-make-epic-screwup/ 

IU Law Mock Trial Competition

It's fairly short notice, but if you've been looking for something to do this weekend, the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Bloomington is hosting a Mock Trial Competition this Saturday and Sunday, January 24-25. For more details, contact tournament co-directors Mason Fisher and Rachel Laurel at hoosiermock@gmail.com.

 

Appeals on Wheels

Ivy Tech Lafayette will once again be hosting the Indiana Court of Appeals through the court's Appeals on Wheels program. Appeals on Wheels brings the Court of Appeals to us (and sure, other places) to hear a live oral argument in our auditorium. After the oral argument, the judges will take questions from the audience. This years argument will be on Thursday, March 26, at 1:00 p.m. Members of the Paralegal Society are invited to provide hospitality to the judges and visiting attorneys and to join the judges for lunch before the argument. 

Interested in joining the Paralegal Society? Contact President Annette Wiegand at  awiegand3@ivytech.edu.

Of course, everyone is welcome to attend the oral argument!

Ivy Tech Day at the Statehouse

On February 11, 2015, Ivy Tech will transport interested students to Indianapolis to spend the day at the statehouse. While you're there, you'll have a chance to meet with your state legislators (and maybe the state supreme court, but no promises yet), as well as enjoy breakfast and lunch on Ivy Tech. Buses will leave from the Ivy Tech parking lot at 7:30 a.m. and return at about 5:00 p.m. And it's free!

What's the catch? You have to register with the Student Activities Office no later than next Thursday, January 29. How hard is that?

I hope to see you there!
 

Welcome to the Paralegal Underground!

This will be the place to look for announcements pertaining to Paralegal Studies, as well as links and other information I think you might find interesting, or--let's be honest here--that I find interesting. As fun as those all-paralegal emails were, too many of you lost them in your spam folders. And our new students tended to get left off the distribution list altogether. So here's a blog for all of us.

Confession time: I am, as many of you know, a raging technophobe, so I am really stretching myself to put this together. I will be making changes to the format and functions over time--hopefully for the better. I welcome your comments and suggestions, both about format and about what sorts of information you'd like to see up here.

For now, let's get the spring semester 2015 off to a good start!