Ringling Brothers Has Nothing on Me
Seriously, the professionals at Ringling Brothers have no idea what a three-ring circus is until they work as a paralegal in a law firm – big, small, solo, it doesn’t matter. I have experience juggling cases, walking a tightrope of deadlines with pleadings notebooks in each hand, facing that ferocious lion in a cage (I’ve messed up a time or two and have been called to the carpet), occasionally cracking the whip because we have a deadline looming, and, yes, even following the elephants and shoveling . . . well, you know.
So you ask yourself: What’s the point? Am I really making a difference?
So begins the journey of self-enlightenment as you are surrounded by a sea of paper . . . having so many excessive windows opened on your monitor that your IT guy has warned you about it . . . constantly answering the phone and having absolutely no clue how to respond . . . trying to draft a motion while at the same time searching for that one elusive document that probably never existed in the first place . . . your attorney wanting to know why a mediation is not scheduled (considering it’s like herding cats when you’re dealing with multiple attorneys and a mediator) . . . crying on the phone with a client when they’re describing another surgery (don’t judge me--I’m a professional, but I’m human, too).
And then a client calls and asks to speak with you -- not the attorney, but you, thanking you for all of your hard work in his case. Or the client surprises you with a card expressing her appreciation. It’s those random moments that remind me why I am a paralegal in a three-ring circus . . . even if some days I’m walking behind that stupid elephant.
The WVAJ Paralegal Division blog is authored by Paula Moore, a paralegal with the Charleston firm of Powell & Majestro and vice chair of the division.
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