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The Researching Paralegal

Monthly Archives: August 2016

Need to Turn Your iPad Into Second Monitor? There’s an App for That.

22 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Technology, Time Management, Windows

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

LawSites Blog, Legal Technology, Robert Ambrogi

This App Turns Your iPad Into a Second Monitor, by Robert Ambrogi, LawSites Blog

http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2016/08/app-turns-ipad-second-monitor.html

When you start using two monitors, many of us are hooked. My favorite feature is the ability to drag documents and websites back and forth. Imagine having a spreadsheet or other document open on one screen, and the document or source of the information you need on the other screen. If you need to keep an eye on email or your docketing calendar, you can keep it up on one screen and work using the other. (If you do not have a second monitor, you can access your other open windows using Alt-Tab.)

I can understand why Mr. Ambrogi is excited about this app. -CCE

I am so dependent on a second monitor that I no longer feel productive without one. That can be a problem when I am away from my office. It is especially a problem when I travel and am hunkered down in a hotel room with important work to get done.

Then I discovered Duet Display, the app that turns your iPad into a monitor.

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Written Discovery Basics.

20 Saturday Aug 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Discovery, E-Discovery, Interrogatories, Legal Writing, Requests for Admissions, Requests for Production

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Definitions and Instructions, Discovery, Legal Writing, Motion to Compel, Objections

I admit it. I love writing and answering discovery. Too often, I have seen boilerplate discovery asking for something that is not relevant. What a waste. Do not write discovery if you know nothing about the case. Blindly sending boilerplate discovery at best makes you look busy. At worst, it makes you look sloppy.

Discovery rules change. Read and re-read the court rules, local court rules, and the applicable discovery code. At the outset of the case, send your client and the opposing party a litigation hold letter. It does not matter whether either is an individual or a big corporation. Everyone uses email and sends texts on their cell phones.

Before you start writing discovery, you have to be familiar with the facts and law of your client’s case. If you aren’t, read the pleadings. Understand why the plaintiff sued the defendant(s) and what answer the defendant gave to those allegations, including all affirmative defenses. If it helps, make a chart or an outline.

There is a basic way to determine what discovery you should request. First, make a list of what you need to prove your case. We’ll call this List #1. Second, ask yourself whether you have everything needed to prove (or defend) everything on List #1? You won’t. So, third, make a list of what you need – List #2. Your client will provide some of the evidence you need, and you will use discovery to continue your search. Revise List #2 to identify what you need but do not have.

With List #2 as your guide, use discovery to get whatever else you need to prove your case. Each type of discovery is unique. Play to their strengths, which is a post all by itself. Craft your discovery to snag that evidence and identify anyone who is a potential witness and/or document custodian.

A quick word about Definitions and Instructions. Please do not regurgitate the discovery rules. I admit that I do not follow my own advice. I like to remind opposing counsel (and the opposing party) that there is a continuing obligation to supplement discovery. In the hopes that it will save time and aggravation, I also like to add the specific language from the discovery code about when you can object and why.

Define only what is necessary. If there is room for confusion, clarify what is what and who is whom. If the case revolves around specific documents, such as a contract or an event, define it with a simple designation. Your goal is instant recognition of whatever it is. If there are more than one contract or event, make your definitions basic and easy to recognize.

As soon as you receive the responses to your discovery, mark every incomplete answer or objection. Ask for supplementation where needed, and follow up. If an objection is ridiculous or simply obstructive, challenge it while at the same time building exhibits to support a motion to compel (read the rules!). Do not wait until the discovery deadline is looming to stay on top of this.

This one should be a no-brainer, but I still see it every so often. A party objects to the most basic discovery question and refuses to answer. The other side asks a standard, basic interrogatory, and you object. Really? You cannot enforce it. You know it; I know it; and the other side knows it.

Say goodbye to your boilerplate forms. If you use a form, proofread. Know your case. Adapt your discovery plan as the case progresses. These are not all the basics, but it will hopefully give you a running start. -CCE

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What’s the Top Complaint Against Lawyers?

11 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Management, Professional Civility, Rules of Professional Responsibility

≈ Comments Off on What’s the Top Complaint Against Lawyers?

Tags

Bencher’s Bulletin, Carolyn Anderson, Legal Ethics, The Law Society of British Columbia

Top Complaint Against Lawyers Is Rude or Uncivil Behaviour, by Carolyn Anderson, Bencher’s Bulletin, The Law Society of British Columbia

https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/page.cfm?cid=2219

Before you read the article, just for fun guess what rude or uncivil behavior comes to mind? Profanity? Naw! Profanity in a law office is almost an unwritten law in the office manual. Failing to return calls or respond to letters or emails from clients? That’s always been a favorite. You’re getting warmer! -CCE

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There’s Positive Stress and Then There’s the Other Kind.

11 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bullying, Employment Law, Harassment, Law Office Management, Marketing, Office Procedures

≈ Comments Off on There’s Positive Stress and Then There’s the Other Kind.

Tags

Celeste Duke, Diversity Insight Blog, Law Office Management, Workplace Bullying

Stress at Work: Defining the Line Between Motivation and an Abusive Workplace, by Celeste Duke, Diversity Insight Blog

http://bit.ly/29Nja5b

Regardless of whether you are a lawyer or legal professional, if you have been out there for a while, you have run into a “bad” boss. They are described in different ways – bully, perfectionist, bi-polar, belittling, and just plain unpleasant – but they are all accomplish at least one thing. They chase off good employees, and make an associates’ and staff’s miserable.

Many rules in a law office may not make sense to the uninitiated. Usually strict rules accompanied with micro-management are a red flag. New hires will likely inherit left over residue from a former employee who abused the rules so badly and frequently that management adopted more restrictive rules. It doesn’t matter that the bad apple is no longer there. New employees are stuck with jumping through the hoop actually designed for a former employee.

If you are interviewing and the office manager asks whether you mind working with difficult people, that is clearly a red flag. Ask why a position is open. Often, when all other things are equal, someone who works for a good boss rarely leaves a job.

If you have a boss who is truly making you miserable or has made it clear you are as far up the ladder as you will go, it doesn’t hurt to polish up your resume and stick your toe in the water. As a good friend once said that, when it comes to job hunting, you can always shop but you don’t have to buy.

If you have found that the nice prospective boss in the interview has turned into an extremely difficult tyrant, of course you have options. But, to be on the safe side, you may want to polish your resume and start putting out feelers. There is a difference between positive stress and the extremely destructive kind. Before this boss has destroyed any self-confidence you have left, get out of there.

Happily, not all attorney supervisors believe that intimidation and abusive behavior is the best way to encourage quality work and employees. Some people even thing that positive reinforcement, team work, and mutual respect and consideration actually improve employee performance and enhance the firm’s overall quality. What a concept! – CCE

In the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, Blake is a trainer sent by corporate to motivate a sales team. In addition to offering helpful gems like the acronym ABC to remind the salesmen that they should ‘always be closing,’ he repeatedly berates them and calls them names while bragging about his own success. He tells the team about a new sales competition that week: First place gets a Cadillac, second place gets a set of steak knives, and third place gets fired.

We hope you have never had a boss like Blake, but it’s likely that you recognize shades of his character in past managers, coworkers, or even a current manager in your organization. You want managers to push employees to do good work and get the best results for the company, but it can be hard to know how far is too far. During his ‘motivational’ speech, Blake asks one salesman, ‘You think this is abuse?’ As it turns out, it just might be, and this could be a new frontier in employee claims.

Continue reading →

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Get Your Head Out of the Sand.

07 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Continuing Legal Education, Ethics Opinions, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Recent Links and Articles, Rules of Professional Responsibility, Technology

≈ Comments Off on Get Your Head Out of the Sand.

Tags

LawSites Blog, Legal Ethics Opinions, Robert Ambrogi, Technology Competence

Another Two States Adopt Ethical Duty of Technology Competence, by Robert Ambrogi, LawSites Blog

http://bit.ly/2b22uwA

Ambrogi includes a link to all states that have adopted an ethical duty of technology competence. My state is not yet one of them, but there is still no excuse.If your state has not yet adopted this ethical requirement, it is only a matter of time.

I know there are so much technology out there that it is hard to know exactly what you’re supposed to know and what you can pass by. But it’s your duty to find out, and not rely on staff to do it for you. -CCE

As I continue to track the states that have adopted the ethical duty of technology competence, I have two more to add, bringing the total to 23.

Continue reading →

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We Should Know Better.

07 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Confidentiality, Legal Ethics, Rules of Professional Responsibility

≈ Comments Off on We Should Know Better.

Tags

California Bar Association, Casey Sullivan, Confidentiality, Findlaw, Legal Ethics

Don’t Reveal Embarrassing Client Info, Cal. Bar Warns, by Casey C. Sullivan, Esq., FindLaw (with hat tip to William P. Statsky)

http://bit.ly/2aFqJOQ

I hope that everyone learned in paralegal or law school that you don’t talk in elevators, restaurants, and any other public place about clients and other embarrassing facts you may pick up along the way.  I once worked in a building with a popular restaurant on the top floor. We were close enough to the courthouse that lawyers often went there for lunch. It was amazing how many settlement discussions I heard in the elevator. It wasn’t hard to guess which case it was either.

We all have great war stories. Funny things that happened in court or depositions – things like that. Yes, truth is often funnier than fiction. Maybe thinking of it from the client’s perspective is helpful. If you were the client, would you want your attorney making your case the butt of a joke or story told in public? – CCE

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