|
Open for Business
Tips
to take and pass the two most popular paralegal exams.
By
Stacey Hunt, CLA,
CAS
March/April 2007 issue
Many paralegals have
daydreamed about breaking the chains to the desk and becoming
self-employed, contract paralegals. Some have actually done it. But very
few have then taken that dream, magnified it and turned it into
something bigger — their own business. LAT visited four
pioneering women who created and now lead thriving freelance paralegal
firms. Some have employees, others use subcontractors. Some work for law
firms, others have government contracts or work for corporations. One
has even taken her business nationwide, becoming the first paralegal to
sell franchises. Their stories are an inspiration to paralegals who have
hopes of making it big on their own.
Shawn Olley
Midwest
Paralegal Services Inc.
Midwest Imaging
Milwaukee
Number of Employees: 35
Year Business Started:
1989
Q:
What do you look for in paralegal employees?
A: Experience in
litigation and aptitude with computers. Employees also need to be able
to adapt to different work environments.
Q:
How do you handle conflicts of interest?
A: If the proposed work
conflicts with an ongoing client, we refuse the work and provide an
explanation. If the conflict involves a matter we are no longer actively
working on, we contact the client to see if he or she will provide a
letter releasing us from the conflict. We advise both sides so that if
someone wants to opt out, he or she can before any work is completed.
Q:
What is your best marketing tip?
A: Be consistent with
logos and focus on service.
Q:
What advice would you give to those starting their own paralegal
business?
A: Have a good
experience base that you can bring to the table.
Q:
Where do you see your paralegal business in five years?
A: Continuing to expand
in the area of computers and the integral part that industry-stylized
software plays in the practice of law. Keeping current on resources and
efficiencies is a daunting task with the speed in which e-productions
are advancing.
In 1982, Shawn Olley
received her Paralegal Certificate of Completion from Roosevelt
University, Chicago after receiving her bachelor’s degree in criminal
justice from University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. In 2005, she was
selected as one of the Top Ten Women in Law by the Wisconsin Law
Journal. Just what happened in those ensuing years that enabled her rise
to such prominence?
Olley was happily
employed as a litigation paralegal at the Milwaukee firm of Mulcahy &
Wherry for three years and had a total of eight years of paralegal
experience when the idea of launching her own business first came to
her. She was contacted by an attorney she used to work for who asked for
her help with a large project. It occurred to her that freelancing out
paralegal work would be a good business idea, but she was too busy
working for the firm to pursue it. Shortly after, a coworker told Olley
about a large group of paralegals in the Milwaukee area who were
thinking of forming a work co-op. The group’s vision was to combine the
paralegals’ experience and provide comprehensive paralegal services.
Over time, people backed out of the co-op, leaving only Olley and a
coworker at Mulcahy, Claudia Resnick Butcher. They shook hands and got
to work.
In 1989, Olley and
Butcher each chipped in $100 and opened Midwest Paralegal Services. They
worked out of their homes the first year and leased computers to keep
costs down. They quickly landed their first client, a corporation whose
in-house legal department needed help with a large environmental case.
The case kept them working while they started building their client base
by word of mouth. “After the first year, we were so busy we hired
another paralegal,” Olley said. Another big break came when Mulcahy &
Wherry closed its doors in 1990 and the scattered attorneys became
resources in multiple locations.
At first, Midwest stayed
in the litigation area because, as Olley explained, “It lent itself so
beautifully to the contract model.” Although litigation is still its
bread and butter, Midwest now has 35 employees in all areas of practice
from mergers and acquisitions to intellectual property to product
liability, labor and employment, and estate planning. Five of the
employees are full-time IT/imaging and systems support professionals.
The company increased its number of employees over time and as cases
demanded paralegals with diverse backgrounds. Olley has always insisted
on hiring employees, not subcontracting the work out. “I wanted my
paralegals to work just for me and not have other side businesses, which
would create a risk of conflicts.”
As their business grew,
their office space also expanded. After the first year, Midwest moved to
an office that was 500 square feet in downtown Milwaukee. In 2002,
Midwest purchased a 13,000-square foot, old police department building
in Oak Creek, Wis., just outside of Milwaukee.
In 2001, frustrated by
imaging services that wreaked havoc on carefully organized document
productions, Olley formed a new division of the company called Midwest
Imaging which handles scanning and imaging of documents, OCR and
electronic Bates numbering. “We wanted to keep the document imaging
in-house for quality control,” Olley said. “Midwest Imaging also created
great diversification of our business during the times that the
paralegal work is slow.” All of Midwest’s employees are cross-trained in
both divisions. Recently, with the increased focus on electronic
documents, Midwest Imaging began a computer forensics service.
Olley belongs to the
Paralegal Association of Wisconsin and the Madison Area Paralegal
Association. “Networking is always helpful,” she said. Also a certified
CT Summation trainer and consultant, Olley splits her time 50-50 between
administrative and paralegal work. “I hired an office manager to take on
the tasks of billing and human resources, and I am still very involved
in some of the larger clients’ work,” she said. Midwest Paralegal opened
a Madison, Wis., office in July 2005, and with the advent of
e-discovery, Olley only sees growth ahead for the business.
Stella Brady Cureton
Brady & Associates
Santa Fe, N.M.
Number of Employees:
4
Year Business Started: 2001
Q: What do you look for
in paralegal employees?
A: Honesty, attention to
detail, reliability, computer skills, flexibility and the ability to
relate to people.
Q: How do you handle
conflicts of interest?
A: I find out the names
of all parties of a case I have been asked to work on and run a computer
check on my system of parties with whom I have previously been involved.
Q: What is your best
marketing tip?
A: When I started my
business back in 2001, I made up a brochure and sent it out to all law
firms in the area to let them know I was going into business for myself.
Q: What advice would you
give to those starting their own paralegal business?
A: Know that you might
not make enough money for at least six months or more to pay your bills,
so you need to have a cash reserve of at least that much. Also, think
about insurance, self-employment tax, getting certified by the city to
run your own business. You also must have the funds to buy all your own
supplies and computers. If you live in an area where you are not
well-known as a paralegal, it will be even more difficult to start your
own business, so I would not recommend moving to a new town to begin
this venture.
Stella Brady Cureton
began her paralegal career in the early 1980s at the attorney general’s
office in New Mexico. She was hired as a legal secretary in 1966, and in
the 1980s the position evolved into that of paralegal.
She primarily worked in the Special Prosecutions Division assisting with
Medicaid fraud, white-collar crime and large antitrust cases. A
secondary task, which turned out to be key in later years, was that of
records manager, handling document control and organizing files for the
Civil and Appeals Divisions.
In 1985, Cureton turned
to the private sector, working in several New Mexico law firms. She
broadened her background to include complex litigation, oil and gas,
corporate, personal injury, medical malpractice and collections, and she
assisted out-of-state clients with filings before the New Mexico Public
Regulation Commission. In 2001, health reasons prevented Cureton from
putting in a full day’s work. “I felt badly that I could not give my
employer my all,” Cureton said, so she resigned from her position and
opened up a freelance business from her home, working when she could.
For the first few years,
Cureton worked on a contract basis for one of the firm’s existing
clients — a large credit union. “It was a nice transition,” she said.
Over time, she added other law firms where she had established contacts.
One day, she spotted an advertisement in the newspaper for a paralegal
to work for a large state agency. Cureton applied for the position,
hoping that she could talk the agency into hiring her as a part-time
contract paralegal. She got an interview and the agency was impressed.
“Unfortunately, they had their heart set on a full-time position and
turned down my offer,” Cureton said. Her luck changed a few weeks later
when she received a call from the agency. “They told me they had
interviewed all the other candidates and I was the most qualified,” she
said. “They agreed to all of my terms.”
That original
professional service agreement shortly turned into a lucrative four-year
contract, organizing 60 to 70 years’ worth of historical records that
had been placed haphazardly over time in a basement. “I was asked to
create a records management system for these documents,” Cureton
explained. “I had to organize and Bates number them, get them ready to
be scanned, and prepare them for indexing into a [LexisNexis]
Concordance database with the hope of eventually turning them over to
the State Records and Archives Department for safekeeping.”
Cureton assembled a
group of helpers, locating and training seven people to perform
administrative duties. Cureton’s subcontractors combed through the
records, removed duplicates, copied and scanned them, and began the
coding. The project was so big, she was forced to drop her other law
firm clients.
This project is now
winding down, and Cureton has been requested to prepare a proposal to
handle another project for the same client involving scanning, indexing
and abstracting a library of technical documents.
Cureton’s subcontractors
are paid using the money brought in by the contracts with the clients.
The subcontractors don’t work for others, so potential conflicts of
interest are limited. She plans on using subcontractors for future
projects as well.
“There is so much
freedom in having your own business,” Cureton said. “You are the expert,
the problem solver, and your creative juices get to flow so much more
when you have the freedom to figure out a solution.” Cureton still works
out of her home and belongs to the State Bar of New Mexico Paralegal
Division.
Dorothy Secol, CLA
Paralegal Services USA
Allenhurst, N.J.
Number of Employees: 2
Year Business Started:
1986
Q: What do you look for
in paralegal employees?
A: Professional
appearance, proper telephone skills, ability to get along with others
and good skills in whatever area of substantive law we are hiring in, as
well as the ability to handle pressure and learn quickly.
Q: How do you handle
conflicts of interest?
A: We log in all files,
naming the parties so that we are able to check when new matters come
in. We have, on occasion, declined to work on matters that involved
clients from previous cases. Our attorney clients have always been
appreciative and understanding.
Q: What is your best
marketing tip?
A: Our monthly
newsletter is faxed to an attorney list. The newsletter covers different
areas of substantive law or law office management tips.
Q: What advice would you
give to those starting their own paralegal business?
A: You must be strong
enough to persevere. You must have thick skin and not get discouraged;
it takes time to build a clientele. You must stay up-to-date with all
changes in the law and practice and know your craft well.
Q: Where do you see your
paralegal business in five years?
A: Going forward with
the national franchise business.
Dorothy Secol is used to
being on the cutting edge. She sat for the National Association of Legal
Assistants’ Certified Legal Assistant examination in 1978, when there
were only 133 CLAs in the country (now there are more than 12,000). Once
she passed the exam, she worked for a sole practitioner in Asbury Park,
N.J. It was this job that taught her different areas of substantive law,
in part because she attended Institute of Continuing Legal Education
seminars and Practising Law Institute seminars for attorneys with her
boss. In 1980, armed with just a few years of experience, her CLA
credential and an associate’s degree from Monmouth College in New
Jersey, Secol began her freelance paralegal business. The idea of
paralegals was still new, so “when I pitched my idea to the attorneys I
knew, most of them thought I was crazy,” she recalled. “People nowadays
are more used to outsourcing.”
Secol eased into
self-employment, working part time for a sole practitioner while renting
an office from him the rest of the time to build her freelance business.
In 1985, she contacted another freelance paralegal she knew, Peggy
Stalford, and asked if she wanted to join forces. “I did real estate,
probate, personal injury and corporate work, and Peggy did family law,
personal injury and bankruptcy. I felt the two practices complemented
each other,” Secol said. Secol and Stalford have been partners for 20
years.
In 1995, Secol wrote
“Starting and Managing Your Own Business: A Freelancing Guide for
Paralegals” (John Wiley/Aspen Press). The book was supplemented in 2000.
“People called me about this book all the time,” Secol said. “It started
me thinking about whether there was a way to franchise a paralegal
business.” Secol and Stalford started talking about the concept. “We
realized that paralegals know how to do paralegal work, but not
necessarily how to be entrepreneurs.”
Secol and Stalford
attended a franchising seminar in New York in 2004 and were encouraged
by the speakers. They hired a franchise attorney and started working on
all the documents required by the regulatory agencies, such as
disclosure statements and agreements. On Aug. 1, 2006, they launched
their Paralegal Services USA franchise Web site and got a tremendous
response. “We have gotten more than 100 inquiries, one application has
been signed and another is on the way,” Secol said. “We are very charged
by this.”
Paralegal Services USA
provides its franchisees with information on technology and marketing
methods by using a password-protected online operations manual with
information on timekeeping, compensation, billing, hiring employees,
conflicts of interest and negotiating a lease. Franchisees will receive
continuing support, training, networking and preferred vendor discounts.
An initial franchise costs $15,000, and the term of the franchise is 10
years. “We really want paralegals to achieve their dreams of owning
their own businesses in a profession they love,” Secol said. Not just
anyone can purchase a franchise, though. “Applicants must have a
paralegal degree or certificate and at least three years of experience
before they will qualify,” Secol explained.
Over the years, Stalford
and Secol have stayed involved in the paralegal profession. Secol
belongs to NALA and they both belong to the Legal Assistant Association
of New Jersey. Secol explained how these memberships support her
business: “When I was researching the idea of freelancing, I contacted
NALA. There were very few freelance paralegals at that time, and NALA
was very supportive of the idea. They gave me advice as to the ethical
ramifications [of freelancing], and I was very careful to always
represent my legal assistant status to everyone I talked to.”
In 1990, the New Jersey
Supreme Court Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee issued an opinion
that said the use of freelance paralegals was tantamount to UPL. Secol
called her attorney and with Stalford became the petitioners in the case
of In re Opinion 24 of the Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of
Law, 128 N.J. 114 (1992), which ultimately overruled the opinion.
Both NALA and LAANJ filed amicus curiae briefs on behalf of Secol
and Stalford.
Looking back, Secol is
amazed at the ground she has covered in the last 35 years. “When we
started this, it was never with a vision of a grand business,” she says.
“It kept us busy and brought in money.” Once she and Stalford made the
decision to grow, they hired a business coach who helped them set and
meet their goals. He gave them the idea of a monthly newsletter that now
goes out to about 1,000 attorneys. “Once you have been your own boss
there is no going back to a regular job,” Secol said.
Lee Davis, AACP
Lee Davis & Associates
Phoenix
Number of Employees:
Depends on Project
Year Business Started:
1989
Q: What do you look for
in paralegal employees?
A: Education first — at
least a bachelor’s degree; then experience, depending on the project.
Having said that, I have hired paralegals right out of school and
trained them for specific projects.
Q: How do you handle
conflicts of interest?
A: The contract
paralegals must comply with the individual firm’s conflicts check.
Q: What is your best
marketing tip?
A: Networking is
invaluable. Join local and national paralegal associations, state or
county bar organizations, write articles and present seminars. Also,
develop a Web site that highlights your services.
Q: What advice would you
give to those starting their own paralegal business?
A: Do your homework up
front. Know who your competition is and develop a niche. Have at least
three months’ income in the bank to soften those lean times. I would
also suggest some good, solid law firm experience under your belt.
Q: Where do you see your
paralegal business in five years?
A: I would like to hold
steady on the projects, develop a trial team to build the trial
assistance end of the business and then start turning the business over
to my daughter, who also is a paralegal.
Instead of diversifying,
Lee Davis created her very successful niche in Phoenix by becoming
specialized in complex litigation, large document case management and
multimedia presentations.
Davis began her
paralegal career in 1979, attending the paralegal program at Phoenix
College. She then earned her bachelor’s degree in business management
from Arizona State University. She got her first taste of what it could
be like to earn money from subcontracting while working on a large case
in 1985 for the firm Allen, Kimerer and LaVelle. Her firm asked her to
find an outside person to help with the documents. Davis found a friend
who could do the work and billed her friend out to the firm at an extra
$1.50 an hour, keeping the difference.
By 1986, Davis was able
to start a freelance business on the side, and in 1989, she started
doing contract work full time. She worked both out of her home and
through her firm’s office. Davis contacted every attorney she had ever
dealt with to get clients. She spread the word to other paralegals and
received many referrals by doing so. “I knew that I could not make the
kind of money I wanted to make as an employee,” Davis said. “I had to go
out on my own.” Davis’ business took off so quickly, she scrapped plans
to go to law school.
Davis purchased software
that she thought would be useful to her clients, including a program
that was the precursor to Summation. She answered an advertisement in
the newspaper for someone who was familiar with that program. At first,
the firm was not interested in hiring a contract paralegal, but six
months later they changed their minds, and Davis was hired. Though she
had done some freelance work before, this was her first big client.
“This client gave me the security and flexibility to market my
business,” Davis said.
Davis’ first big project
involved helping a corporation prepare for a merger by gathering all the
documents needed by government regulators. The volume of documents was
so massive that she had to arrange shifts of workers, mostly paralegals
and attorneys, from 7 a.m. to midnight. The workers were either
contractors or hired through an agency. “We produced nearly 1 million
pages in only three weeks and I made $25,000,” Davis said.
Davis is a firm believer
in the team approach to jobs. “When I go to the client’s office for the
initial meeting,” she said, “I take with me the paralegal who is going
to be the case manager there, so they can meet both of us.” Paralegals
are subcontracted on a project basis, so the number of paralegals
working with Davis fluctuates. Davis bills for the case manager’s time
for this meeting, but not her own. She works a case for the first four
to six months to become familiar with it while bringing in additional
people, and then moves on to the next case. “This way, I am familiar
with the case,” Davis said, “and if a problem develops, I am in a good
position to solve it.” The team approach is also useful to cover for
paralegals who become ill or move away.
“I have had both
employees and contract paralegals,” Davis said. “There are advantages
and disadvantages
to both.” She urges anyone starting a business to seek advice from a tax
professional on the model that would work best. Davis recruits alumni
from the local paralegal schools for her subcontractors. She will even
train a promising new graduate.
In the boom years of
database entry for document control, Davis had as many as 60
subcontractors going at once and grossed nearly $1 million per year.
However, the advent and improvement of OCR software and e-discovery have
made database entry increasingly a thing of the past. “Another
thing that really hurt us is that large legal support companies are
sending their coding work offshore at a fraction of the cost,” Davis
said.
Davis has added trial
consulting to her arsenal of services, either acting as a liaison with
outside vendors or working with the in-house trial team. She and her
subcontractors are proficient with inData’s TrialDirector and Verdict
Systems’ Sanction trial presentation software, and can help design
presentations and operate the equipment in the courtroom.
To stay competitive,
Davis recommends staying in touch with every attorney from every firm
you have ever worked with. Also, don’t forget about opposing counsel.
“If I became familiar with the attorney on the other side of a case, I
would not hesitate to contact him for work once the case was over,” she
said. “Working for yourself is such a wonderful way to expand your
earning opportunities while doing work you love.”
For these four women,
the benefits of being self-employed have far outweighed the pressures of
owning a business. The flexibility and freedom, the opportunity for
higher income, the ability to choose which attorneys they work with and
the challenge of being their own boss were what these paralegals sought
and got. And there are unexpected perks, too. As Secol points out, “You
command a tremendous amount of respect from attorneys. They treat you
more like an equal because you are a fellow businessperson.”
And we could all use a little more of that.
|
