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Practical Paralegalism's Recommended Reading This Week

By Lynne DeVenny

I blog for paralegals, legal assistants, legal secretaries, paralegal students, paralegal educators, and all the other legal professionals essential to the practice of law - as well as the attorneys who want to get to know us better. Once a week (or every other week when I get behind), I share links to a half dozen or so articles focusing on legal news and humor, practice tips and technology.

Here's this week's list:

I think it's kind of mean to hide broccoli in a cupcake. I mean, I like broccoli a lot - but I can just imagine what my kids would do if they bit into one of these with no warning...But I will be trying some of the recipes included in 12 Classic Comfort Food Recipes. I'm a paralegal, and I love me some comfort food. (Thanks, the kitchn!)

What Do Attorneys Wish Their Paralegals Knew? (Law.com) ~ Pennsylvania paralegal Kim Walker, who also blogs at Paralegal Pie, goes right to the source. I think the natural follow-up will be, "What Do Paralegals Wish Their Attorneys Knew?"

Federal Courts Moving to Requiring PDF/A for Filings (Acrolaw) ~ Rick Borstein explains in detail what PDF/A means and how the new requirement will impact law firms who do federal work. His blog, Acrolaw, is a must for your RSS feed reader if you use Acrobat. (Thanks, Oregon Law Practice Management!)

Plaintiff, Facebook Must Disclose Posts in Discovery, N.Y. Judge Rules (Cyber-Esq) ~ Ask your clients about their social media usage. Tell them from the onset of a claim that nothing posted on the Internet is private.

Legal Jobs on the Rise as Overall Jobs Numbers Decline (Law.com) ~ While it's still not easy to land a job in legal field, the numbers are improving. I talked to a number of legal staffers last week who agreed that more law firms are posting ads for help recently.

Certification: Is it the path for you? (The Paralegal Mentor) ~ Another terrific post from Michigan paralegal Vicki Voisin about what those letters after your name really mean for paralegals. As some of you may know, I set taking the NALA CLA/CP exam as a professional goal. I am under no illusions as to how hard the exam is, and admire all of you that have obtained national certifications.

Use of RSS reader for timely news and info remains popular (Real Lawyers Have Blogs) ~ When I'm invited to present a social media session to legal professionals, like I did for the Raleigh-Wake Paralegal Association conference last week, I always suggest trying out an RSS feed reader - Google Reader is a highly recommended and easy choice - to keep up with your favorite online content, including news sites and blogs. Once you start using an RSS feed reader, you'll wonder how you lived without it.

5 Tools for Keeping Track of Your Passwords (Mashable) ~ If you are using any of these tools, I'd love to hear what you recommend.

Bathroom Etiquette for Lawyers (Above the Law) ~ Crucial. Life. Lessons.

Hotel Sued After Employee Caught Wearing Guest's Underwear (Lowering the Bar) ~ And here I thought bedbugs were the worst thing that could happen in a hotel room.

I hope you'll check out all the blogs included in Criminal Justice Degree Schools "Top 25 Paralegal Blogs" - there are some great new paralegal voices in the blawgosphere, including an anonymous paralegal, also known as Grumpy Humbug, who works "in a mid-sized law firm in a mid-tier market," and shares honest and thoughtful posts at A Paralegal's Life. I hope you'll follow your fellow paralegals' blogs and at least occasionally comment at posts to show your support.

Also, California paralegal Daphne Drescher and blogger at Sonoma Freelance has a new monthly newsletter, Drescher ProParalegal Newsletter. It's terrific - and free. You can subscribe at her blog site.

Practical Paralegalism has a Facebook page, where I also post information of interest to paralegals. If you're using Facebook, I'd be honored if you'd like the page and connect with me there as well. For those of you who have already liked the page, I appreciate you so much - and hope that you will consider doing a profile for this blog. This blog is about you - and I need you! There's still time to win the first five books in the Odelia Grey Mystery Series, if you're thinking about doing a profile.

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on October 10, 2010 (boomark / email).