A Paralegal Goes to Law School: Legal Software and Applications You Need to Know

I am not the first paralegal to go to law school, nor will I be the last, but it’s been a very enlightening experience to say the least.  Someone once asked me how the education that I received at SPC for being a paralegal compares to the education I’m receiving at Stetson, and I think it all comes down to this: my paralegal education taught me the “how” of the legal process, but my law school education is teaching me the “why” behind those processes.  This realization helped to answer a question myself and every other paralegal I know has always asked: why do new associates not have the practical skills necessary to practice law?  

    Now I know the answer: you are not taught the practical day-to-day skills that you will use far more than drafting an appellate brief, a memorandum of law, or how you will comport yourself in a courtroom when you are attending law school.  I think the assumption is that your supervising attorney will train you in these practical skills but anyone who has spent longer than 30 minutes in a law firm knows that your supervising attorney will most likely have little to no time to train you on these matters and will just assume you know these things and therein lies the rub.  You have very stressed associates that feel like a fish out of water and who are spending hundreds of non-billable hours trying to figure these things out and while your paralegals will be more than happy to assist during business hours they aren’t around at 11:30 pm when you are trying to make a midnight deadline.  

    This is where I would like to offer some assistance to maybe help ease your stress levels when you start your legal career.  This week we discussed technology and in the spirit of that discussion I give to you my non-exhaustive list of legal software and applications you should become familiar with before you begin your legal career.  All these skills can be self-taught through watching instructional videos on YouTube.  I will provide a few of my favorite channels but by and large anyone can search for these skills online by a quick google search. 

1. Adobe Acrobat DC or Pro 

Almost all jurisdictions require you electronically file your pleadings with the court who all generally require those documents to be in PDF format.  In the State of Florida, not only are pleadings required to be submitted in PDF, but they are also required to be converted into PDF/A format to make the document searchable.  

    Skills to learn in Adobe: 

•  How to convert a Word document into a PDF file. 
•  How to make a PDF into PDF/A format. 
•  How to remove metadata from a document. 
•  How to insert Exhibit stamps on documents. 
•  How to insert pages into an already existing PDF document. 
•   If your office uses Adobe Sign, this is another great skill to learn how to use so you can send  documents to clients for electronic signing. 

2. E-Filing Portal of your Jurisdiction

Florida uses their own e-filing portal, and it is much the same for other jurisdictions.  Federal filings use the Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) to file documents and PACER to retrieve case information.  Doing a small bit of research on your end is going to save you a thousand headaches when you are desperately trying to file something before a time sensitive deadline.  

        - Florida E-Portal instructional information can be found HERE. 

        - PACER instructional information can be found HERE.  

3. Microsoft 365

If you have a basic understanding of how to use the Microsoft 365 software suite you will be leagues ahead and it will make your life so much easier.  I’m breaking down these skills into each program. 

a. Microsoft Word (some of these you learn in RWI and RWII)

•  Know how to create and use Tables in a document. 
•  Know how to create a Mail Merge document. 
•   Know how to set margins and tabs. 
•   How to set up Styles for section headings. 
•   How to create a Table of Authorities. 
•    How to create a Table of Contents. 
•    How to create document headers and footers. 
•    How to insert page numbers. 
•    How to initiate a page break. 
•    How to insert footnotes and end notes. 

    b. Microsoft Outlook      

• How to schedule outgoing e-mails (this is great for when you want to communicate with a client, but you don’t want them to think you are accessible at 2:00 am when you are writing your missive).  
• How to create form e-mails.  This is super helpful for routine e-mails you send clients. 
•  How to send calendar requests. 
• How to set Rules. 
•   Some Rules that are good to set is one for when you are out of the office.  This can create an auto response and also forward your e-mails to another firm member so they can answer any emergent e-mails. 
• Conversely if you are monitoring someone else’s e-mail while they are out you can set  a rule to have their forwarded e-mails delivered to a separate folder so it’s easier for     your to keep those e-mails separate from your own. 
• I personally set all e-filed pleadings and entered orders to be delivered to a separate folder so those don’t get lost in the shuffle. 
• How to flag e-mails for later follow-up. 

    c. Microsoft Excel (or a number challenged lawyer’s best friend) HERE is my favorite YouTube                     channel to learn new tips and tricks. 

•    How to sort entries by column. 
•    How to name columns. 
•    How to create Pivot Tables. 
•    How to use functions such as: 
•    SUM
•    SUMIF or SUMIFS
•    TRIM
•    How to create a drop-down list. 

4. Cloud Based Case Management Platforms

Most firms use cloud-based case management platforms and the most popular now are Clio, Smokeball, MyCase, and Needles.  Try to find out which system your firm uses beforehand (a good question to ask during your interview) and search YouTube for instructional videos or go to the company website and watch the available tutorial videos.  Just taking an hour one day to sit down and get a quick overview of how the software functions will be invaluable.  The skills you should understand for each software are as follows: 

•      How to save documents to the system. 
•      How to make changes to those documents and make sure those changes are saved to the system. 
•      How to log phone notes. 
•      How to save e-mails. 
•      How to enter your billable time. 
•      How to use the client portal features. 
•      How to set calendar entries. 

        Like I said, this is a non-exhaustive list but a good start to help you be prepared and hopefully save you a lot of stress in the long run.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  

My Metaphorical Ricoh ScanSnap iX1600

One of those weeks. My wife had a sore throat on Sunday and three days later, we all had the flu. When I think about starting my own firm, I think about weeks like this where my two year old has a fever and my wife's home from work. Sweaty, sleepless nights and long days of hacking up a lung all while trying to keep the lights on at my new firm and pay bills? I'm not sure that's the kind of life I'm looking forward to.

Government work? While reading Mr. Benikov's How to Start a Law Practice, I couldn't help but resonate with those government lawyers who get a steady (albeit modest) paycheck along with health benefits. Of course there is a part of me that wants to go out on my own, but the security of working for someone else is definitely alluring. Those government lawyers don't have to worry about marketing, what kind of office furniture says, "I'm successful but also frugal," what kind of legal entity they should form, whether to lease downtown or maybe somewhere cheaper, etc.

For me, it might make sense to sacrifice some autonomy for some added stability and here's why. First, I'm married with a kid. While I'm not terribly risk-averse, I understand the pressure of starting a firm wouldn't just affect me, it would affect my family. Second, without going into too much detail, good health insurance is a must and while we currently get benefits through my wife's employer, that won't be the case forever. Once I graduate, she plans on working less. Third, my personality doesn't necessarily scream, "sole practitioner." I cringe at the thought of marketing, business cards, asking for referrals, and  basically all things "sales." I'm getting an advanced degree in "not business" because I'm not interested in business.

However.

If after three years of practicing, I feel confident in my field and there appears to be a good market opportunity, I'm going to want to start my own firm. The key for me is that confidence. I can't even begin to think about running my own firm yet because I can't even imagine knowing the law well enough to represent someone. Heck, I don't even know what kind of law to practice yet. Though it's not recommended, I could see myself waiting five or even ten years to start my own practice. Kids will be in school, we'll be living comfortably, and even more importantly, I'll have five to ten years of experience in a given field of law. That's what I want. I want to make mistakes before my name is on the door, not after.

So, there are two things that I'll absolutely need before I start my own firm: a Ricoh ScanSnap
iX1600, and some confidence. I'm really enjoying our class and I look forward to reading your posts. Have a wonderful day!

FL Bar Cloud Confusion

As a former application security engineer at Amazon Web Services, I find the Florida Bar's Ethics Opinion 12-3 on cloud computing vague and outdated, even for 2013 standards. While acknowledging the growing importance of cloud services in legal practice is a step in the right direction, the guidance provided falls short of addressing the complex security challenges inherent in cloud environments.

The opinion's suggestions for due diligence are surface-level at best. Asking lawyers to "investigate the online data storage provider's security measures" without providing specific technical criteria is like asking someone to assess a car's safety features without knowledge of automotive engineering. The recommendation to "employ available technology to guard against reasonably foreseeable attempts to infiltrate the data" is frustratingly ambiguous. In the fast-paced world of cybersecurity, what's "reasonably foreseeable" can change overnight.

The Bar missed an opportunity to provide concrete, actionable guidance. They could have mandated minimum encryption standards, insisted on multi-factor authentication, or outlined specific questions lawyers should ask about data residency and breach notification procedures. Instead, they've left attorneys – many of whom lack technical expertise – to navigate the complex world of cloud security largely on their own. While I appreciate the intent behind this opinion, I can't help but feel it falls short of truly protecting client confidentiality.

Virtual Reality Headsets as the Office of the Future

     I purchased the Apple Vision Pro with the thought that this was the ultimate display for law school writing or other assignments, law review work, or doing reading or other work. With my first laptop purchase, in which I compromised on the quality of the screen in favor of slightly superior computing power, I realized that few things are as important to a workstation as the visual interface with which one interacts with one's computer. The 4K microLED image provided each eye is simply incredible, and I can size my computer screen to a massive size (perhaps around 10 feet). There is no doubt in my mind that this type of technology is the wave of the future.

    However, at this point, the native Vision OS software is not great. The Vision OS version of Microsoft has never been updated since the release version, and it crashes often. Consequently, I need to use the headset with my laptop or desktop, and with this Mac Virtual Display, I can only have one massive screen. I greatly prefer working with dual screens rather than using split screen to shift. Hence, working with the Vision Pro just is not as pleasant or as efficient as working with my two flat screen computer monitors. In addition, there is often an automatic dimming issue, which may be improved now with Vision OS updates, in which a Microsoft word screen will automatically dim, making it text less crisp.

    Where the Vision Pro excels is movies—especially 3D movies. In my opinion, 3D movies on the headset is an even better 3D experience than movie theaters,  in which 3D glasses inevitably dim the images slightly. On a recent long airplane trip, I used the Vision Pro to watch a 3D movie rather than watch the small and lopsided LCD screen built into the economy class setback in front of me. Movies on the Vision Pro using the Apple TV app according to apple can reach a maximum size of 100 feet. The immersive videos wrap around with a much wider canvas gives one the true sense of being transported into the scene.

    I have dowloaded the Vision Pro Beta software, which Apple states will soon have an ultra wide Mac Virtual Display option, which will hopefully serve the same purpose as dual screens for me. I have not at all given up on my dream of a massive office workspace with an infinite number of massive screens that I can set forward at a comfortable and more eye strain friendly viewing distance. At this point I have no plans to replace either of my aging flat screen LCD computer monitors. Nor do I have any desire to replace my Pioneer Elite Kuro 60 inch plasma TV, which has somehow survived 15 years and is going strong!

Summer is here, and so is a new semester of Law Practice Management

The new semester has started, and a new group of students will be posting to this blog. Look for new posts starting June 26. (computer generated image courtesy of Microsoft Copilot AI)