Berlinda Bernard August 28, 2021 Growing where you are planted might potentially mean job security in the long run. What is even better is that the role does not have to be the one you are in now. It can be a promotion within the same department or another. In general, you might position yourself in a way to welcome external future career opportunities should you find yourselves in an unfortunate situation where your current role seizes to exist. Be Proactive In my 12 years working as a paralegal, I have always positioned myself in a way that I can always thrive. I never shied away from ..read more

Berlinda Bernard July 6, 2021 If you want to stand out, you must show up. If you want to be heard, you must speak up. Those were my exact thoughts when I started writing. I wanted to record my thoughts and ideas somewhere, but I was unsure exactly where to start. I had read several blogs from paralegals who started before me. Each had its style, and I admired their creativity and their delivery. I knew, however, I had my flavor to bring to the mix. Mind Your Thoughts & Delivery Before starting the Quintessential Pillar blog, I would write down my thoughts, criticism, and insight abo ..read more

Berlinda Bernard June 3, 2021 Congratulations! You have landed your dream job. You are officially an attorney ready to practice law. You have joined a firm and even have made friends with the partner you will be working alongside. You have gone out to lunch with the associates and have several one-on-one lunch dates on the calendar. Best of all, you have your own case and ready to litigate. You are living the dream. This was not as difficult as your classmates and professors made it out to be. That would be the case, and it would be great, except you have barely said hello to the legal s ..read more

Berlinda Bernard April 26, 2021 By Berlinda Bernard Freelance paralegals help lawyers save time and clients money. They are available as needed and can be retained on a contract basis. When a lawyer realizes that he needs additional legal support but not necessarily a new hire, he can reach out to a virtual freelance paralegal to get the help he needs to run his practice smoothly. Freelance paralegals can help lawyers be more productive by simply taking on some of the substantive legal tasks and legal administrative work that a lawyer is responsible for completing. This partnership is pre ..read more

Berlinda Bernard March 9, 2021 By Berlinda Bernard In recent months, I’ve met and learned about several paralegals doing amazing work in the legal field. Some of these professionals were already in my network on LinkedIn. However, I did not know much about how they’ve been contributing to the legal industry. I am happy to know them more personally and hope to work with them in the future as we continue to elevate paralegals and raise the bar.   The State of the Profession The paralegal profession remains one of the fastest-growing professions, according to the Bureau of Labor Stat ..read more

By Berlinda Bernard Paralegals have been helping lawyers for decades. However, there’s still a major disconnect when it comes to understanding what paralegals do and why they exist.   Why we become paralegals Some of the benefits of being a paralegal include the opportunity to work in law, career flexibility, continuous learning opportunities, and working among some of the world’s brightest professionals. Depending on where you work, you can actually make a difference. When I think of the difference paralegals can make, I think about how we can do the legal work under a licensed attorney ..read more

By Berlinda Bernard Within the last year, almost everyone I know has attended an event via Zoom. We have all came up with some of our own tricks and tips to make Zoom better and more practical, especially for our specific jobs. In the early days of the pandemic, when most of us started working from home, I got a chance to explore both Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Zoom ended up winning because it was more user-friendly. You send a link to participants, and all of a sudden, we are now in a meeting. We have also heard of some serious and embarrassing mistakes professionals have made using Zoom. In m ..read more

By Berlinda Bernard Dress for success. How you present yourself has great importance in building your self-confidence and success. We can take it a step further and say dress up for your mindset. Don’t let your mindset dress you. Instead, dress it up and change your outlook and, potentially, your outcome. Knowing this as a fact, I’ve always tried to put some effort into my appearance. This is no different when I am working from home. Some of us thought that working from home would be getting out of bed or staying in bed and opening up our laptops, and start working. But with Zoom and other vid ..read more

Berlinda Bernard January 15, 2021 By Berlinda Bernard   The Unauthorized Practice of Law is an issue that paralegals will face at some point in their careers. I hope you never cross the line. Paralegals have the professional responsibility not to practice law. It’s as simple as that. The rules exist to protect the public. It should be followed to protect your reputation and your future in law.   Although it can be quite an honor to be trusted to take on more responsibility, you have the duty and responsibility to know where to draw the line. Essentially, anything that gives the ..read more

Berlinda Bernard January 10, 2021 By Berlinda Bernard Have you ever wondered about how you can transfer your paralegal skills and education? Paralegals keep showing up everywhere. They even have their own businesses, using their background in creative ways to contribute to the legal profession. I used to daydream about my ideal paralegal job and how it would combine everything I’ve done so far, on a professional and personal level. I would somehow combine my fashion design, paralegal studies, and business management degrees. Then I would add my years of experience in bankruptcy and labo ..read more