IN THE PROFESSION might have . Example : the paralegal says they really hated entering their time into the billing system at the last firm . You may need one of the other paralegals to block off time to carefully train the newbie .
Have you ever had a paralegal mentor before , and if not , would you like one ?
At two of my jobs , I was assigned a paralegal mentor my first day , and it really helped me a lot . The mentor knew she could spend time each day helping me ( sitting at my desk with me ) without being penalized for it in terms of her billable hourly requirement . It helped me to understand how things worked in the office , where to find office supplies , how vacation time was handled , etc . Neither the attorneys nor admins were pulled away from their work for my training or questions .
Do you want to attend a seminar ?
I have learned a lot in CLE seminars and a willingness to pay for your paralegal to attend helps them feel like their knowledge and skillset are valuable to you .
Have you ever done that before ?
Sometimes it is assumed a paralegal with a few years ’ experience automatically knows how to do something like index a deposition or obtain medical records . If a paralegal hasn ’ t worked in a while , though , they might be rusty . If a paralegal worked for someone recently who practiced a different kind of law ( for instance , employment litigation , but now they are trying to do real estate litigation ) they might not know how to do what they are being asked to do . It is always good to ascertain their level of expertise politely and kindly with a task . Sometimes paralegals are anxious about admitting they can ’ t do a task , or they are rusty at it . It is better to figure that out right away rather than have them do it wrong and have to spend hours re-doing it .
If your paralegal says they have never done a task before , it is always good to show them one that was done the way you prefer and take some time to answer any questions . I had been a paralegal for more than eight years before I was hired by an attorney willing to train me to do things the way she liked them done . That training was very valuable to me .
What is your birthday ?
I never expected any big deal to be made out of my birthday , but it was nice when my attorney said “ Hey , Happy Birthday ! I hope you are planning something fun ,” or words to that effect . My birthday falls on a national holiday , so even though I am never in the office on the actual day , it is just nice when an attorney acknowledges it . Getting a gift is not necessary . Acknowledging the day helps your paralegal feel valued .
How are things going ?
I have worked for incredibly busy attorneys who still managed to occasionally say “ How is it going ? Do you have enough to do ? Do you have too much to do ?” etc . This can be said at the coffee machine , or you can stop by your paralegal ’ s desk on your way home , or when you first get in , in the morning . Depending on the answer , you may want to take five minutes to chat , or schedule a more formal 30-minute sit down meeting . Either way , it is nice to have a supervising attorney show interest in a paralegal ’ s workload .
Do you know why I am giving you this assignment ?
That may seem ridiculously obvious , but sometimes it is not always clear , especially if the assignment comes by email or memo . If you use a paralegal as part of a pool , and paralegals are not assigned to a specific case , it can be an issue . Example : Taking two minutes to type out or say something like “ This witness has to be located because we think he saw the accident and we really need to know what he saw and we only have a month left before discovery ends ” helps , particularly if the paralegal is not very familiar with the case .
Have you got enough work to keep you busy ?
This should be said before going out of town on vacation , or going into trial , or going into any situation where you may not be reachable for part of the time . This avoids an awkward scene of you seeing in a performance review that your paralegal is not billing enough time .
Do you need to see a go-by ? I have had the very awful experience of being chastised for making discovery responses the way I was taught previously , which was not the way the current attorney wanted them done . Attorneys are often very particular about how they like deposition indexes , medical summaries , discovery responses , etc . Take the time to say , “ Check out the discovery responses in the Jackson case so you can see how I like them to read ,” and you will likely be happier with the resulting work product .
What are your outstanding assignments in this case ?
Let ’ s say you are trying to settle the Smith v . Jones case and you are pretty sure it might be settled . If you do not tell your paralegal and she spends twenty hours on tasks , the client may come back and say , " Why should I pay for this time during a week when the case was almost settled ?"
Have you read the Complaint ?
Believe it or not , I have had attorneys react in different ways when I asked to read the Complaint , just to familiarize myself with the facts of the case . Just as it is helpful for lawyers , the Complaint helps give your paralegal a broad view of the case .
Do you know what we are trying to do here ?
If your paralegal feels like they understand what you are trying to accomplish and how you view the case overall , it helps to keep them interested and motivated . It is helpful to take a few minutes to talk strategy with your paralegal . I always enjoy feeling like I understand the case from a broad perspective , not just my little tasks . I like being collaborative and feeling like part of a team .
Do you have any ideas about how we can improve ?
This could relate to how files are organized , the protocol for interviewing witnesses , how you like to calendar things , etc . After a paralegal has been in a job for a few weeks , they usually can see areas that can be improved . Example : I once worked for a sole practitioner who did not know paralegals could do very good medical chronologies , but I was able to show him
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