In 1985, I was a paralegal at a time when the term was not well known outside of the legal profession. My first job as a litigation lawyer for an insurance defense company. I went to school as a corporate paralegal, but I knew very little about litigation. I had to quickly learn on the job. She refused to help me, because she thought I was hired to replace her. The secretaries and young lawyers were kind enough to teach me my job. Some things I learned on my own through trial and mistake.
Over the years, I have learned how to make myself more valuable to my lawyers. I am happy to share this knowledge with other paralegals and attorneys. Here are some tips to help you:
Ask questions (at the right time)
A knowledgeable and well-trained litigation paralegal will always look for ways to improve the efficiency of case handling. It’s important to ask questions and be flexible because every case and attorney are different. Find out when the attorney is available to chat and introduce the topic tactfully. Make sure attorney Zack is well-caffeinated before you rush in with your question or idea. Don’t rush into the office at 5:30 if attorney Cindy needs to leave her office before 6 in order to pick up her children.
Critical Documents
I review documents and write chronologies or summaries to give to the attorney. I found out that an attorney can benefit from having a folder called “Important Records”, “Hot Docs”, or something like that, online. This way, when reviewing the file for the deposition, the attorney can look through the folder to see what the paralegal considered important. You may, for example, review 3,000 pages and create a chronological order. You take a page out of the hospital records that shows the plaintiff was using marijuana at the time the accident occurred. This test result is placed in the file. You can also use the following example: The plaintiff may claim to be totally disabled. However, you might find on social media that they have talked about hiking. So you print the page and place it in the file.
All hail the Chart Queen
A young lawyer showed me years ago how he managed his work. He put all of the assignments in a chart and marked off each one as they were completed. I was impressed and began keeping my own chart of assignments, including due dates, case number, directions and notes. Making charts is a great way to keep track of information and records. If you die tomorrow and have a lot of charts, someone will be able to look through your files and see what documents have been reviewed and received, and what witnesses are needed. Anyone working on a file should know where your charts are located. This way, if you’re sick and unable to come in, an admin or attorney could open the file and look at the chart and quickly see what’s happening.
Charts are useful for a variety of things.
- List of all records requested, including the provider’s contact details and payment received.
- Return the errata sheet and a list of all depositions, including contact information for the court reporter? Index completed?
- List all images in the file (x-rays MRIs CT Scans) including the type of image, date taken, and file number? What it shows?
- List of witnesses including their contact details / statement made / deposition done / affidavit completed / subpoena issued for trial?
- List of all documents sent to the expert witness, including type of document / bates numbers. Date sent.
Records and more Records
It’s important to review records as soon as they arrive in a complicated case. This will allow you to determine if any other requests for records need be made. It may take a week to scan in records that are piled up and not reviewed. You review the records and discover that you didn’t request records from three new providers. You’re then in a rush because you may not have enough time in a week to submit all of the new records. You can call the medical office and ask the clerk to fax or email the request immediately.
What do we already know?
It’s important to know the other things that have been said about a witness before taking his deposition in a complicated case. A manager, for example, is accused by the plaintiff of sexually harassing female employees. Attorneys want to know what other people have said so they can ask questions about it during the deposition of the manager. You can do this instead of having your attorney search through every deposition for any mentions of a manager harassing an employee. You can then prepare a chart or memo so that your attorney will only have to look at your memo. You should include the page and line numbers of the statement and quote the words. In a deposition, quotes are more powerful than paraphrases. You may also want to take note if the deponent answers a question slightly differently later on in the deposition.
How to handle difficult phone calls
It can be difficult to handle business calls properly. You need to know how to deal with difficult situations, especially if you’re not used to handling business calls. You can ask your attorney or look it up in your notes if necessary.
You should never assume that you understand how an attorney wants you to do something based on the way another attorney has taught you. Attorney Joe might want you to grant the opposing counsel an automatic 30-day extension for returning discovery responses. But attorney Jane could say, “NEVER do that without checking with me first!”
Ask your lawyer to schedule some time for role-playing with you. An experienced attorney will be able guide you through the tough decisions they have had to make over the years. You should, ideally, have notes or even a chart. You should be able to respond to all types of situations.
Here are some tough decisions I’ve made over the years.
- The client is crying and says they cannot pay their bills.
- Calling you, a pro se plaintiff wants to shout at you about something in the case that they dislike.
- The opposing lawyer wants to extend the deadline for answering discovery (and your attorney’s not available, and it is already past due).
- Your attorney won’t answer the phone when an opposing lawyer calls and tells them that their car will not start, they cannot make it to deposition and want to reschedule.
- The court reporter tells you that she will not be doing the deposition today, because your lawyer hasn’t reimbursed her for previous work.
- You receive a call from your mother saying that she is upset because her father has been transported to hospital by ambulance. She wants you to come and see her.
A good litigation paralegal is always looking for ways to improve organization, communication and to help bring cases to a successful conclusion. You can have a conversation with your paralegal periodically about the strategy of your case, which is usually the most interesting and fun part of litigation. Make your paralegal feel more like a member of the team, and not just as a functionalist. I enjoyed having lunch with my lawyers because we were able to discuss cases in a relaxed, collaborative manner. It’s a win for all when the paralegal and attorney work together, with clear communication.
The article Tips and Tricks for Litigation Paralegals first appeared on Attorney at Law Magazine.