Feature
Paralegals: To Blog Or Not To Blog By Todd Schultz There’s a new trend in the legal field and paralegals are behind it. According to South Carolina Lawyers Weekly, paralegal blogs are popping up all over the country and are growing in popularity.
The blogs contain the ins and outs of the legal industry, including legal news and employment trends. Lynne DeVenny, a paralegal/blogger from Winston-Salem, N.C. said, ‘’With so many blogs and publications focusing on attorneys, I wanted a place online to recognize the other critical part of the legal team: the talented staffers whose work is necessary to the practice of law today.’’ Devenny’s blog, The Empowered Paralegal is filled with links and articles. In one segment, which Devenny calls the ‘’Paralegal Profile,’’ Devenny interviews a paralegal from Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago. The paralegal in question is Wilder Kendric Berry, a senior paralegal for Winston. Devenny’s questions are current, too. She asks Berry how social media affects his career. ‘’I use Facebook as a think tool,’’ says Berry. ‘’I try to post ‘thought provoking’ ideas and concepts to help people improve their lives.’’ In another entry, she documents the case of a couple of ‘socalled paralegals’ who were scheming elderly victims out of thousands of dollars.
for professional paralegals – Not of a certain level, specialty or firm – but of a particular attitude.’’ The Estrin Report’s creator is already Editor-in-Chief of two popular legal publications: KNOW, The Magazine for Paralegals and SUE, For Women in Litigation. Additionally, she is Chairperson of the Board for The Organization of Legal Professionals. The Estrin Report offers statistics on paralegal employment as well as a plethora of news articles, like Devenny’s The Empowered Paralegal. Writing a blog about being a paralegal can both benefit an hurt a paralegal’s career. Like anything one posts online these days, bad-mouthing current or former employers is likely to prove harmful to future prospects. However, starting a blog can be an excellent way to boost your resume. A detailed blog documenting paralegal activity can be a cutting-edge way of showing off your paralegal know-how to a potential employer. Done well, a blog can also show an employer both technological skills, as well as organizational skills.
Another notable blog devoted to Paralegals calls itself The Estrin Report. It’s tag line is somewhat humorous: ‘’Created
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