who's who

http://whichlawyer.practicallaw.com/which/firmRecommendationsByJurisdiction.do?jurisdictionId=:22473

http://www.chambersandpartners.com/Editorial.aspx?ssid=31589

http://www.legal500.com/c/romania

Boosting secretarial skills or the necessity of testing legal secretary role

There are no standards or relevant qualifications required for secretarial position. Moreover, there is no specific certification that can be earned by meeting certain experience, educational requirements and finally passing an examination. Testing and certification should be available throughout the bar association or legal education system, as in the case of court clerks (National School of Court Clerks, Scoala Nationala de Grefieri).
Under the lack of any certification, advancements and prominent designations are missing too. The only designation available is the office manager position, actually a unique executive position, where no requirements and credentials are involved too. The lack of standards and clear guidances, drove us to situation where actual receptionist acts as office managers and office managers have difficulties with grammar proficiency and oral communication, notwithstanding organizational and management abilities, excluding by any change the ability to work independently.
Secretaries and administrative assistants generally advance by being promoted to other administrative positions with more responsibilities. Qualified administrative assistants who broaden their knowledge of a company’s operations and enhance their skills may be promoted to senior or executive secretary or administrative assistant, clerical supervisor, or office manager. Secretaries with word processing or data entry experience can advance to jobs as word processing or data entry trainers, supervisors, or managers within their own firms or in a secretarial, word processing, or data entry service bureau. Secretarial and administrative support experience also can lead to jobs such as instructor or sales representative with manufacturers of software or computer equipment. With additional training, many legal secretaries become paralegals.
The professional recognition and qualification of legal secretaries can increase the competitive edge of law firms. It its true, that for the beginning the law firms help to develop the potential of legal secretarial role, but in the end the secretaries job shall optimize the firms’ overall performance. For example, I know partners exceeded by administrative paper work, accounting and billing, who refuse to delegate such to a legal secretary or even to their office manager. In my opinion, this reluctance it is both a question of trusting capabilities and losing control. They will end up working 12 hours per day, not being available to their staff for professional queries and erecting walls around them as being unreachable.
In UK the Institute of Legal Secretaries and Paralegals is offering role certification and specialized training by legal sectors. The efforts of the institute and the necessity of such certifications have been supported by the Solicitors Society and law firms like: Anthony Collins, Anderson Longmore & Higham, Archers Law, Atteys, Birketts, Bond Pearce, Collas Day, Corlett, Crosse & Crosse, Bolton & Co, Daltons, Embertons, Evans & Co, Ford & Warren, Fryer Chandler & Co, Glanvilles, Harvey Ingram, Hatchers, Hibbert Lucas Butter, Holly & Steer, Kimbells, Metson Cross & Co, Mogers, Mundays, Ogier, Ozannes, Neville Jones & Co, Palis & Co, Picton Howell, Pitmans, Purcells, Ramsden, Rose & Dunn, Skinners, Sternberg Reed, Sills & Betteridge, Stapleton Gardner, Townshends, Trowers & Hamlins, Vance Harris, Vincent Sykes & Higham, Webb & Co.
In France the legal secretary position can be occupied only under a double competence certificates, the one certifying the classic educational formation of secretary and BTS degree completed with a competences in the legal domain (DEUST, DUT carrier juridique). The national School of Law and Legal procedure insure the preparation and continuing education for legal secretaries (secretair juridique et secretair davocats) under proper standards.
In US the system is strong and versatile in terms of educational and professional scaled. Here bellow the tracks only for secretaries (paralegals have different system) Testing and certification for proficiency in office skills are available through organizations such as the International Association of Administrative Professionals; National Association of Legal Secretaries (NALS), Inc.; and Legal Secretaries International, Inc. As secretaries and administrative assistants gain experience, they can earn several different designations. Prominent designations include the Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) and the Certified Administrative Professional (CAP), which can be earned by meeting certain experience or educational requirements and passing an examination. Similarly, those with 1 year of experience in the legal field, or who have concluded an approved training course and who want to be certified as a legal support professional, can acquire the Accredited Legal Secretary (ALS) designation through a testing process administered by NALS.
NALS offers two additional designations: Professional Legal Secretary (PLS), considered an advanced certification for legal support professionals, and a designation for proficiency as a paralegal. Legal Secretaries International confers the Certified Legal Secretary Specialist (CLSS) designation in areas such as intellectual property, criminal law, civil litigation, probate, and business law to those who have 5 years of legal experience and pass an examination. In some instances, certain requirements may be waived.

there is a new site in town

www.scva.ro

The need to whistleblow

Not once, I felt the need to whistle on a series of facts, procedures and actions occurring with my workplaces, prior or current, to unveil employment discrimination on social protection, workplace preferential rights, false representations, executive misconduct and so on.
Up to date in Romania no state or corporate whistleblower has came up front to divulge any information of which purpose would be protection of rights, be it of any nature, at least the right to be informed.
Whistleblowers according to Wikipedia
Stanley Adams, a former Hoffman – LaRoche’s executive, who discovered evidence of price fixing in 1973. He passed the evidence to the EU, who erroneously leaked Adams' name back to Hoffman-LaRoche. Adams was arrested for industrial espionage by the Swiss government and spent six months in jail. He fought for ten years to clear his name and receive compensation from the EEC.
Marta Andreasen, an Argentine-born Spanish accountant, employed in January 2002 by the EU as Chief Accountant, and notable for raising concerns about fraud potential within EU, neglected by the Commission.
Stephen Bolsin, a consultant anaesthetist at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, identified that too many babies were dying during heart surgery. He spent the next six years confirming the high mortality rates and attempting to improve the service. By doing this Dr Bolsin developed a higher ethical standard in health care.
Invgar Bratt, Bosfor engineer who revealed himself as the anonymous source in the Bosfor Scandal about illegal weapon exports. An act that led to a new law concerning company secrets which commonly is referred to as Lex Bratt.
Gerald W. Brown, a former firestop contractor and consultant, uncovered the Thermo-lag circuit integrity scandal and silicone foam scandals in US and Canadian nuclear power plants, which led to Congressional proceedings as well as Provincial proceedings in Canada.
Paul van Buitenen, who accused E uropean Commission members of corruption which led to resignation of the Santer Comission.
Peter Buxtun, a former employee of the US Public Helth Service, who expose the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.
Shawn Carpenter, a former member of the technical staff at Sandia laboratories, who discovered that a sophisticated group of hackers were systematically penetrating hundreds of computer networks at major U.S. defense contractors, military installations and government agencies to access sensitive information. After informing his superiors at Sandia, he was directed not to share the information with anyone, because management cared only about Sandia's computers. He, however, went on to voluntarily work with the army and the FBI to address the problem. When Sandia discovered his actions, they terminated his employment and revoked his security clearance. On February 13, 2007, a New Mexico State Court awarded him $4.7 million in damages from Sandia Corporation for firing him. The jury found Sandia Corporation's handling of Mr. Carpenter's firing was "malicious, willful, reckless, wanton, fraudulent, or in bad faith."
Richard Convertino, a former federal prosecutor who obtained the first conviction of a defendant in a terrorism case post-9/11. After Convertino testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in September 2003 about the lack of Bush Administration support of anti-terrorism prosecutions post-9/11, Convertino alleges the Justice Department leaked information and violated a court order to publicly smear him in retaliation for his whistleblowing. Additionally, the Justice Department indicted Convertino for obstruction of justice and lying, which Convertino alleges is further whistleblower retaliation.
Cynthia Cooper of Worldcom, and Sherron Watkins of Eron, who exposed corporate financial scandals, that led to corporates’ bankruptcy.
Collen Rowley the FBI, who later outlined the agency's slow action prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Pascal Diethel and Jean-Charles Rielle, Swiss tobacco control advocates and alumni from the University of Geneva who revealed the secret ties of Ragnar Rylander, professor of environmental health, to the tobacco industry. In a public statement made in 2001, Pascal Diethelm and Jean-Charles Rielle accused Rylander of being "secretly employed by Philip Morris" and qualified of "scientific fraud without precedent" the concealment of his links with the tobacco industry for a period of 30 years, during which he publicly presented himself as an independent scientist, while obeying orders given by Philip Morris executives and lawyers, publishing articles and organizing symposia which denied or trivialized the toxicity of secondhand somke. After a long trial, which went up to the supreme court of Switzerland, all accusations were found to be true.
Satyendra Dubey, who accused employer NHAI of corruption in highway construction projects in India , in letter to Prime Minister Assassinated on November 27, 2003.
Henry Dunant, who in 1859 witnessed in Solferino the fate of wounded soldiers, left unattended after the battle. He first volunteered to assist them and organized medical and voluntary assistance. Later he wrote a report of his experience "Memoir of Solferino" .
Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator, was fired in 2002 by the FBI for attempting to report coverups of security issues, potential espionage, and incompetence. She is now founder of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC) that is looking to lobby congress and help other whistleblowers with legal and other forms of assistance.
Daniel Ellsberg, a former State Department analyst who leaked in 1971, a secret account of the Vietnam War, which revealed endemic practices of deception by previous administrations, and contributed to the erosion of public support for the war.
Marlene Garcia Esperat, a former analytical, for the Philippines Department Agriculture who became a journalist to expose departmental corruption, and was murdered for it in 2005. Her assailants later surrendered to police, and have testified that they were hired by officials in the Department of Agriculture.
W. Mark Felt, an informant (secret until 2005) who in 1972 leaked information about United States President Richard Nixon’s involvement Watergate. The scandal would eventually lead to the resignation of the president, and prison terms for White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, and presidential adviser John Ehrlichman.
A. Ernest Fitzgerald, a U.S. Department of Defense auditor who was fired in 1973 by President Richard M. Nixon for exposing to Congress the tidal wave of cost overruns associated with Lockheed's C-5A cargo plane. After protracted litigation he was reinstated to the civil service and continued to report cost overruns and military contractor fraud, including discovery in the 1980s that the Air Force was being charged $400 for hammers and $600 for toilet seats. Mr. Fitzgerald retired from the Defense Department in 2006.
David Franklin, a former Parke-Davis, employee who exposed illegal promotion of their epilepsy drug Neurontin for un-approved uses while withholding evidence that the drug was not effective for these conditions. Parke-Davis's new owners Pfizer eventually pleaded guilty and paid criminal and civil fines of $430 million. The case had widespread effects including: establishing a new standards for pharmaceutical marketing practices; broadening the use of the False Claims Act to make fraudulent marketing claims criminal violations; exposing complicity and active participation in fraud by renowned physicians; and demonstrating how medical literature had been systematically adulterated by the pharmaceutical industry and its paid clinical consultants. Under the False Claims Act Dr Franklin receives $24.6m as part of the settlement agreement.
Bunnatine H. GreenHouse, a fomers chief civilian contracting officer of US Army, who exposed illegality in the no-bid contracts for reconstruction in Iraq by a Halliburton subsidiary.
Joanna Gualtieri, a Canadian whistleblower, exposed lavish extravagance in the purchase of accommodation abroad for staff in Foreign Affairs. The Inspector General and Auditor General of Canada later supported her allegations. Gualtieri claimed the Bureau seemed not to care, that her bosses harassed her for raising the concerns and that she was a given dead-end job after coming forward. Ms. Gualtieri sued her former bosses for harassment. This lawsuit has been vigorously defended by government lawyers and has dragged in the courts for over 10 years.
Katrine Guna, former employee of Communication Headquarters of British Intelligence Agency, who in 2003 leaked top-secret information to the press concerning alleged illegal activities by the United States and the United Kingdom in their push for the 2003 Invasion in Iraq.

to be followed

The satisfaction of being insufficient

Yesterday I have passively assisted at an employee declared satisfaction of being insufficient.
The office manager in question was relatively satisfied with her role of being insufficient, at work of course, and more than happy to adjust this type of condition to new recruits. It was not important to recruit well-educated, prepared and skilled persons, but it was essential to recruit someone adapted to a low level of work satisfaction, unprepared and hopefully uneducated, so as not to exceed the existing poor benchmarking.
The party was to start that a leaving lawyer, experienced and expert in various field, is to be replaced with low standard' requirements, adapted not to the firm’s necessity but to the level of OM. Beside the self-sufficiency attitude not so ever sustained by any work quality or educational credentials, it stroked me that need to ask for poor lawyer with bad payment: we need to give less and ask for even lesser, was the sufficient condition for being insufficient.

Unlucky 13 - the legend of a fall

source : DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Tuesday October 13th, 2009 Romanian Government has been dismissed by the parliament. This is the first time after the fall of comunism in 1989 that the government collapsed after such a measure.

Romania's government fell Tuesday as a parliament no-confidence vote in Bucharest triggered a political void in another struggling Eastern European economy.
Prime Minister Emil Boc's cabinet mustered only 176 votes from the 471-seat legislative chamber.

The collapse was expected because the coalition of Boc's Liberal Democratic Party with rival Social Democrats - the product of a virtual tie in last year's national elections - had struggled from the outset. Last week, the Social Democrats quit the coalition, paving the way for Tuesday's vote.

One of the coalition's first acts was to negotiate a EUR20 billion rescue loan from the International Monetary Fund and European Union. The government collapse puts the IMF loan at risk because a caretaker government will struggle to pass important legislation the IMF demanded, said Elizabeth Andreew, an analyst for Nordea in Copenhagen.

Whatever government is installed will be a lame-duck cabinet ahead of Romania's presidential election, the first round of which is scheduled for Nov. 22.

"Politics continues to remain the one main Achilles heel of Romania," said Simon Quijano-Evans, a strategist at Cheuvreux in Vienna.

The outcome of Tuesday's no-confidence vote was expected and had only a modest impact on markets, briefly pushing the leu down 0.4% to 4.24 against the euro, its lowest level since March, but the currency rebounded later as the day wore on.

Earlier Tuesday, Romania reported that its budget deficit rose to 5% of gross domestic product in the first nine months of the year. That is higher than the IMF was originally willing to allow, although the multilateral lender has raised its deficit cap to 7% of GDP.

However, a drastic economic slowdown - Romania's economy grew more than 8% last year but is expected to contract by more than 8% in 2009, marking one of the biggest turnarounds in Europe - has curbed the country's need for external funding. The current-account deficit in the first eight months of the year narrowed by 79%, the National Bank of Romania said earlier Tuesday.

That, along with ample foreign-exchange reserves boosted by the IMF package, may help insulate Romania from an Icelandic chill.

But the leu's resilience "unfortunately provides the wrong message to politicians," said Cheuvreux's Quijano-Evans. A ratings downgrade - which Fitch and Standard & Poor's have both warned is likely if pledges to the IMF aren't kept - is likely to be needed to focus politicians on the needs of the economy, he added.

The spread on Romanian credit-default swaps, a proxy for sovereign risk, were little changed at around 225 basis points in Tuesday trading.

Still, it may prove hard to go forward with Romania's planned Eurobond, which had initially been slated for this month. "It's unlikely to go ahead now the political situation is clearly shaky," said Elisabeth Gruie, an emerging-markets currency strategist at BNP Paribas in London.

But the main question is how the country will implement broad-brush reforms demanded by the IMF, such as a sharp cut in public-sector personnel spending, already in direct contradiction to what the two main political parties promised only a year ago.

Apart from a prospective 15% cut in the civil-servant payroll, other reforms on the table are a hike in the 19% value-added tax rate and possibly in the 16% flat income tax rate as well.

Incumbent President Traian Basescu is ahead in opinion polls but well short of a majority, according to a survey by CSOP, a Bucharest research institute, published this week. Without a majority winner, the vote will go to a second round in early December.

It is unclear whether Basescu, who brokered the Boc government, will be able to stitch together a new cabinet with a parliamentary majority, raising the prospects of snap parliamentary elections early next year.

The same CSOP poll also found that 60% of Romanians said their personal standard of living is much worse this year than in 2008.

Mona "Luiza" Smile

„Top law firm is looking for legal secretary/assistant. Main responsibilities of the job include: - Providing assistance to lawyers, including business correspondence, maintaining appointment schedule, answering and transferring telephone calls, maintaining files, binding documents;- Formatting/ copying/ scanning documents and reports according to firm's standards;- Organizing business travels;- Updating databases (lists, client contacts)”

Does it sound familiar? I have seen dozens of adverts similar to the one above, some polished with more details, like these:
- fluency in English, other foreign language would be a plus (preferably ….
- strong computer skills (Microsoft Office, Excel, Power Point)
- very good communication skills; team player; organized; problem-solving; able to handle multiple tasks; professional look
- experience is an advantage
- solid CV, etc. etc.

So what does a law firm actually look for when using these phrases? In a nutshell: to find someone who can type, is accurate in both native and foreign language, will proofread and has knowledge of office procedures and stationeries.

A year ago, after recently joining a top ten law firm, I noticed among the front office staff, a smart, motivated and devoted girl. Besides performing a mix of tasks, not even included in her job description, she was resolving things within the most conservative and unskilled administrative department ever perceived. None of the secretaries have ever been tested or trained in typing, formatting and accurate writing. None have been trained in properly greeting and handling stationery, neither ever involved in any project standing for drafting or writing whatsoever. They were happily stereotyping coordinated with limited skills and language by an office manager professional only by appearance.

Instead of being likewise, Luiza (she had a name), was able to deal with entire department workload, proving energy and enthusiasm, being organized and supportive for the legal staff. It was obvious that she was enjoying this field and somehow she was expecting a change in role from the management. Pretty expected, within the lack of the change, she left the firm: “I need to learn more”. Enrolling with different sector, she did not lost interest in legal area, being challenged to find a job with a law firm, a real one this time. Despite the economic downturn she succeeded with good outlines: higher salary, professional environment and continuing education program. Next week Luiza shall start her new and promising legal assistant job.
She will be fine!

We really like

http://www.legalrebels.com

"Legal Rebels Manifesto
Do you have what it takes to be a Legal Rebel?
On July 21, we posted the Legal Rebels Manifesto in the form of a wiki. Over the following month, our community of readers edited the document more than 65 times. The final draft is below.
If you're as committed to innovation in your corner of the profession as are the Legal Rebels we're profiling in this project, we invite you to register and sign the Manifesto. Your name, city and state will be listed.
I am a proud member of America's essential profession. Without lawyers and the rule of law, a free, fair and open society is not sustainable.
I recognize that the legal profession's traditions - the world's most respected legal education system, most successful law firms and fairest court system - were once radical innovations.
In this time of economic crisis, I am committed to improving those institutions and creating innovation in the practice of law. I will question and, when appropriate, change the status quo. And I will use technology to serve my clients and society.
I'll help remake the profession I hold dear so it can continue to deliver on America's promise.
I'm an innovator. A maverick. A pathfinder.
I am a Legal Rebel."

the successful story of the pessimistic boat

Once upon a time there was a large and supposedly wealthy law firm. The firm was fishing on calm sea in a magnificent masking and colorful boat. The crew was blending skilful sailors who pumped constantly and caught lots of fish and restful sailors who thought that are on a crosier boat. The firm occasionally lost sailors, but it didn’t matter that those who were left were good at their jobs. It was annoying but as long as it could, at a price, lure fresh sailors from academies and from others, they continue sailing. Trying to avoid the mutiny on the bounty once it had the guts to drop the part of the restful sailors on the unemployment island.

Suddenly a fearsome storm came upon and the calm sea became rough and turbulent. They had seen before storms but passed over. Part of the sailors became afraid and called out that the world was ending and that, anyway, their boat was leaking and they would be all drowned.

After many years of sailing, the captain had seasick and get on land. Without their captain the officers avoid to take immediate action. Part of the sailors was embarked with another firm boat along with their cargo and big steak of their fishing tackle. After a while this boat was heavy and they threw the new sailors, preserving the cargo. Other officers took different approach and get their own patched fishing boats, but the stormy weather was continuing. They had to work with will finding ways to fix the leaks and to devise new fishing gears.

Eventually the storm abated and the sun came out. Now, there are more boats fishing on the same sea. The question remains: Which boat will catch more fish?

The talent of being tempted to work

Upon passing the childhood period when no particular, unique, special or any talent whatsoever was found belonging to me (I was just a typical kid with average intelligence and skills) I assumed that life will no longer offer me the change to fail in the talent pageant.

Being tempted to work does not mean that we are actually working seriously on the grounds of achieved competences, it’s a constant image provided to the general public that we might do something some day, that they should expect hard work and great results, but not now. The motivation of this talent originates with an external source of tolerance, manipulated circumstances and unrealistic image of ourselves.


So, I failed with this talent of being tempted to work by choosing either to work or to rest. And lately, it seems that I am most talented with resting, a lot! It is nice!

Judges' honor resurrected by stressful strike

Being a judge is usually a prestigious and solemn position in the society, that’s why in court a judge is addressed as “Your Honor”.

The Romanian judicial system, which has been generally considered a weak pillar of the society and it have been more than questioned by non-governmental association under deficiency and corruptions terms, is now resurrected. Any EU surveillance report has undoubtedly revealed that justice within institutions enjoys a low level of confidence in the collective imaginary of Romanian society.

As of the beginning of September, Romanian judges continue to strike demanding the payment of bonuses that they themselves have ruled they are entitled to. In addition to the “show me the money” demand they are striking for better conditions of work that should bring benefits for the public, as well: efficiency, reasonable terms, transparency, and, hopefully, ruling accountability etc. Among of the burdens compensated by the bonuses introduced in 1990s for public workers, are the stressful jobs, being required to keep confidentiality or being exposed to radiation via using computer. My common understanding was that confidentiality is a matter of ethical behavior not condition of stress. Moreover, for a magistrate who should be the guarantor of justice’s independence, keeping confidentiality is an implicit condition of such position.

The judges have already obtained individually ruling from their colleagues stating that the abolition of bonuses is a form of discrimination against them. Within the big picture, judges are among highest paid Romania’s public workers, whereof a junior judge earns as much as a senior hospital doctor with no stress bonuses. Same picture says that Romania is facing 7.3 percent budget deficit and the economic concentration reached more than 8 per cent, an economic downturn the entire population is asked to understand it, gain less and live modestly.

Within the dots of the plan, magistrates are entitled to demand salaries, bonuses, better work conditions and fair human rights policies, alike any social category in Romania; the case is that any other social category in Romania can strike only if such is acknowledged in court as legally rightful by the judges.

The Fall of the House of Usher

Wall Street celebrates a year from one Big Bank (or Bang?)crash after another. It all rippled troughout the business world like a horizontal earthquake. In the meantime, the law is out of breath trying to keep up with the Joneses (or Lehmans, or Barclays). CEOs boast of virtual paper savings by 2012 (let's first live through 2012, shall we?).Shareholders buy today the promise of tomorrow's rightsizings. Don't we all know, as soon as the housing and consumer spending picks up all these magnificent frugal plans will be shoved aside, rolling the carpet for the new spending. The law MUST remain level-headed amidst all this financial turmoil, if lawyers cannot. They say tough cases make bad law. Tough times likewise. And it will all come down, roaring.

Legally blogging on secretaries

“ We all work for the same lawyers, they just have different names" – a legal secretary

Most of the administration and support staff with a law firm avoid working under the “secretary” title. Being a secretary seems to underesteem themselves and generally any other job title is preferred instead of secretary, be it assistant of any type (assistant to manager, desk, legal, office manager … the last one really sucks). The Romanian law firms are going with this myriad job titling trend, perhaps for avoiding to regulate with the bar association the position of administrative staff in a law firm and credential requirements!?!

Working as secretary is harder than most people think, if done appropriately. Breaking into the legal secretary is not as hard if grounded on real secretarial skills and relevant credentials. As long as you have the basic secretarial skills under your belt, the specific legal skills can be acquired on the job. However you should at least already be proficient in typing, computer programs, word processing, basic accounting and bookkeeping, good grammar both on native and foreign language and … be reliable!!!! The employer requirements for secretarial and clerical assistance vary with the size, complexity and age of the firm. Usually the fewer the lawyers, the more varied will be the tasks of the legal secretary.

Faxing, photocopying and filing should stand as duty with office and or front desk assistants; a legal secretary should transcript, maintain schedule, communicate with clients and documents preparation. A good legal secretary should build a worthwhile practice and gain confidence of both management and associates level by: teaming up with the lawyer, handling law office automation from retrieval and filing to bookkeeping and worprocessing equipment (software in modern days), supporting with opening client files and creating documents, handling production of documents based on rules for formatting, checking and even prooftuning of documents, introducing basic guidelines to new recruits, handling courtesy on telephone, managing lawyers diary or company’s general schedule, reminding and organizing law office materials both electronically or in hard copy and so on. Moreover a legal secretary should be familiarized with the legal work and documents prepared by the attorney and should know the purpose and scope of work involved with legal counsel. Being a legal secretary should not be confused with paralegal. These are two entirely different careers. Generally, a paralegal work involves much research and drafting for the attorneys, including counseling.

How to become a good legal secretary, here there are some hints to support:

1. Working in a law office – first job
An understanding of what a law office is like and how it functions is necessary to perform your duties intelligently. If you are employed in a law office, you are a member of the team whether you work for one or several attorneys; you will be expected to pull your share of the load, to do that, you need to understand firm’s work and take an active interest in it. In addition to being able to think and write accurately, must have initiative, administrative ability, judgment and deep sense of responsibility towards the work and the team.
One of the many compensations of working in a law office is the type of people with whom you are associated. The prestige and dignity of a law firm demand that every position in the firm be filled with a person of intelligence and refinement. In a small law office the work and responsibilities of all service departments fall on the secretary. In large office such responsibilities may be divided among secretaries and other personnel. In any case, secretaries must be familiar with various duties so that they can cooperate with other departments.
Related to the firm dignity, an impression of refinement is reflected in knowledge of professional customs and practices, good manners, and personal appearance, that’s why politeness, friendliness, graciousness, and consideration for others should be well-established habits.

A tiny law job as moral hazard of a law (af)fair and pursuit to vanity

According to Wikipedia “moral hazard” is the prospect that a party insulated from risk may behave differently from the way it would behave if it were fully exposed to risk. Moral hazard arises because a person or an institution does not bear the full consequences of its actions, and therefore has a tendency to act less carefully than otherwise would, leaving another party to bear some responsibility for the consequences of those actions.

Blogging under the shelter of stefanica & florea drove my approach and opinions, if exists :), to a moral hazard attitude by customizing personal resources and pen touch to firm’s status and people, as it always existed the most wanted in what I am doing but not desired in what exists.

Starting with (let’s deadline, I love deadlines, it keeps us in shape) September 23rd, this blog will be removed as a link to Stefanica & Florea website and will lost itself within the bloggers netspace as “single practice” or as associate link to a different shelter, who knows?! A tiny law job will be replaced by “Vanity Law Fair” - a new blog, administrated exclusively by the team of stefanica & florea and edited by Stef – as Daniel Stefanica, Filiz – as copywriter and editor of the firm, Antonia Ulmeanu– as office manager, and formal members and colleagues, among of the most cooperative “Former Senior Partner”. Current edits will be imported into the new blog content and shall further belong to this happy fair firm, enduing to be firm, but fair.

Perhaps, in October my tiny law job blog will benefit of a facelift along with my new age. This blog will continue to edit for whatever it worths while waiting for feedback.

The Garden of Earthly Delights, cca. 1504, H. Bosch

The Owl as a law firm symbol....but not only

Shortly after the good-omen encounter with my (now former) partners, in early 2002, we all had a heated but funny debate about the owl, the symbol of our law firm. A dark green one, to be more precise, and not very stern looking. That owl represented our collective wisdom, endurance, experience. It haunted me to the point that I started revisiting fifteen century Dutch paintings to find something I knew was there, but maybe misplaced in my memory. I re-read about owls and other creatures, everything from Poe to Campbell to Eco, in search of the perfect owl to match the symbol on our business card. It finally dawned on me within the suitably gloomy walls of the Prado museum a couple of years later. The owl was the symbol of inner demons we've conquered. A depth more than the other-worldly, more powerful than hope, more durable than the paintings I was staring at.

Jeroen Bosch, a.k.a. Hieronymus Bosch. It all made sense, owl and all. His fifteenth century metaphors were so telling about today's world. How could a provincial Dutch painter be so visionary, so timeless - and depict certain owls in his work, for us to discover and compare centuries later. It all came together - my first ever e-mail address, hieronymus @.....; my elementary school nickname. I had all along believed it was the name of the Latin translator of the Bible, but in hindsight it's another Hieronymus we should take a closer look at, and find the right owl to look up to.

Today, no doubt, the right owl looks beyond darkness and leads to light through its wisdom. One cannot prevent all evil but one must see beyond it and overcome it. Don't delve too much in its laird. And resist temptation. The garden of delights is short lived.

Recounting Time

Time is not something that can be perceived as such, in its supposed capacity of an in itself identity holder, as some sort of immutable receptacle that is to be filled with various things; quite the opposite, it gains its identity depending on the things that fill it, it flows differently with respect to the relevance and the sense of the things that roam through it. Thus, accounting time first implies its decantation that will indicate it to us, that will enable us to guess it as a relation between a maximum and a minimum.

Its maximum consists in the main hypostasis in which we assume it, in which it enters our lives, namely as death… Thus, death becomes the pre-eminent form in which time shows itself to us and, as such, any evocation of time is an evocation of death, any time is for us, in the end, a time of death.

The minimum, on the other hand, appears as a time breakdown that is to show us, only to indicate to us without making it explicit, the fact that it does have an identity in itself, hypostasis which is defined by the recurrence. In this respect, I believe, it is said that when one makes the same things everyday many days in a row, it is not that a number of days have passed, but, in fact, only a single one- the standstill-present as a death of time. More explicitly, just as we get to understand that an instrument-object could have an identity in itself, that it could be something else than we intended to make out of it only when it is broken, becoming an inert thing of which we cannot make any use but into which we keep running, time allows itself to be guessed in its capacity of simple and inert presence only when it becomes broken, when it isn’t really flowing, namely in the shape of the standstill-present, of the perpetual recurrence.

What does then boredom mean? Perhaps it would be fairer to say of the moments that bore us not that they take to long but quite the opposite, that they do not take at all, that in their respect time doesn’t flow at all. The anxious waiting form them to pass is actually not a hunger for deeds but a hunger for moments, it is not an attempt at getting to events but one at getting to time.

Therefore between the time of death and the death of time it allows itself to be decanted, guessed and thus accounted.

"Sonia Sotomayor - an american story"

"sources Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine"

"Sotomayor has lived the American dream. Born to a Puerto Rican family, she grew up in a public housing project in the South Bronx. Her parents moved to New York during World War II – her mother served in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps during the war. Her father, a factory worker with a third-grade education, died when Sotomayor was nine years old. Her mother, a nurse, then raised Sotomayor and her younger brother, Juan, now a physician in Syracuse. After her father’s death, Sotomayor turned to books for solace, and it was her new found love of Nancy Drew that inspired a love of reading and learning, a path that ultimately led her to the law.

Most importantly, at an early age, her mother instilled in Sotomayor and her brother a belief in the power of education. Driven by an indefatigable work ethic, and rising to the challenge of managing a diagnosis of juvenile diabetes, Sotomayor excelled in school. Sotomayor graduated as valedictorian of her class at Blessed Sacrament and at Cardinal Spellman High School in New York. She first heard about the Ivy League from her high school debate coach, Ken Moy, who attended Princeton University, and she soon followed in his footsteps after winning a scholarship.
At Princeton, she continued to excel, graduating summa cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa. She was a co-recipient of the M. Taylor Pyne Prize, the highest honor Princeton awards to an undergraduate. At Yale Law School, Judge Sotomayor served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and as managing editor of the Yale Studies in World Public Order. One of Sotomayor’s former Yale Law School classmates, Robert Klonoff (now Dean of Lewis & Clark Law School), remembers her intellectual toughness from law school: "She would stand up for herself and not be intimidated by anyone.

Fresh out of Yale Law School, Judge Sotomayor became an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan in 1979, where she tried dozens of criminal cases over five years. Spending nearly every day in the court room, her prosecutorial work typically involved "street crimes," such as murders and robberies, as well as child abuse, police misconduct, and fraud cases. Robert Morgenthau, the person who hired Judge Sotomayor, has described her as a "fearless and effective prosecutor.". She was cocounsel in the "Tarzan Murderer" case, which convicted a murderer to 67 and ½ years to life in prison, and was sole counsel in a multiple-defendant case involving a Manhattan housing project shooting between rival family groups.
She entered private practice in 1984, becoming a partner in 1988 at the firm Pavia and Harcourt. She was a general civil litigator involved in all facets of commercial work including, real estate, employment, banking, contracts, and agency law. In addition, her practice had a significant concentration in intellectual property law, including trademark, copyright and unfair competition issues. Her typical clients were significant corporations doing international business. The managing partner who hired her, George Pavia, remembers being instantly impressed with the young Sonia Sotomayor when he hired her in 1984, noting that "she was just ideal for us in terms of her background and training.

Her judicial service began in October 1992 with her appointment to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H.W. Bush. Still in her 30s, she was the youngest member of the court. From 1992 to 1998, she presided over roughly 450 cases. As a trial judge, she earned a reputation as a sharp and fearless jurist who does not let powerful interests bully her into departing from the rule of law. In 1995, for example, she issued an injunction against Major League Baseball owners, effectively ending a baseball strike that had become the longest work stoppage in professional sports history and had caused the cancellation of the World Series the previous fall. She was widely lauded for saving baseball.

She has served as a member of the Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts and was formerly on the Boards of Directors of the New York Mortgage Agency, the New York City Campaign Finance Board, and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund."

Iago’s letter of intention and Munchausen’s CV

An employment agreement and work relationships are built upon trust, honesty and liability. What protection do you, as either employer or employee, have when candidates apply for vacancy, one gets the job, and you further discover that his CV was a false and misinterpreting statement of himself?
At first impression the most affected are the work colleagues of this new employee. They have to deal with expectations other than those declared, they have to tolerate claims on their own work and finally they have to deliver results and do the job for this new colleague many times.

Years ago, a law firm used to recruit lawyers based on a sort of letter of intention. The said letter was required to be in the English language about an interesting topic and was supposed to be elaborated by the applicant himself. We received great pieces of composition and narrative work on interesting topics: “devil’s advocate”, “age gap”, “football”, “human rights”, etc. The phrases were articulated with rich vocabulary and game words on edge; anyway, good proficiency in English language, no doubt. Within few days from their employment the rich vocabulary vanished and phrases were far from being articulated.
Same firm used to distribute specialized legal work and coordination of important assignments, such as project finance, energy transactions, clean development mechanism, banking transactions, etc. to new recruits or employee with glit CVs, in defiance of general opinion or annual survey. At deadline a senior had to cope with the bad work and redo drafts and documentation in a proper manner. Within one year the firm lost 4 seniors, each with expertise on a specific area.
Moreover, the firm offered trainings and seminars not based on merits and results, but on a strange principle of let’s avoid discussions why him instead of me?. Costly but silenced, honestly justifying with facts and results on “why him?” was considered rather punitive, you cannot say to someone that he is not working properly and still has a long way in learning. Better be good! Being good doesn’t mean that we are stupid and we cannot assess someone’s work and professional capabilities.

Other law firm “sold” me its recruitment policies as fair and fresh, not subject to any interventions, discriminatory assessment and bla, bla, bla, so why not apply on their marketing department. False, the marketing vacancy was only for people prepared in legal marketing. My guess was they would hire someone from a London based law firm, as in Romania we learned on the way about this marketing and copied international models. They hired someone, not from London, and within few months the administrative department supported with elaboration and preparation of CVs, pitches and offers the well prepared marketing department. I wrongly understood it was not about delivering marketing content, it was about marketing noise, internal and external outsourcing. Also, the fair recruitment policy was subject to siblings’ relationships, clients’ due interests and closed chart system. So no matter what you were doing you had to stick with your nominated position, as it was not about content, it was about the wrap. They even wrapped a former senior partner with whom they supposedly merged and then catalyzed into a takeover that quickly burned, into a senior associate for more than a year. Again, it was not about the achievment content, it was about the precondition of achievement.

Two formal partners who set up their own firm are practicing differentiated human resources approach: recruitment upon interpersonal relationships, work and networking upon their mood, work reimbursed in money but despised in words, disproportionate job intake, fluctuating outcome valuation, preferential tackling and so on. So, why you would want to work for them? for friendship, interpersonal skills, prior work, payback, professional environment and feedback, and last but not least for money. Yes, for money, only if worth. In this case there is no need of CV, it’s about the mood.

All of us have been tempted to put fictitious qualifications or other partial false information in our CV. I sinned too. Even though I did not work hard for some of my cv’s credentials, I dared to insert them as my best products. As I lost confidence in my work potential my CV became a rude boast about myself, an arrogant listing of factotum and makeup achievements of more than 4 pages: too much!!!. The truth is that those achievements were part of a wider team effort. Another truth is that I designed untrue and glamorous make-up Cvs for many of my formal colleagues. Some of them are fortunate to survive based on that penmade armoury. I wonder for how long? Now, my CV has no more than two layout pages because I learned that: “there is a significant difference between arrogance and confidence”.

The Prime of Success

As we ponder the gap between tiny and the largest known prime, tiny all of a sudden doesn't seem so irrelevant any more. A sequence of details and routines, anything goes, just as long as you don't turn into Anonymous Lawyer or greedyassociates or any given number of herd-like followers, of me-toos. 'Cause success is your only m f option, failure is not. You've got to lead and to deliver, there is no beating around the bush here, do or die - hard, I may add, but when you've reached the top the only way is down. So, given the choice, Job didn't seem to have had it that rough after all, a leper or two, loneliness, what's that compared to the voice of one's conscience nag-nag-nagging you into submission in quantum leaps of faith until such time you've found your true north. Thrive in the embrace of perfection, not in details but in your legacy, round and wholesome, definitely there, like the next, as of yet undiscovered prime, but you're just not there yet.

the Godfather

who is (god) fathering you to grow smallmind and lazy?

My most influential boss taught me the importance of solutions. He is an excellent orator and used to tackle us –secretaries, clients, peers, lawyers and juniors with equal elan. He motivated me to meet the most aggressive deadlines, to provide good and balanced work. He never tolerated any weakness in my work, be it drafting or of administrative nature, his point of view upon me was that I should always achieve better. Thus I learned the importance of hard work. Looking back, I was lucky to have such a boss, but some argue against.

The only thing I’m arguing against is the “godfathering” method of management. Not to be understood as Italian mob methods, but as the Christian way of guiding careers under the softness of doing nothing. I get the impression that the flexible way of working and great level of toleration is wrongly understood. Instead of gladly accepting this way, we should take advantage upon it.

Lesson learned: If you loose your inner enthusiasm in doing your job and still continue, you are choosing mediocrity.

P.S.
I owe much to:
Patricia Osmani – for convincing me that any receptionist can translate;
Oana Firca – for helping me on the way with drafts, translations and pitches;
Simona Popan – for her model;
Eduard Fagaraseanu – for trusting my drafting skills and using my templates with no comment;
Mihai Guia – for co-opting me in legal teams and giving yesterday dead-lines;
Dumitru Rusu – for his professional feedback;
Nelu – for being Nelu;
Gabi – for driving me around;
and
Stef – for tolerating me

all secretary's bosses

“How many bosses does it take … to screw a light in a bulb? One. To hold it up in the air while the universe revolves around it.” a joke

The biggest disadvantage with bosses is that they are brought about by fate, you cannot choose them, change them (save of harassment allegations, if), force them to do anything, discharge or fire them. Except for shooting them in your mind, your hands are tide. You have to obey or resign. Subsequent resigning is like a bungee-jumping exercise without securing rope.
As the first 7 years at home count, the first 7 years of job count alike. My bosses of the first seven job years amount to ten, mostly men, along with two women as beauty seeds. As first teachers’ impressions, they are truly to speak about, considering connections, history and present times; speaking good or bad, we will see.
The biggest issue in having multiple bosses is when they don’t communicate, share information or work together. So, nothing new when conflicting messages are received and you find yourself in the middle of a managerial disagreement. Managerial disputes are rather preferred by the employers, it is like a game, not of football, where people tend to support the weak team, but of life, where the most powerful is most loved and acclaimed. Sincere or not sincere, such love is directly proportional to the rate of the feedback in terms of money, position and … benefits of attention. Surviving the waves of these disputes involves either some kind of talent or best ally with the most power. And I survived, almost seven years …
As the prerequisite years of Jewish exodus after seven years of wealth, seven years of … other several bosses, exceeding ten or less, to speak of only a few of them, followed. Next days I will put together, trying to puzzle, memorable profiles or facts on each of them.
Lesson learned: It isn’t your responsibility to fight your bosses’s battles. If you aren’t directly involved, don’t take sides.

philosopher's corner sau filosoful la colţ

Mihai Novac - un autor

Vedem cu mintea la fel de mult pe cât cu ochii. Se poate oare atunci spune: gândim cu ochii la fel de mult pe cât cu mintea? Monet îşi deplângea condiţia de a se fi născut în plin văz. Dacă i s-ar mai fi oferit alegerea, spunea el, ar fi preferat să se fi născut orb pentru ca apoi să-şi dobândească treptat vederea, să se deprindă cu ea, să înveţe să vadă. Aceasta pentru a fi în stare să desprindă pura impresie de pe retină de ceea ce mintea îi spune să vadă; să vadă doar prin simţuri. Probabil că, dacă lui Monet i s-ar fi împlinit dorinţa, în asemenea condiţii, cu sau fără simţul văzului, ar fi rămas la fel de orb. În măsura în care nu ştim ce trebuie să vedem, nu vedem nimic. Reciproc, conştiinţa se edifică pe sine prin intermediul propriilor produse, cu alte cuvinte, ea îşi survine ca un produs al acelor lucruri pe care ea însăşi le face posibile.
Nimic nefiresc în toate acestea. Totuşi, în această dublă întreprindere ea nu trebuie niciodată să piardă din vedere două chestiuni: pe de o parte, tocmai pe sine în calitate de autoare a lucrurilor prin intermediul cărora ea se edifică, pe de alta sensul de transcendenţă inerent acestora. O exagerare de oricare dintre cele două părţi riscă să conducă în inautenticitate. De onestitatea sa cu sine sub aceste două aspecte depinde posibilitatea oricărei tematizări autentice a fenomenului.
Un simptom ar fi, poate, tocmai faptul că simţul comun ia de multe ori prostia ca pe o formă de orbire.
Anume ca sens pe care ea însăşi li le-a conferit la modul esenţialmente constitutiv şi care altfel, fără o atare trimitere în afară, nici un ar putea rezulta într-o edificare.

a Tiny Perspective
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” Ralph W. Emerson

First of all, I’m not a lawyer, I’m just a simple former secretary with few law firms.
What is this page? A virtual voice I choose to speak about law firms’ tiny matters, as huge matters should be dealt by lawyers.
I haven’t managed to (re)find a firm that would train me enough to turn secretarial job into viable career path of legal secretary or paralegal, as I really liked this type of job, challenging or not challenging it was my professional option. So, instead of being law job unemployed why not be funemployed on blogging.
This is not about strategies to financially and professionally survive these tighter times, tips on professional development and practice management, practical law guides, and so on; you may find this on … what will follow here as resources links (abnet.org, IPMA, asklizryan/group, estrinreport.com, legalpractice, etc); this is about people, fun, honesty (even on billing), lawyers’ networking, facts’ history, books, holidays and friends. Nevertheless, it will be about lessons I learned while assisting lawyers and law firm managers. I dare to profile my bosses and other people who came on the path from my own perspective, tiny, but personally.
I shall try to avoid stodgy boilerplate phrases, the sort of corporate-speak that litters the message, and use human language. I will disclose drafts on contracts, reports, summaries, wordings, all types of documents and contents that I have succeeded in gathering without affecting copyrights, confidentiality and other rights.
First lesson: Sometimes a tiny perspective is more appropriate than a wider perspective. When things are not going well, persistence is merely a failure to consider all your options, just simply stop and reverse course.