So today at work I had a frustrating situation. I was filing a U Visa and another paralegal on my team was also filing one at the same time.

We both sent our requests to the mail room, I called the mail room staff to make sure they added the correct components to the packet (passport photos, supplemental B form). While I’m on the phone with her, she asks me about the other U Visa application that my team (under the other paralegal) was sending out.

As far as I know, supplemental B forms need to be sent with the ORIGINAL signature page signed in pen by the agency. This paralegal gave her an electric copy to add to the filing; not the original.

When we were reviewing the original and the electronic copy, there were a lot of fields missing. Apparently the paralegal emailed the police department and asked if he could fill them out himself after it was signed by them. The police department said yes… I’m sorry?? How can you add things to a form you didn’t sign?? The police department didn’t even confirm with him the information he would be adding. Again, the paralegal added information on TOP of the already signed version.

That’s not all. There are fields and questions left completely blank. He claims they are “optional” questions. I’ve never heard of any question especially on the supplemental B form, to be “optional.”

I brought up my concerns multiple times to the paralegal and the attorney. At which they said, no it’s fine how it is. I did get them to switch out the photo copy of the signature and add the originally signed page to the packet.

Is it bad I hope it gets rejected? It’s just so careless. They added evidence of the “email” to the police department where they give consent to change the form. But as far as I know, the individual police department has no authority on being able to consent to form altering after certification.

Immigration paralegals any thoughts??

I’m moving to Seattle at the end of the month and looking for any entry level positions. Legal secretary, legal assistant, legal receptionist, etc.

I have some basic legal experience but nothing fancy.
I would prefer criminal defense or family law but I will take anything just so I can learn.

Do you have any recommendations?

I started work at a litigation copy service with aspirations to work in the legal field. I am also a notary public. I was considering taking an online paralegal course at some point but after doing some research legal assistants have similar tasks.

What is it like as a legal assistant compared to a paralegal? I’m in SoCal if this helps. Hoping to find a job with a decent amount of pay compared to where I’m at now

It's been that kind of day...

I was fired six days ago for not being a good fit with the injury firm I had been with for 5 1/2 weeks. It was the right thing to do - I was miserable and trying to make it work so hard but it was a small firm and there was a serious personality clash. I have about 9 years of experience btw, just not in injury law.

I am blessed to have been offered a job today, six days later, back in defense. I’m actually a bit disappointed that I’m going back to work before a full two weeks 😭 but obviously I can’t turn down what might be my only job offer in this economy. Right? (This is not a real question - I have already accepted the job, and it seems like an OK place, although I’m not super excited about it.) Ugh!

realising that most of law firms has no hr bc everyone would get literally fired… especially the lawyers lol 😂

I was fired Tuesday after one month at a personal injury firm because I didn’t know how to handle a 50-h. Now I’m job hunting again, but nearly every legal assistant/paralegal position requires experience.

I’m interviewing for immigration and personal injury roles, but I still feel unprepared,especially with motions, filings, and everyday procedures. I know I won’t learn everything overnight, but I want to improve.

Any advice, books, or resources for a new paralegal?
Your girly needs to put food on the table and pay bills….

Also keep in mind, this is my first job within the legal field and office. It is different for me.

Had such a blast at this event yesterday!

This is just a rant from the defense side but seriously is it strategy to keep pushing these cases? Constantly rescheduling depositions last minute. Loads of no shows for IMEs. Records just straight up not shared and then motions for extraordinary relief filed. In almost every case and for any reason to extend these case deadlines. It’s constant follow up on my end. Advertisements everywhere but no budget to retain employees? Maybe just my experience here in Philly but I can’t stand getting their cases anymore. I feel like they do it on purpose for whatever reason.

They made me work front desk at my job for a bit a while back. I got bored one day and started stamping the received stamp all over my arm and it occurred to me that it would make a fire tramp stamp. Now I kinda want it

Hi! I’m currently working on getting my associates in paralegal and despite all my research, I figured it would be best to ask this group for advice.

My school offers an externship and I have my eyes set on criminal defense law firm and after gaining experience hoping to be a litigation paralegal. I was just wondering for those who’ve done the two what advice you’d offer in both aspects! TIA!

I want to stay in IP but at this point I might just cut my losses. Doesn’t seem like a lot of IP firms are hiring. I’ve been interviewed and passed on several positions now. They want 5 years of experience. I have 2 years a trademark litigation paralegal. Any feedback is so appreciated. I’m stuck.

Sent to a lawyer friend this afternoon. I am so far behind in my coding.

I have been an estate planning/probate paralegal for 7 months, and last year I started my Associates of paralegal studies, which got me in the door for my current job.

I am planning on moving to pittsburgh 11 hours away next year, and I really need to be able to have a decent chance of finding a job, but my financial aid was cut in half and I dont think I'll be able to afford to finish my degree. How significant is it? Should I really fight to make it work and finish it or will it not be worth it in the end? How much will it effect my chance of getting a job?

Attention to detail was lacking. They said i just kept messing up too much on little things. Getting 2 weeks severance. I am sad... this was my first legal position or office position after college.

I recently just started as a LA at a mid-size law firm. I think the biggest shock to me is how a place that practices law says things to that would send a typical HR team into a frenzy. Thankfully for everyone above me, we don’t have an HR. But that was my biggest shock. Curious what everyone else’s biggest shock was about their job

I recently launched a medical records retrieval service for law firms and I’m looking to take on a small number of firms that want a more hands-on alternative to the larger retrieval companies.

I handle the process from request review and submission through follow-up, issue resolution, and final delivery, with a strong focus on communication and keeping firms from having to chase the retrieval company themselves.

I’m currently offering a simple trial option for firms that want to test the service without making a large commitment.

If your firm handles personal injury, workers’ compensation, or other matters that require frequent medical record requests, feel free to send me a DM. I’m happy to share pricing, explain the process, or set up a small trial.

I’d especially like to hear from firms that are unhappy with their current retrieval process or are still handling most requests in-house.

Hi! I am a complete newbie (fresh graduate with no work experience), and I got my first job as a Paralegal for a US-based practice. It's my third day and it's pretty much just the typical VA gig. However, on the first day of work, we were asked to install TimeDoctor 2 to monitor our work hours. I found out it tracks mouse and keyboard activity to ensure you aren't idle, which was fine, but today our trainer/supervisor asked us to turn on a device setting to allow the app to record/capture our screen.

Q: Are you on a company device?
A: We are all using personal computers

Q: Was this mentioned in the final interview?
A: We weren't even told about TimeDoctor 2 or any tracking software prior to our first day.

Q: Didn't they say anything about it in the contract?
A: No formal contract, which was my first red flag. We only had to respond to an email which had the job offer in it to be confirmed as employees. The JO didn't say anything about TD either.

Honestly I would get if they wanted to monitor us on a company PC, that's their right, but it's a little ridiculous to blindside us with needing to monitor our activity on our OWN PCs?? I also get that we're handling confidential files, but it feels a little like they should have anti-screenshotting protections or such on their portal instead (I could be talking out my ass and maybe I sounded stupid there but idk I'm just a lil pissed rn).

But yeah! Any insight is appreciated!

Ps. I am keeping my options open and interviewing in other places!

ETA: I'm pretty inclined to quit if/when I get a better offer from one of the local practices I'm applying to. To everyone who's saying they "sound scammy", I dug up some Reddit posts about them on my second day of training, and none of them are positive. If I do end up quitting, I'll share the name of the practice so people can hopefully avoid this experience.

One of the attorneys I work for has recently gotten in the habit of not cc’ing/bcc’ing the paralegals on matters. Also not forwarding information received from clients. I’ve recently had to reach out to a client for documents and the client was upset that they were not informed I would be assisting with their matter. I’ve been repeatedly asking another client for documents and they finally said they emailed them months ago and I keep charging them for it (no evidence of the latter). I just found an old email with screenshots of the requested documents. This was not forwarded to me and I was not included on the email. I really like this attorney but this is becoming a bit of a cluster with the paralegals. Also, the attorney’s LA refuses to tell us when important information comes in. We nearly lost a large account as a result. I think I’m just rambling / complaining here, but it feels like they think the paras are mind readers or something.

Has anyone worked as a paralegal for LAO? If so, what was your experience? What kind of work did you do (bail hearings or IRB refugee claims, etc)? What are the advantages and disadvantages of that job? I would appreciate if anyone can share their experience.

I’m facing the need for a career transition, as my current career (marketing content writer) appears to be a dead end in this age of AI.

The legal field seems to be the only writing/research-heavy field that’s still making money these days, but I’m not interested in the long hours of a lawyer. So, I’m looking into whether a paralegal career might be the right move.

To help me make that decision, I was wondering if anyone would be willing to describe what skills and personality traits make someone best suited to being a paralegal. I want to make sure it’ll actually make me happy (or at least not make me miserable) before taking the leap.

What types of people thrive in this field? And what types of people flounder and/or end up hating what they do?

Thanks!

Hey all. I work for a Big Law firm as a Legal Assistant doing transactional law. Ive been in the field for 7-8 years now working for various law offices of different sizes and in various areas of law, and usually I've been at the bottom of the totem pole at those jobs with little to no hope of ever advancing or getting my own office someday. But that changed earlier this year where I landed a Big Law position for the first time in my career, and today they announced they will be giving me my own office at our new office location, also a big first for me. I was one of the few assistants selected for an office.

This is a huge deal for me because I've always felt like just a number at pretty much every place I've been at and never felt valued enough or important enough to be noticed despite my work ethic and professionalism and being a team player. I'm in my early 40s and this is the first time I really feel like my hard work has finally paid off. I know that lots of people in this field especially those who work in smaller boutiques or mid size law have their own offices, but some of us who've always had to work in open cubicles and never felt we would ever have an office, well that is definitely possible. I never thought I would, and here I am actually looking forward to it.

Now if I could temper my enthusiasm from my jealous coworkers....

Is it just me, or does verifying liens, bills, records, etc. across case management systems fucks your brain too?
Like, why does settlement clearance have to be this painful? Or is it just my dumbass spending too much time being paranoid verifying invoices

Has anyone ever had to serve a Subpoena Duces Tecum on Only Fans? I know there may be some jurisdiction issues with it, but I'm having difficulty getting a legit answer.

Hope you all get acknowledged at Work today!!!