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PROFILE
Profile: Lee A. Paige, CLA, Senior Legal Assistant, Morrison & Foerster, LLP [by Regan Morris] For many, becoming a paralegal is a second career. While other areas of the economy stagnate, the paralegal profession has been booming over the last few decades, attracting hordes of professionals looking for a second career. LawCrossing talks with star paralegal Lee A. Paige about the challenges of retraining yourself and the importance of getting an education—well past graduation.
Lee A. Paige is living proof that multitask-
As he already had a bachelor’s degree, Mr.
“It tends to be one that’s more self-driven
ing and diversification are the secrets to
Paige enrolled in the certificate program
than anything else,” he said of the legal pro-
success. In this era of specialization, Mr.
at University of West Los Angeles, special-
fession. “I guess anybody who works in the
Paige’s story is a reminder that it’s always
izing in both real estate law and litigation.
law, they have to be relatively thick skinned,
good to have a few extra specialties up your
While he advises prospective paralegals to
because it can be overwhelming sometimes if
sleeve. Mr. Paige is a Senior Legal Assistant
specialize, he always advises them not to
you’re not thick skinned, if you’re not a good
with Morrison & Foerster in Los Angeles. Mr.
take on two specialties at a time. It took him
time manager, if you don’t have the ability to
Paige is attached to the firm’s Intellectual
two-and-a-half years to finish his certifica-
juggle little small details and keep an eye on
Property and Litigation Practice Groups, but
tion studying both simultaneously.
those things.”
often works in other areas as needed. “It’s something I always advise students
When you join a law firm or corporate legal
Mr. Paige, 54, became a paralegal by chance.
against. Because you don’t realize what it all
department, it often takes a while to estab-
He was a journalist, reporting for several
entails when you’re in it,” he said. “All of this
lish a rapport with the attorneys, he said.
Chicago dailies when he decided to relocate
is very new to most adults. And all of us who
Once the attorneys rely on you, you need to
to Los Angeles. His family didn’t want him to
go through these paralegal programs are
keep your skills honed or the relationship,
go, but Mr. Paige was fed up with the Windy
usually working adults. And many of them
and likely job, won’t last, Mr. Paige said.
City and wanted some sunshine.
have been out of school for a long time, so
He got the sunny weather, but the economy
you really have to retrain yourself and re-dis-
“If you don’t have your skills as sharp as they
cipline yourself for study all over again.”
should be, attorneys can rely on you to their
was tight in California, and Los Angeles only
detriment and to the detriment of the client,”
had two major daily newspapers at the time.
But Mr. Paige’s decision paid off for him. If
he said. “So you really have to be sharp. It
The Los Angeles Times, which was under
he’d only focused on real estate, he may have
takes some practice, and it takes some do-
a hiring freeze, and the Herald Examiner,
been in trouble. While it’s hard to imagine in
ing. It’s not something that comes overnight.
which went bust within a year of Mr. Paige’s
today’s blistering hot real estate market, the
You learn all the basics in paralegal school,
arrival in the city.
market was struggling in the early 1980s.
but on the job is where it really tells and re-
“There were other, smaller papers around
“I got my real estate certificate just as the
town, but I really didn’t want to go backwards
real estate market in California took a dive,
Mr. Paige worked part time for the District
in my journalism career, so I kept plug-
and all of a sudden there was no work,”
Attorney’s office while looking for a journal-
ging away, trying to get a job at one of these
he said. “So what I’ve always done is try to
ism job. It was there that he first became in-
dailies,” he said. “I really never intended to
keep ahead of the curve by always retraining
terested in the law. His job there was largely
go into the law. It just sort of happened out
and learning more so that I can always be
menial, and his bosses suggested he go to
of circumstance. I decided to retrain and do
employed.”
law school or paralegal school.
because I really enjoyed working in the news
Mr. Paige said his journalism skills trans-
“At the time, I really wasn’t interested in
media, but it was not to be.”
ferred easily into law and that the attributes
being an attorney, and I said ‘What’s a para-
ally shows.”
something else, a long and hard decision
and skills needed to excel in the professions
legal school?’” he said. Shortly thereafter, he
He learned that the legal profession was
are similar: independence, drive, and a thick
enrolled in UWLA.
also prone to ups and downs in the economy.
skin.
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1.800. 973. 1177
PROFILE
Mr. Paige recently became the second
“If you’ve got a thick skin and a thirst for
paralegal graduate in the 36-year history of
learning and hard work, you can do well,”
UWLA to be elected to the University’s Board
he said. “I’m glad to be in the position I’m in
of Trustees. When asked who normally gets
now.”
elected, Mr. Paige said “lawyers, doctors, and judges.” He is also an active member and past president of the UWLA Paralegal Alumni Association, and in May 2003, Mr. Paige became one of six UWLA graduates and one of only two paralegal graduates chosen to receive the prestigious Bernard S. Jefferson Award of Excellence. He was also the winner of the 2000 5-Star Paralegal of the Year Award. So the change of profession has clearly been good for Mr. Paige, although he said during the first year, he worried that he wasn’t experienced enough in the profession. Mr. Paige still writes for legal publications like Legal Assistant Today and is often a guest speaker at legal seminars and events, including the upcoming UWLA Paralegal Open House. During the Open Houses, Mr. Paige advises prospective students to keep learning throughout their careers. Mr. Paige now has four specialties, including environmental law, and still takes courses on preparing for trial, although he’s been to trial many times. “Never stop learning because the law is just that way. It constantly evolves. It’s constantly changing, and if you’re preparing for trial the way they did back in the 1980s, and here we are in the 2000s, you’re going to be left in the dust, and somebody’s going to be embarrassed in court,” he said. “When you file a document and somebody says, ‘Oh, we don’t do it in this format anymore,” the attorney looks at the paralegal, and the trouble starts brewing.” And he always warns the future paralegals to be resilient and not take things too personally because it can get heated building a case for trial. PAGE 2