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.