...of raking up thousands in student loans. I must say this would have been a welcome site two years ago when I started with school at the age of 39. I could have been done and in my chosen occupation without the $30,000 in debt. 2. What did you think of the occupations O*NET suggested as matching your skills? Was the occupation you are in or preparing for among those listed? The number one suggested occupation was Chief Executive which honestly made me laugh. I have never aspired to be a C-Level Executive though I know I could do it, the pressure of those types of positions is not something I wish to introduce into my life. Number 13 (I realize they are not actually numbered) is Lawyer. I am a legal assistant working my way up to Senior Legal Assistant/ paralegal so that isn’t too far off from my goal. Being a lawyer is...
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...organizations out there for an individual to join or become affiliated with. Each would benefit every individual differently according to their education and/or work field. Houston Metropolitan Paralegal Association (HMPA) is amongst one of these organizations. The (HMPA) was founded in 1973 it was formerly the Houston Legal Assistants Association. The Houston Metropolitan Paralegal Association (“Association”) is a professional organization maintained for the benefit of its members, the legal profession and the general public. (http://houstonparalegals.org/page.asp?p=About%20Us:%20Code%20of%20Ethics. (HMPA’s) goal is to promote the professional advancement of legal assistants in Houston. Members of this organization have dues that they would pay. Being a member of this organization would have a great deal of benefits. A law firm, student studying to be a paralegal, or a legal assistant can be a member of this organization. Keywords: Houston Metropolitan Paralegal Association (HMPA), legal assistants, paralegals, CLE’s, membership, attorney, benefits, law office Houston Metropolitan Paralegal Association According to the State Bar of Texas of Directors, and the Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas, adopted a new definition for “Paralegal:” a paralegal is a person, qualified through various combinations of education, training, or work experience, who is employed or engaged by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency, or other entity in a capacity...
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...LEGAL ASSISTING (Paralegal Studies) Associate in Science Major Code 2172 P rogram Description The Legal Assisting (Paralegal Studies) Associate in Science Degree, offered at the South and North Campuses, is a program designed for students seeking a career in a lawrelated field as a paraprofessional. This program is approved by the American Bar Association (ABA). Upon successful completion of this program, a student will be able to work under the supervision of an attorney and perform many vital functions as a legal assistant (paralegal). Legal Assistants may be responsible for interviewing, investigation, research, document preparation, and other tasks. They cannot, however, engage in the actual practice of law by doing such activities as giving legal advice, setting fees, negotiating, or representing clients in court. Legal assistants work in law firms, legal departments of major corporations, government agencies (federal, state and local), real estate departments of large businesses, trust departments of banks, brokerage houses, and insurance companies. E ntrance Requirements • • HS Diploma or GED PERT The PERT test places students into preparatory level reading, writing and math courses designed to prepare them for college-level coursework. Recent ACT or SAT score may also be used for placement. For more information, see http://www.broward.edu/testing/. Students who test into college prep courses must successfully complete all of the required...
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...Paralegal – A Career of a Lifetime The paralegal field has evolved into a profession that requires preciseness and a basic degree of knowledge. According to one source, a paralegal is a professional who assists attorneys in their work. These individuals perform many different functions in law offices, although they cannot perform duties considered to be within the practice of law. (What is a paralegal / what does a paralegal do?, 2015) Paralegals have been around since the 1970’s when Attorneys realized basic file and research needed to be performed by lower salaried workers. (A short history of paralegals, 2015) By hiring paralegals it freed time for the attorneys’ to perform other duties. Paralegals have become the arms of an attorney, and...
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...My Ideal Career My ideal career lies in the law field. I have not decided on one particular law career yet because I do not yet know enough about the different types of law, but the ones that I think do sound interesting are mediation, family law, and paralegal. A paralegal can work in any area of the law. They can work in family law, criminal law, etc, and also in the mediation field. What made you interested in the law in the first place? I think mediation sounds interesting because a mediator helps people settle their disputes outside the court room in a peaceful way. Mediators need to have excellent reasoning, problem-solving, and peace-making abilities (The Princeton Review, 2012). This appeals to me because I am more of a peaceful person and do not really like conflict or arguing, though I can stand my ground if I need to. According to the Princeton Review, a good mediator is honest, neutral, encouraging, listens well, and has excellent communication skills (The Princeton Review, 2012). I have all of these skills, especially the honest part, down well. In fact, my dad is always telling me I am too honest and I could never get away with doing anything wrong when I was little because I would always give myself away. hahaha Family law is interesting because I like the idea of helping families through the hard parts of life. Family court lawyers handle divorce, guardianship, prenuptial agreements, adoptions, parental rights, custody cases, and the financial and tax...
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...Having a job and having a career means two different things to me. For the last three years I have held a job as a customer service rep. For me in this field I really don’t see much growth unless you are willing to be a very extreme and repetitive person. I have learned in the last two in a half years of being in this profession that it is not something I would continue to do. To compare what I am in school to do and what I have done over the last two in half years is a big difference. Far as the customer service field I can say that it is job security and that I have benefits but not much more. I don’t have leadership that is really driven for the best other than meeting quotas and stats. I have the repetitive and simplicity of the job and the same atmosphere. I have given my all and best to my current job and everyday grow to hate it more. For the most part the atmosphere is very open to any type of person to work in the field. There is not much that goes into screening for a customer service position. Which for me I feel makes for a not to safe environment. I have meet some great people who work at my current job but they are not happy with the overall working conditions either. The pay is not the best and not may incentives that are given to strive to be better. The opportunity for promotion is given not because of your job performance but more for if management feels that you are a good candidate or not. So for me this is not a good job or working situation for me at all...
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...This system teaches the importance of understanding one's rights. My daily contribution is evidenced by my passion for criminal justice and the understanding of my protective capacity. Being currently employed as a Family Court Paralegal (Child Support Division/Juvenile Delinquency) has prepared me for the next step of obtaining my doctorate. Daily I am collecting, retrieving, and analyzing information, drafting, filing, and serving legal documents such as discovery and motions as well as managing and organizing cases. Deciding to return back to school is never an easy decision, but I believe I can one day contribute to the future minds that wish to study criminology. I recently had a daughter and I often think about the society in which she is now a member. The other day I voted and I took my daughter along to witness our beautiful system of democracy at work. I am interested in graduate school to advance my career and to obtain the additional skills to empower a world unknown of its ability. In October of 2010, I had to honor to help the attorney I was working with in assisting her with a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) to present to the other attorneys for their quarterly training. In 2011 I was a recipient of the NYC Law Department Legal Assistant Achievement Award and Certified Commissioner of Deeds for the City of New York. • Academic Experience When I matriculated into Virginia Union University, I picked a general major of Business Administration and Management...
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...Ethics and Professional Responsibility Study Unit By Michael Wilson, Esq. Reviewed By Brian Bastyr, Esq. About the Author Michael Wilson is a freelance writer and college instructor who has had wide legal and educational experience. He graduated with his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Kentucky in 1976 and three years later received his law degree from the same school. He has been a partner in a law firm, a solo practitioner, and has done work in General and Family Mediation. He has also been a fulltime instructor in Paralegal Studies at Sullivan College, Lexington, KY, where he has taught such classes as Legal Research, Advanced Legal Writing and Appellate Practice, and Wills and Estates. He was given the “Teacher of the Year” award in 1997. Mr. Wilson has also had a number of papers published on legal topics in both scholarly and popular journals. About the Reviewer Brian Bastyr is a senior attorney editor for West Group, a legal publishing company. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law. He is currently a member of the Illinois bar, and has published a number of articles in legal journals. All terms mentioned in this text that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Use of a term in this text should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service...
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...NATIONAL FEDERATION OF PARALEGAL ASSOCIATIONS, INC. MODEL CODE OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND GUIDELINES FOR ENFORCEMENT PREAMBLE The National Federation of Paralegal Associations, Inc. ("NFPA") is a professional organization comprised of paralegal associations and individual paralegals throughout the United States and Canada. Members of NFPA have varying backgrounds, experiences, education and job responsibilities that reflect the diversity of the paralegal profession. NFPA promotes the growth, development and recognition of the paralegal profession as an integral partner in the delivery of legal services. In May 1993 NFPA adopted its Model Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility ("Model Code") to delineate the principles for ethics and conduct to which every paralegal should aspire. Many paralegal associations throughout the United States have endorsed the concept and content of NFPA's Model Code through the adoption of their own ethical codes. In doing so, paralegals have confirmed the profession's commitment to increase the quality and efficiency of legal services, as well as recognized its responsibilities to the public, the legal community, and colleagues. Paralegals have recognized, and will continue to recognize, that the profession must continue to evolve to enhance their roles in the delivery of legal services. With increased levels of responsibility comes the need to define and enforce mandatory rules of professional ...
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...Name: Arundhati Sarkar Course: Introduction to Ethics Professor: Avani Sabade Date of Submission: 9th February, 2016 1. Ed, Erin's supervisor permits her to explore and investigate the case. By doing this, not just does the legal advisor open himself up to a more noteworthy probability for blunder, yet he likewise conceivably permits himself to be subjected to expert behavior infringement through the demonstrations of his workers. From a Teleological viewpoint, the results were moral as the result was effective as profited the reason as it were. 2. Erin shares in some oppressive or threatening conduct while in her office. She routinely spooks the legitimate aide at the law office. She additionally utilizes some foul dialect and yelling, which made somewhat of a threatening situation at work. According to the Deontological viewpoint, this conduct of Erin is not dishonest as her hardheaded conduct is her unimportant identity as she needs her way through and does not need any issues while she works. Her aim is not to make issues, rather to simply complete her work. Be that as it may, from an Utilitarian point of view her conduct is untrustworthy as it makes superfluous inconvenience and a threatening and beset conduct at work. 3. Erin's clothing standard and clothing is improper as per the convention of her workplace. According to the Deontological point of view, her method for dressing is not unscrupulous since her aim is not to over-appear or make anyone "uncomfortable"...
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...the LSAT that I plan on taking this December in hopes of meeting the deadlines to apply at my selected law schools of Stetson, Barry, and FAMU. Ideally, I would like to get into either Stetson or Barry more, but given that I'm a single father, the FAMU part-time program they have instituted would cater to my needs much better, but the downside of utilizing that program would add an additional year in completing the course of study. As far as my professional career is concerned, I currently work as a server at Bahama Breeze, a Darden owned concept that does offer room to advance, but I plan to only work there when necessary. To help in assisting in gaining some experience in the legal field, I see myself working in a law firm putting my paralegal degree to some use. The fields of law that interest me the most are personal injury, worker's compensation, medical malpractice, and property and estate. My hope is to...
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...Erin Brockovich The movie Erin Brockovich is based on a true story of a heroic paralegal, who uncovers that a California utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, polluted the groundwater around Hinkley, California. Pacific Gas and Electric Company used Hexavalent Chromium to control corrosion in their cooling tower. The wastewater dissolves the Hexavalent Chromium from the cooling towers and then discharges to unlined ponds at the site. This wastewater went into the soil and contaminated the groundwater. As the story unfolds, Erin is using a direct approach with her appearance, dedication, kindness and hard work to unveil a massive water contamination cover-up. Also, there are a few ethical issues arising in this movie about her appearance and the approach that she is choosing to find the truth. She is convincing her attorney Mr. Masory to take the risk and fight against the big corporation. She utilizes her sexuality at the water board to achieve her target. On the other hand, a professionally qualified paralegal would have represented her firm in her manner and appearance. Other than that, in order to obtain the same information’s and documents, a professional paralegal would have sent a subpoena through her law firm. The families who lived in that area had no suspicion that their illnesses were the result of the water contamination. Erin became a paralegal by forcing her way to Mr. Masory’s office to extort a job from him. In order to get a job at Mr....
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...My Ideal Career: Becoming a Lawyer John Shand LS100 Kaplan University Professor Anderson January 6, 2014 My Ideal Career: Becoming a Lawyer My career goal has recently changed to becoming a lawyer. I’m mainly aiming for criminal lawyer and eventually have my own law firm. What makes becoming a lawyer so attractive to me is simply the fact that I can make a difference in someone’s life or simply make someone feel safer by knowing their assailant is behind bars. There are two important factors that got me interested in law the first was when I joined the Marine Corps, was fascinated by military law and I wanted to joined in that field. I didn’t get that job but I was still able to learn part of the legal system. The second factor that pushed and inspired me more to be a lawyer was after a family member was taken advantage of when I was sixteen, I realized that I wanted to make sure that no one has any chance to put anyone through what they went through or at least do my best to prevent it. I’d like to start at a small firm on an internship once I have my bachelor’s degree so I can gain experience and more knowledge as well as get comfortable with the work environment. While working at the small firm I’ll continue my schooling to get my master’s degree. While going to school to obtain my master’s degree, I will be gaining more knowledge and experience from my job. I hope to move up in the firm and slowly branch to a bigger firm once I have enough experience. In the...
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...applicable, the area of specialization. One of the jobs I would like to obtain would be a family law paralegal. Family law paralegals typically work for private firms or government agencies that deal with domestic relationships, such as marriage, children, and parents. Family law encompasses such matters as prenuptial agreements, same sex domestic partnership, divorce, adoption, establishing paternity, child custody, child welfare and domestic violence. The second job title would be Real Estate paralegal. Real estate paralegals work alongside lawyers, helping with any preparation regarding property sales. Real estate paralegals are responsible for preparing documentation necessary to any case, including real estate purchases or sale closings. This may also include reviewing amendments, leases, subleases or purchase assignments. It is important for paralegals in this specialty area to be able to accurately work on items such as title insurance and tax bills. In addition to working with lawyers, real estate paralegals may also coordinate with landlords, housing managers or other real estate personnel. 2.List the skills needed for the job, taken both from the job description and your own analysis of the job. Be sure to list at least five skills, three of which are specific skills in the legal profession. The skills needed to work within Family and Real Estate start off with a Paralegal basic background which includes an associates or certificate. Certain electives are to work directly...
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...Profile Process on Zara Aquino {NAME OMMITTED} Devry University Profile Process Piece on Zara Aquino I. Defining Topic, Angle. Purpose A. A profile of Zara Aquino, a paralegal who specializes in real estate and lives in my neighborhood, is my topic. B. Aquino began her path to becoming a paralegal 15 years ago. She started as a regular secretary at a law firm. She then received her bachelor’s degree in law, and moved up to legal secretary. After a couple of years of on-the-job training, she then became a paralegal. My unique angle is that I will be writing about someone who started at low position in her field and then moved up. C. The purpose of this piece is to describe how Aquino earned her position and what it took to get her there. I want the readers to know that it takes hard work and dedication to advance in your career. Some readers might think that if they schmooze the boss, it’ll get them somewhere. Others just try to wish upon a star for the promotion they were vying for. My goal is for the readers to aspire to push their limits and find a way to advance in their career. They have to feel that everyone gets what they want when they work for it. II. Reader Profile Background: Hollywood, Florida is a unique city within itself. It's no South Beach, but it is tolerable. Most are areas within the city range from good to okay to bad. Hollywood houses many people and their cultures. The city has a life within its residents, who...
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