The Reporter Newsletter – January 2008

atkinsonbaker
1 Tags
Comments

January 2008

From the President

As we enter into a new year, we hope 2008 brings you and your firm prosperity in every way.

We know how critical it is for you to stay informed and be the most efficient worker possible as you juggle multiple attorneys’ work, stay on top of all court filings and at the same time, give your clients the best service you can.

This is why, in 2008, we will continue to provide you with useful information and tools along with articles that might shed a new perspective on an area for you in the workplace. Our goal is that you glean something from each issue that will indirectly make your job easier.

As always, we welcome your suggestions and comments and we would like to share articles you have written with our readers as well.

With warm regards,
Sheila Atkinson-Baker

One Long Road

By Petra Pasternak
Legal Pro, The Recorder

When legal secretary Lorrie Orchard and San Francisco lawyer John Browne, III, first started working together, court hours ran from 10 a.m. to noon, and 2 to 4 p.m. Three-martini lunches were the vogue.

“During the days of the long lunches, Lorrie was smart enough to know that if any decisions had to be made or anything needed to be signed, that she damn well make sure these things got done before lunch,” recalled Browne, now 69. “Nowadays, I grab a quick salad for lunch and am lucky to lunch out once a week.”

That’s one difference between 1967 and 2007. But the two have resisted other changes that have swept the profession: She still takes shorthand. He still, on occasion, dictates to her directly rather than to a machine. And they are still together.
Read Full Article »

Evolution of the Legal Secretary

By Caryn Tamber
St. Loius Daily Record & St. Louis Countain

The era of the legal secretary who deciphers handwritten drafts of pleadings, takes dictation and keeps her boss’s calendar is drawing to a close.

Between the advent of computers and the advent of lawyers who grew up with them, the job of a legal secretary has changed. While secretaries may still do typing, filing and scheduling for older lawyers, those who work with young attorneys say they function more as legal assistants.
Read More »