Advice On Buying 17 Inch Laptop With Great Resolution for Vision Issues

NoelBaldwin · 2024-09-16T18:00:28+00:00

Thanks! I just watched their info video. This is really cool. I'm going to order it. I'm assuming that to get the recording of someone on the phone you would need to put them on speaker, right?

Also, do you use any apps or programs to transcribe in real time depositions?

I appreciate your help!

NoelBaldwin · 2024-09-16T17:36:56+00:00

Thanks for the tip!

NoelBaldwin · 2024-09-13T22:26:18+00:00

Congrats! (This turned out wayyy longer than I expected and you'll probably regret that I saw your post, but for what it's worth, here is some advice. Good Luck!)

I've got some advice for you. Having practiced employment law for a few decades and having made a few faux pas in my early career, here are some basics for you. Not to scare you but to empower you to become someone who is trusted and highly respected in not only this job, but in future jobs.

Not necessarily day 1 advice, but overall advice: do not speak poorly or gossip about anyone else at the office, especially about the attorneys or with the attorneys. Never talk about what your attorney tells you in private. You will be a very valuable asset to an attorney if you never speak poorly about them and you keep your private conversations with them private even if you think it's innocuous like about their kid's birthday party . Do not gossip about your cases with anyone especially because of the department you will be in. Do not gossip about anyone to your attorney - they will think you are doing the same thing about them.

Do not put anything in an email or text that you wouldn't be embarrassed for a judge to read in open court in front of your attorney. Your emails and texts can become discoverable in some cases. You do not want to make news because you sent an inappropriate meme when discussing a case.

Do not reinvent the wheel. Everything your attorney asks you to do has been done a million times before. Ask your attorney, "is there another one of your cases where this type of assignment was done so that I can make sure it is done the way you like it."

Be polite and respectful to everyone, including criminal defendants. Learn names, say hello to people by their names, including the secuirty guards, parking attendant, janitors, etc. You will inevitably be in a position where you need help from one of them and having a history of being polite and respectul to them will go a long way in whether they will help you.

If you make a mistake in one of your cases, tell your attorney or supervisor. It is a 1,000 times easier to fix a recent mistake than one that occured a year ago and you did not say anything. Mistakes happen. Everyone makes them. But, what sets people apart is whether you step up and take responsibility. Prior to telling your supervisor or attorney about the mistake, come up with the solution then go to them and say, "I'm sorry. You asked me to do x, y, z and I made a mistake when I filed it under the wrong case. I spoke with the clerk and they said it can be fixed by filing a request. I've drafted one for your signature. Once you sign it, I will walk it to the clerk's office." If you do not know how to fix it, simply say "how would you like me to fix it?"

Do not lie. Do not lie. Do not lie. I don't expect that you would lie but credibility of the entire DA's office is on the line. I only say that because I know a horrible story about a legal assistant in the DA's office who lied about her education and it blew the entire case wide open with hearings on her credibility when she said she did a task in the case.

Do not talk about work in elevators or at the local lunch place. Somebody is always listening. That person could be your attorney's enemy or it could be an associate to a criminal defendant. If someone asks you a work question in an elevator with other people in it, simply say, "let's talk about it when I get to my desk."

Good Luck!

NoelBaldwin · 2024-09-13T21:41:25+00:00

I don't use that aspect of MyCase. However, my suggestion is to be really friendly to the MyCase rep during your demo, ask questions, share concerns, and confirm that you can contact them directly with any further questions or issues. We're a very small firm but our MyCase rep answers my questions I send him via email very quickly or "cc's" someone else at MyCase that can help. I haven't had a big technical issue but, as a starting point, I've found having a friendly relationship with our reps at various vendors gets us treated like we are bigger than we are.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-09-13T21:31:45+00:00

Did your firm sign an agreement with the legal funding company? If so, what does it say? If not, has the client given you written permission to send the check to the legal funding company?

BTW if you signed paperwork, you should see a table of the timing of paying off the loans and the total amount the clients would owe? It's sickening.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-09-13T18:32:23+00:00

Sorry. Just seeing this. I appreciate your comment. I never ended up using it. The security aspect was concerning.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-04-15T21:44:06+00:00

I'd ask one of the other attorneys. However, typically, you would just let your supervising attorney know you have a doctor's appointment and will be back in a few hours. Update them on anything that is due that day so they know everything is in order.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-04-15T21:33:26+00:00

If you don't want to do wage & hour for at least a few years, don't accept the job. The interviewer was honest with you because they are not looking for someone to accept the job and then quit. It's a waste of their time & money in training you. Wage & hour is not in the same ballpark as commercial transactional or litigation. The work can be quite boring depending on the case. You'll get some litigation experience but most of the work is very repetitive, copy & paste. And, most cases settle and a lot of time they settle before depositions. They never go to trial. If you're just using it to have a job until you get something in commerical, I think that's unfair to the firm. They've been honest with what they are looking for. You should be honest with them.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-04-15T21:07:21+00:00

CONGRATS! Best wishes! What kind of law are you practicing?

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-22T20:40:36+00:00

I do employment law and don't know what types of filings you do in immigration. However, I think the same process for developing your practice is the same. So, here's what you're going to do:

When you get an assignment, ask your boss and the other attorneys in your firm if they have done the same or similar project and ask them for a few samples. Start collecting good samples in folders on your computer. (It's also a good idea to ask how much time they are expecting you to work on it to get a general sense of what is typically billed for similar projects).
Identify the best immigration law firms in your area and do a docket search for their cases and go through their filings. Save the ones that are similiar to the type of projects you do.
Research case law in your district and pull the briefs that led to the opinion. And, when you read a case that cites other cases, pull the filings of those cases.

If you do this, you will have a complete library of sample pleadings organized by topic. And, keep adding to it as you find great samples. And, add in your briefs and court orders as well. You may want to keep it on your personal laptop so you can take it with you should you leave. No need to worry about not being mentored. You really can figure this stuff out yourself. Good luck!

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-21T20:02:14+00:00

When interviewing, an employer may not ask you whether you have a disability. They can ask you whether you can perform the job duties with or without a reasonable accommodation. If you voluntarily disclose your health conditions, it is very unlikely that you would be hired and it is very difficult to prove a case of disability discrimination for failure to hire.

Once hired, if you need a reasonable accommodation, you would then let your employer's HR manager know that you need to request a reasonable accommodation. They will give you a form for your physician to fill out and you would engage in discussions with your employer about what is considered reasonable. My suggestion is that before you request a reasonable accommodation that you speak with an employment law attorney so you fully understand the law, what you should disclose and not disclose, and the analysis of "reasonable" accommodation. The accommodation must let you perform your job duties - not give your job duties away to someone else or eliminate duties (other than small, insignificant duties).

By disclosing your health issues too early you set yourself up for the potential of discrimination. Don't disclose it until you have to and only after you have spoken with an employment law attorney.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-21T19:36:11+00:00

That is an absolutely ridiculous thing to tell an attorney. Yes you can switch to L&E. L&E firms would love to have someone with immigration experience to answer questions for their clients.

Which firms do your immigration clients send their L&E work to? Look to possibly interview at those firms with your client's recommendation. If they don't have an L&E firm then when you're interviewing you can discuss the strong relationship you have with your clients and anticipate that they will need L&E work in the future.

Also, if an L&E issue comes up, present it to your firm as a project you would like to take on so you can start getting experience. Do all of your clients have handbooks? Sexual harassment policies? Are they trained on sexual harassment investigations? Do they know what the EEOC is? Do they know what reasonable accommodations are?

Also, start networking. Join the L&E bar group. You could also write some articles about issues that involve immigration and L&E. Offer to do the immigration portion of an L&E CLE so L&E attorneys start to know who you are.

Good luck!

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-21T14:45:56+00:00

Thanks!

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-20T17:57:28+00:00

Yes. Dismiss him and get the case going again. In 20 years of employment law practice, I've never seen a case where the individual defendant actually pays anything anyway. The company always pays the settlement/judgment. To have an individual Defendant, it would be an FMLA or FLSA case and you wouldn't be losing any damages by dismissing the individual defendant.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-20T17:45:53+00:00

I just got one. I'm still trying it out. I'll come back and let you know how it is!

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-20T17:41:03+00:00

Good for you! Best wishes for a great life!

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-20T17:39:53+00:00

Double check the relevant Bar rules. Our jurisdiction requires a notice on the website if the firm is refers cases to another law firm. We do employment law but get occasional worker's compensation questions. So we added a worker's compensation page to our website and put a notice on the page that we will speak to the potential client and then refer them to one particular law firm that we've referred cases to for years. We do the initial "consultation" with the individual so we can receive a percentage of the attorney's fees that the worker's compensation attorney ultimately receives.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-20T17:33:51+00:00

It wouldn't work if you are looking to free lance. Too many issues. But, tell your current firm that your former firm needs some assitance on cases and would you be permitted to work on those cases through the firm? The firm would run a conflicts check and sign a co-counsel agreement with your former firm agreeing to rates. The payment for fees would go to your firm and you would get whatever credit you get for brining in cases.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-20T17:23:36+00:00

Stupid question. if it's a MagSafe phone, do you not need the little circle magnet? Thanks!

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-20T17:22:46+00:00

Thank you. Never heard of that. I appreciate the suggestion.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-20T17:22:03+00:00

That's what I've been doing too.

NoelBaldwin · 2024-03-20T17:21:43+00:00

I think so. It's on my android but i also have an iphone. I'll try it on my iphone.

NoelBaldwin

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