Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Paralegals & Legal Secretaries Blogs -> Practical Paralegalism

Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

: Practical Paralegalism

Practical Paralegalism's Recommended Reading this Week

By Lynne DeVenny

I blog for paralegals, legal assistants, legal secretaries, paralegal students, paralegal educators, and all of 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-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.

Practical Paralegalism is also taking next week off for the Thanksgiving holidays (there's the official pre-turkey day panic as I scramble to come up with an edible contribution to the family feast that relatives won't be telling jokes about for years to come, and then the obligatory three day post-turkey stupor).

Of the many things I'm grateful for this year, including the new dual monitors on my desk at work, my youngest daughter's amazing rebound from a serious sickle cell related illness this summer, and precious iPhat (a/k/a iPad), I'm grateful for you guys, the readers who have encouraged and supported me in this two-year blogging effort. Thank you so much for reading - and for your participation. I can't do this without you. Without your profiles, guest posts, comments, post re-prints, emails, and sharing of post links with your colleagues, I'd still be writing a blog read only by my mama.

Here's this week's links:

• 11 Email Productivity Tips for Attorneys and Paralegals (Digital Paralegal Services) ~ Email is both the joy and bane of my existence. Thanks to virtual paralegal Cathy Ribble for reminding me that I control it, and not vice-versa.
• What Paralegals (And Attorneys) Wish Attorneys Knew (Haley Lobs Law Bomb) ~ More thoughts on Kim Walker's article, "What Do Attorneys Wish Their Paralegals Knew," except Haley got the skinny on what attorneys wish each other knew, i.e. "learn how to use Word." (hehe)
• Repositories and Online Document Repositories (Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog) ~ Still don't get "the cloud"? Try this pizza analogy. Even my dog understands pizza.
• Secure Your Wireless Network (Lawyerist) ~ Web-browsing at the local coffee shop can leave your social media accounts wide open to hackers, but a new Firefox extension, Blacksheep, alerts you if someone is trying to access your accounts.
• Keeping Jurors from Straying Electronically (Technologist) ~ Social media has given trial paralegals additional research venues - and headaches. Also, "Want to Get Out of Jury Duty? Mention Jeffrey Dahmer Friendship." (Legally Weird).
• Beware drunken e-mailing, Facebooking (CNN Tech) ~ Save this article where you can find it again, especially if you're feeling all glowy and texty after those several glasses of wine you drank to get through the holiday dinner with your family. These "take-back" tips could be the digital hair of the dog the next time you feel like gettin' your drunk text on. Of course, drunk texting can be a godsend if you're a paralegal researching opposing parties - but not so much if it's your own account.
• Grandma Teetsel's Swiss Bread (Musings of the Lady Jessop) ~ Welcome another paralegal blogger to your RSS feed reader, Karen Jessop. She's funny, and she posts recipes I can make. OMG, my recipe panic is resolved! (But still taking the week off.)

Oh, and one more thing to be very, very thankful for, the new choral (and acapella!) competition on Glee, The Dalton Academy Warblers. (I am responsible for 2,862,316 of the YouTube viewings to date...) Enjoy:

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on November 21, 2010 (boomark / email).