Effective January 1, 2011, pursuant to New York State C.P.L.R. § 3119, the County Clerk will be required to, in a purely ministerial manner, issue a local subpoena seeking discoverable materials and/or individuals to be deposed, upon the receipt of a duly issued out-of-state subpoena.  The terms of the local subpoena will mimic the out-of-state subpoena and also include all of the contact info of the out of state attorneys or the pro se litigant’s info.  This amendment to the C.P.L.R. brings New York  into line with other states which have already adopted the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, which was enacted to create , “…an efficient and inexpensive procedure for litigants to depose out-of-state individuals and for the production of discoverable materials that may be located outside of the trial state.

In accordance with the above, upon receipt of an out-of-state subpoena the County Clerk will compare same with an in-state subpoena (to be drafted and presented by the one submitting the out-of-state subpoena, along with a copy of the in-state subpoena to be filed in County Clerk’s office).  If the information requested in the out-of-state subpoena is identical to the in-state subpoena the Court Clerk will then time stamp the in-state subpoena, as filed, and return same for a fee of ten dollars ($10.00).

There are new general contact numbers for the following offices:

Office of the Clerk 716.551.1700
Juror Call-in Number 866.851.8154
Chambers of the Hon. William M. Skretny 716.551.1820
Chambers of the Hon. Richard J. Arcara 716.551.1810
Chambers of the Hon. John T. Curtin 716.551.1830
Chambers of the Hon. Hugh B. Scott 716.551.1860
Chambers of the Hon. H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr. 716.551.1870
Chambers of the Hon. Jeremiah J. McCarthy 716.551.1880
Chambers of the Hon. Leslie G. Foschio 716.551.1850

During the relocation, the court will be closed November 11, 2011 through November 27, 2011. During this time, in-person filings will be accepted at the United States Bankruptcy Court, located at the Olympic Towers, 300 Pearl Street, Suite 250, Buffalo, New York 14202.

Finally, court operations will resume November 28, 2011, at 2 Niagara Square, Buffalo, New York.

Daily “action plan” or “to-do” list. At the start of your workday, develop your plan to include tasks that must be done, tasks that you want to do, and create a buffer of reserve time for emergencies or crisis deadlines. Prior planning is the only way to tackle those urgent deadlines that always come up. Re-evaluate your priority list daily.

Delegate. Paralegals typically work in a team environment. When you are on overload, ask another paralegal who may have more time or flexibility to help with a task or project. For tasks that are clerical, legal secretaries can often perform entry-level projects, such as filing court papers, or bates labeling documents.

Calendar system. Routinely track important dates and deadlines utilizing your mailbox program. Microsoft Outlook and other software programs manage deadlines by utilizing reminders of deadlines, tasks and events. In addition, the e-mail program provides a tag system to help remind you what e-mails or tasks you need to complete and prioritize by various sorting capabilities.

Procrastination. All of us are guilty of this – temptation to work on the nonessential non-billable work first. We gravitate toward the administrative or easier tasks than focusing on the substantive billable work. If you let your day squander to completing non-essential tasks all day long, instead of tracking your billable casework, then you will never meet your goal hours each day.

Distractions. Drop in visitors, work friends, and surfing the web or computer games are likely to take you away from focusing on your workload. There are other work distractions too. Flip-flopping between responding to e-mails and telephone calls adds to a distraction, and not focusing on getting the tasks done. Set limits – allow certain times of the day for returning e-mails and telephone calls. Use your time wisely with unbroken concentration to complete your tasks and projects.

Communication. Communication is a key element to successful interaction with others and effective time management. If you do not understand a task, instead of wasting time pondering what to do – ask questions! Be clear and concise.

Adapt to your “peak time.” Each of us works differently – some people have energy flow in the early morning hours, while others have the power energy surge in the afternoon. Save clerical tasks for your slow energy periods. When you are at your best, work on projects that take concentration during uninterrupted time, such as writing, analyzing and digesting.

Limitations. All of us have strengths and weaknesses. Know your limits. Do not accept a project or task to accomplish that is not within your capabilities. Communicate and offer another option for getting the task done. In addition, there are times when people’s expectations are not realistic. Take a proactive approach and communicate what is truly realistic to complete the task.

As a veteran paralegal with many years of experience, the tips offered can help you create a “best practice” to help manage your time and workload productivity as a paralegal.

Laura A. Szychowski
Paralegal
Phillips Lytle LLP

It may seem as though attorneys often take that “need to know” guideline to the extreme. There can be a variety of reasons for their reticence to provide information but, whatever the cause, it’s probably not a lack of trust in you. From your perspective, obtaining sufficient information at that initial conference is essential to a timely and successful completion of your assignment.

Take commercial litigation as an example. The attorney often does not involve a paralegal until discovery has begun. If you are being asked to review you client’s documents for privilege and responsiveness to discovery demands, you should be given a copy of the interrogatories and document demands. But it’s never that simple.

A privilege review will require that you recognize the name of any attorney whom the client may have consulted. In addition to members of your firm, you will need to ask about in-house counsel.

As you begin the actual document review, you will want to have a broad view of what you are looking for. If you don’t ask questions, you are likely to be hampered by tunnel vision. That is what can happen when the attorney identifies only a few things s/he wants you to look for. These first requests may be vague or quite specific, but the result is always the same. As you select documents for review and production, the attorney rethinks the assignment. The search criteria keeps expanding, requiring time-consuming and costly repeat reviews of the same files.

Before you begin, aim to know what your review is expected to find, what the attorney is hoping to find and what the attorney is hoping not to find. Having this broader view will help you to identify responsive documents and key information the first time through. Your questions might also help the attorney to focus or elaborate on issues s/he might not have thought of until a later time. At the very least, the expanded search criteria will provide a challenge, helping you to concentrate and maintain your momentum as you complete what can be a mind-numbing assignment.

Do take notes at the initial conference and review them as soon as possible. Within a day of receiving your assignment, hand the attorney a memorandum outlining your understanding of the task and deadlines involved. If you have misunderstood anything or the attorney has changed his/her expectations, the memo will point this out and allow both of you to clarify the assignment before valuable time and effort are wasted.

I could write much more on this topic, but let me answer the question I posed at the beginning: you risk much more by not asking questions, and the time to ask them is at the beginning of your paper chase.
Margaret S. Dick

A recent article written by Mary L. Creekmore posted on Law.com entitled “Top Essential Skills and Assets for Paralegals” identifies skills and assets “that enhance your potential marketability and strengthen your retention.” Among them are: the ability to prioritize and multitask; the ability to think ahead and anticipate what your supervising attorneys and clients may need; common sense and intuition; communication skills, both oral and written; excellent writing skills; the ability to stay organized; flexibility; resourcefulness; the ability to research effectively and efficiently; computer proficiency; positive attitude; and the ability to be self-motivated and work with minimal supervision. These will point you in the right direction whether your goal is being the best at your current firm to help keep your job, or landing your dream job.

My best mentor taught me to be resourceful. I learned to anticipate what was expected of me on each project. Before finishing any project, I asked myself if all of my responsibilities were met by my work product. I learned to anticipate potential questions to avoid unnecessary follow up. Fill in all the blanks so he didn’t have to, so to speak. Over the years, I have applied this skill to any attorney for whom I am working. I know how each attorney works and how they may expect THEIR projects to be handled. Think of how easier their lives are by just passing it off to their “go to” person? That is my job – to make their jobs easier. So I like to do that to the best of my ability. By always meeting expectations or exceeding them, you make yourself an integral part of the legal team. In other words, by adding value to each project, your reputation will quickly grow.

Many think that trying to find an answer when you don’t even know where to look is frustrating. And in many cases it can be. You develop a knack for it. If you haven’t already read “A Message to Garcia” by Elbert Hubbard, I highly recommend it. No, you may not always know what direction to go, but you can take a project as far as you can before passing it back to your attorney.

Here are just a few tips you can try to be at the top of your game:

Don’t be the at-your-desk non-social paralegal. Be proactive at work, and let the powers that be get to know you and your capabilities. 

Be hands-on in the management of your assigned cases. Follow up with projects and do what needs to be done without being told.

Proactively monitor team calendars and remind team members verbally or with a friendly reminder e-mail that deadlines are approaching.

Keep lists. Use a binder or Outlook contacts to create and maintain up-to-date checklist for common tasks or new tasks that you learn – so you can recall the necessary steps when called on to perform the task again.

Go beyond your abilities.  Want to learn a different area of law? Find another paralegal in that area and network or find an attorney in your firm who practices in that area and let him or her know of your interest. Want to know about e-discovery? Conduct online research. Want to be more computer literate? Search out classes in your area. Never stop learning.

Avoid complacency. Aspire to be better and complete projects more efficiently. There is always room for improvement or refining your skills and work procedures.

Treat everyone around you the way you want to be treated. As they say, it is easier to attract bees with honey. Working in the legal field can be stressful at times. Do your best to avoid adding to your own stress and to the stress of those around you.

Keep up to date on what is happening in your profession and your law community. Join a paralegal association, find paralegal blogs, read periodicals and visit bar association websites.

Let your colleagues know what you can and can’t do, but the key is making sure that whatever you can’t do, you can definitely get done and get it done to the best of your ability by being at the top of your game.  

By Denise Sabuda Murphy
Paralegal
Goldberg Segalla LLP

On July 25, 2007, as co-chairs of the newly revived Pro Bono committee, Debra and me hosted our first meeting at the firm of Damon & Morey, LLP to discuss the service project selected for the coming year-Vive La Casa. VIVE is a program which provides human services and legal services to refugees seeking asylum in the US and Canada.  Since its inception, VIVE has serviced over 75,000 people arriving in the United States attempting to escape the consequences of war and social unrest in their countries.  Women subjected to physical and psychological abuse, rape and domestic violence flee to this country with their children in tow and meager belongings hoping to enter this country or Canada in search for a better life.

During this meeting, the former executive director of VIVE, Terri Mazza detailed the needs of the women and children of VIVE, and it was clear that any assistance paralegals can offer would be heartily appreciated.  In recent years, VIVE has lost almost two thirds of its staff through funding losses with the federal government and the County of Erie.  VIVE services approximately 2,500 refugees a year.  By word of mouth or the internet, VIVE is widely known and is only one of three places in the US that assists refugees with a place to stay and help to assist in the immigration process.  All these women and children know – if they can get to Buffalo-then they will be able to get to safety and ultimately a better life.

At this initial meeting it was loosely determined that if volunteer paralegals could provide assistance for a least 2 hours a week consistently, that it would be a huge benefit.  In addition, two of the area paralegal schools coordinators from Hilbert and Bryant and Stratton were in attendance and offered to explore the ability provide paralegal students to the project.

The primary focus of the paralegal volunteers would be to assist women and children through the immigration process with the completion of paperwork under the supervision of a lawyer working with VIVE.  Each volunteer would be required to complete an application form and a background check performed to protect the agency from any problems and sign a waiver.  It is hoped by the co-chairs that the Pro bono committee can work out the kinks in administration and in working in full force by the end of September or the first of October through December.  At that point there would be an assessment of the committee’s efforts and to further determine where to go next with VIVE or any other projects.

VIVE is always short of funds which are necessary for the women and children who often arrive in the US only with the clothes on their back and wearing flip-flops in December.  VIVE has a huge fundraising project in September called the Freedom Bowl and it was discussed that as a group our paralegal volunteers will try to direct some energy to that project.  The fundraising goal of VIVE is approximately $538,000 for this year.  During this coming holiday season, the WNYPA will solicit our membership to supply diapers for the babies at VIVE. The things we consider basic, such as toilet paper and paper towels are in short supply in light of tight budgetary constraints.  VIVE is here in Buffalo with needs that match those anywhere in the world – I believe that I can make a difference and encourage you to do the same and support this worthy cause.

Margaret Lamonds-Moss

Paralegal

Damon Morey LLP

According to Answers.com, the trend toward casual business attire began in the high-technology companies of California’s Silicon Valley, where young computer and Internet entrepreneurs refused to wear business suits and often showed up at work in denim jeans and cotton T-shirts.  The trend quickly spread across the country to various types of businesses until it finally struck even the most old school, “button-down” firms.

Most companies moved toward “business casual” gradually, beginning with a “casual Fridays” policy, then conceded to the heat of summer with “casual dress” and finally, allowed a “business casual” in the office at all times.  Do most employees like a “business casual” policy?

According to Wearables Business, the majority of American workers view a “business casual” policy as a perk that creates a less stratified work environment and places the emphasis on an employee’s contributions, rather than their wardrobe.  In fact, many companies have allowed “business casual” policies in order to compete for talented employees in a shrinking labor pool.

What are the potential problems with “business casual” in the office?  According to Answers.com, the leading problems with casual business attire are:

Confusion.  Because many dress code policies use vague words like “appropriate” and “professional” employees must interpret the “right way” to dress for work.  In order to avoid this situation, employers should define their dress codes clearly.  It may even be helpful to include photographs of appropriate attire.

Loss of credibility.  Employers are afraid they might lose the respect of their employees, while employees are afraid they might lose out on promotions to better-dressed co-workers.  Another fear of employers is that they will lose clients with a “business casual” policy.  In fact, according to Sherry Maysonave, author of Casual Power, how you look goes a long way toward establishing your identity and what you wear says a lot about your character and credibility.

So remember, when choosing casual attire for the workplace, make sure your clothes reflect: 1) respect for your workplace, and 2) respect for yourself!

Michelle M. Coxford

Paralegal

Phillips Lytle LLP

As defined by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations, “A Paralegal is a person, qualified through education, training or work experience to perform substantive legal work that requires knowledge of legal concepts and is customarily, but not exclusively, performed by a lawyer. This person may be retained or employed by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency or other entity or may be authorized by administrative, statutory or court authority to perform this work.”

Where did we come from?

As the population increased in the early 1970’s, so did the demand for legal services. As a result, employers attempted to reduce the costs involved with providing those services and delegated many of their tasks to paralegals. According to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Paralegals, “The utilization of paralegals improves the efficiency, economy and availability of legal services.”

What type of an education do we have?

Currently, there are several ways to become a paralegal. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (2006), the most common education of a paralegal is earned with an associate degree in paralegal studies. Another common mode of entry into the profession, for those who have already earned a college degree, is earning a certificate in paralegal studies. There are also a few schools offering bachelors and master’s degree programs in paralegal studies. And of course, there are employers who will train paralegals on the job.

What tasks do we perform?

While lawyers assume the ultimate responsibility for legal work performed, they often delegate many of their tasks to paralegals. Paralegals must be able to document and present their findings and opinions to their supervising attorney. They need to acquire good research and investigative skills. They need to be familiar with the applications of computers in legal research and litigation support. And of course, a paramount paralegal stays informed of new developments in the laws that affect his/her area of practice.

Where do we work?

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, paralegals and legal assistants held about 238,000 jobs in 2006. Private law firms employed 7 out of 10 paralegals. The next largest group of employed paralegals came from corporate legal departments and government entities. In these organizations, paralegals can work in many different areas of the law, including litigation, personal injury, corporate law, criminal law, employee benefits, intellectual property, labor law, bankruptcy, immigration, family law, and real estate. As the law becomes more complex, paralegals may become more specialized.

Where are we headed?

As our population continues to expand, the demand for paralegals is also expected to grow, especially in areas like intellectual property, health care, international law, elder issues, criminal law, and environmental law (based an American Bar Association data). The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of paralegals and legal assistants will increase 22% by 2016, much faster than the average for all occupations. (According to the BLS Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections, any increase 21% or higher is much faster than the average).

Michelle M. Coxford
Paralegal
Phillips Lytle LLP

What does “paralegal” mean – people who assist attorneys. No wonder paralegals have stress everyday in their life – they work with attorneys and tight deadlines that promote stress. The symptoms of stress are increased blood pressure, decreased heart rate, increased blood sugar (gives us adrenaline), increased fear an anxiety, decreases short term memory, increased pain sensitivity (headaches, body aches), increased bone loss and decreased digestion. Stress causes problems with our emotional, chemical and physical health.

Suggestions and Best Practices for a healthy lifestyle include the following: keep a fit body – exercise twenty to thirty minutes a day, eat good whole foods, take vitamin B for stress and multivitamins, eliminate toxins such as artificial sugar and sweeteners, limit sugar intake, drink plenty of good water, rest & relax; positive thinking – focus on happy thoughts to promote a positive attitude; and maintain a healthy neurological connection – chiropractic care involves spinal adjustive techniques, soft tissue treatment, dietary and nutritional counseling, exercise and fitness counseling to promote a healthy lifestyle. Regular chiropractic visits help increase nerve flow that help to adapt to stress by decreasing your need for medication, increasing the immune system and increasing your energy.

What causes stress in the workplace? Most notably, stiff competition with co-workers and clients, expanding roles of employees to take on more job tasks, and demanding technological advances mixed together produce a heavy amount of stress on the workforce and work place. Not to mention, employees have to deal with different personalities of their co-workers. What about all those noises in the workplace – telephones, urgent e-mail messages bleeping on our screens, and machines like copiers, scanners and printers.

Everyone knows that there is a lot of stress in the workplace. Some tips on how to deal with workplace stress and overcome your anxiety include: take a short break – walk away from your desk for ten minutes to clear your mind; humor is a great way to relieve stress – a few laughs makes you feel relaxed and lightens the tension; have a positive attitude – feeling negative makes the situation worse; keep a clean desk or work area – being organized helps work flow; take control over your work load – a balanced workload helps keeps stress down; take a few deep breathes to feel relaxed; make time for yourself – eat a lunch away from your desk; and most importantly schedule a vacation once a year to get away from work.

By: Laura A. Szychowski
Paralegal
Phillips Lytle LLP

There may be a decrease in work and a sense of nervousness in the legal community about the future, but paralegal positions have stayed the course over the last thirty-plus years. Paralegals support clients with cost-effective measures that help support their employers to provide clients with diverse expertise, skill and low-cost legal services.

The Western New York Paralegal Association (“WNYPA”) recently offered its paralegal members with a re-fresher course on resume writing and interview skills. To stand out from the crowd, Russell Heater, of Key Resource Group, LLC, advises, “don’t just have one resume, create a tailored resume for each position you apply for.” A resume is the best marketing tool that highlights your skills, expertise and abilities. Heater suggests “try not to use repetitive job descriptions, rather describe each position differently” for each job – even if all your positions were the same at each firm. Prior to the interview, research the company and person you are interviewing with – demonstrate your knowledge of the firm. During the interview, dress well, smile, maintain eye contact, and be prepared to answer tough questions. “It is okay to be nervous,” explains Heater “but just do not show it.” Your presentation is everything about selling youself for the position – highlight your positives and show that you are a team player. After the interview, be sure to send your potential employer a hand written thank you note. Follow up is important too, the rule is a telephone call once a week to inquire on the status of the open position. If another applicant gets the job, do not give up; keep going after the next job.

When the economy is on the downside – it gives all the employed paralegals renewed appreciation for their position. To keep the position – it is our responsibility to market ourselves on a daily basis with good customer service to our internal and external clients, increase our skills in substance with attending continuing legal education seminars, and enhance your value with all your projects and cases, simply do-good work.

Laura A. Szychowski
Paralegal
Phillips Lytle LLP