Every day thousands of paralegals and legal assistants leave their offices feeling frustrated, overworked and under utilized. As an attorney and professor, author Robert E. Mongue, J.D. hears from paralegals who, despite their education and professional training, feel poorly equipped to meet the real challenges of today's law office. Too often paralegals are taught law and procedure but not how to effectively manage their time, workloads and clients. Too often they feel ineffective and powerless when dealing with attorneys, clients and court personnel, inside and outside the office. During his over thirty years as a litigator employing, training and teaching paralegals, Prof. Mongue gathered and developed clear, concise and easy-to-use techniques to teach paralegals how to become a critical component of an effective legal team. He used these techniques in his own law practice and in classrooms, seminars and workshops. These techniques are now together in a practical guide, entitled The Empowered Paralegal. Employment for paralegals and legal assistants is projected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through 2014. Those empowered with the skills and confidence required to be true professionals will dominate the field. The Empowered Paralegal provides step-by-step, easy-to-understand techniques, written in a friendly, accessible and sometimes humorous way, for managing time, docket calendars, files, clients and litigation. In addition to these management techniques, The Empowered Paralegal provides sound guidance on managing the work relationship with attorneys and on being a professional. The Empowered Paralegal provides important practical office strategies while giving paralegals the empowerment, recognition and respect they and their profession deserve. A useful adjunct to any course, especially "Introduction to Paralegalism," The Empowered Paralegal is designed for the student in an internship seminar, the established paralegal, or those entering this fast-growing field. "Read this practical, easy-to-read guide even if you have a couple of years of experience. It's the stuff of superstars who somehow innately know how to make their job seem effortless and smooth, much to amazement of others mired down in chaos." -- Estrin Report "Mongue's book, The Empowered Paralegal, is an informative read, especially for individuals new to the paralegal profession... So add The Empowered Paralegal, the book and the blog, to your professional reading list. Mongue is a real fan of the paralegal profession and promotes paralegals as a valued and essential part of the legal team. With his daily updates at his blog, he provides a welcome attorney perspective in the paralegal blogosphere." -- Lynne DeVenney, Practical Paralegalism

Professionalism is more than dressing well and a profession is more than a group of people engaged in the same career. This book takes a comprehensive approach to paralegal professionalism and the paralegal professional, discussing topics such as establishing a professional identity, regulation, certification and licensing, paralegal associations, paralegals from the perspective of the courts, paralegal utilization, paralegal professionalism, paralegal practice outside the United States, and paralegal education. "This important book addresses issues that either are or should be at the forefront of every discussion of the paralegal professional today. Paralegals are beginning to acknowledge the heights they have attained, but they have lacked a major scholarly treatise that has examined the profession in a systematic and insightful way. This book provides that scholarly examination. Beginning with a thoughtful overview of professional identity and all its elements, the book then goes on to examine each element of that identity -- education, regulation, professional ethics and the attorney/paralegal relationship, and utilization -- in academic detail. This framework echoes the issues that define the profession as a whole today. Thus, it is likely that this book will provide the intellectual framework for the discussions that will take place throughout the professional sphere." -- Toni Marsh, Esquire, Director, George Washington University Paralegal Studies Programs "This anthology delivers on the title's promise: it is a thought-provoking compilation of issues facing paralegals today and a challenge to individual paralegals to embody professionalism as the profession itself grows and develops." -- Kristine M. Hill, ACP, FRP, Advanced Certified Paralegal, Pensacola, Florida "The Empowered Paralegal Professional Anthology approaches the inherent questions posed to the modern day paralegal in terms of where we have been, who we are, and where we go from here. There is such a diverse background, with regard to education and preparation, in the field that it is refreshing to see a guide that incorporates a historical context, as well as future goals of the profession. It is so very important to understand the value of personal identity in terms of professionalism and ethics, which is crucial, or should I say integral, to how the legal community and the general public view the paralegal or legal assistant. I would highly recommend this book to all presently in the paralegal profession, as well as those interested in pursuing a paralegal career." -- Toylaine Hayman Spencer, Environmental Paralegal, Houston, Texas

A critical and in-depth analysis of access to justice from international and Islamic perspectives, with a specific focus on access by women.

The United Nations estimates that four billion people worldwide live outside the protection of the law. These people can be driven from their land, intimidated by violence, and excluded from society. This book is about community paralegals - sometimes called barefoot lawyers - who demystify law and empower people to advocate for themselves. These paralegals date back to 1950s South Africa and are active today in many countries, but their role has largely been ignored by researchers. Community Paralegals and the Pursuit of Justice is the first book on the subject. Focusing on paralegal movements in six countries, Vivek Maru, Varun Gauri, and their coauthors have collected rich, vivid stories of paralegals helping people to take on injustice, from domestic violence to unlawful mining to denial of wages. From these stories emerges evidence of what works and how. The insights in the book will be of immense value in the global fight for universal justice. This title is also available as Open Access.

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

Civil Law and Litigation for Paralegals is a comprehensive text designed specifically for paralegal civil litigation courses. Author Neal Bevans not only teaches the basics of civil litigation, but also gives students the opportunity to learn skills they will use in practice. In a balanced approach, Bevans covers all the key topics paralegals need to know in an easy-to-read and engaging style that utilizes numerous examples and illustrations but never overwhelms the student. The text provides students with an in-depth analysis of a wide variety of civil cases, beginning with laying out the basic foundation of the American legal system. It proceeds through the investigation and implementation of a civil case, and follows the case through to appeal. The text balances the theoretical underpinnings of the law with the practical examples and hands-on experience that all students need to completely understand the topic. The helpful pedagogy throughout the book and a comprehensive teaching package make class preparation as easy as possible. Features: Clear introduction to the fundamentals of civil litigation for paralegal students. Provides students with an in-depth analysis of a wide variety of civil cases, laying out the basic foundation of the American legal system, proceeding through the investigation and implementation of a civil case, and following the case through to appeal. Designed to help prepare students for the practical world of divorces, car wreck cases, and medical malpractice claims that they will see every day in civil practice. Each chapter presents students with examples of the important role that paralegals play in every stage of civil litigation, from client intake to bringing an appeal. Understandable writing style with strong pedagogy, resulting in a teachable and accessible text. Each chapter includes Practice Pointers, Search Suggestions, Tech Topics, and Legal Legwork boxes, along with case excerpts, forms, and ethics. Helpful pedagogy includes Chapter Objectives that focus learning and review, Boldfaced key terms and marginal definitions for convenient reference, Review questions at the end of each chapter, and references to web sites that facilitate legal research

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MICHIKO KAKUTANI, THE NEW YORK TIMES • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MORE THAN 45 PUBLICATIONS, INCLUDING The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • NPR • The New Yorker • San Francisco Chronicle • The Economist • The Atlantic • Newsday • Salon • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Guardian • Esquire (UK) • GQ (UK) After three acclaimed novels, Gary Shteyngart turns to memoir in a candid, witty, deeply poignant account of his life so far. Shteyngart shares his American immigrant experience, moving back and forth through time and memory with self-deprecating humor, moving insights, and literary bravado. The result is a resonant story of family and belonging that feels epic and intimate and distinctly his own. Born Igor Shteyngart in Leningrad during the twilight of the Soviet Union, the curious, diminutive, asthmatic boy grew up with a persistent sense of yearning—for food, for acceptance, for words—desires that would follow him into adulthood. At five, Igor wrote his first novel, Lenin and His Magical Goose, and his grandmother paid him a slice of cheese for every page. In the late 1970s, world events changed Igor’s life. Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev made a deal: exchange grain for the safe passage of Soviet Jews to America—a country Igor viewed as the enemy. Along the way, Igor became Gary so that he would suffer one or two fewer beatings from other kids. Coming to the United States from the Soviet Union was equivalent to stumbling off a monochromatic cliff and landing in a pool of pure Technicolor. Shteyngart’s loving but mismatched parents dreamed that he would become a lawyer or at least a “conscientious toiler” on Wall Street, something their distracted son was simply not cut out to do. Fusing English and Russian, his mother created the term Failurchka—Little Failure—which she applied to her son. With love. Mostly. As a result, Shteyngart operated on a theory that he would fail at everything he tried. At being a writer, at being a boyfriend, and, most important, at being a worthwhile human being. Swinging between a Soviet home life and American aspirations, Shteyngart found himself living in two contradictory worlds, all the while wishing that he could find a real home in one. And somebody to love him. And somebody to lend him sixty-nine cents for a McDonald’s hamburger. Provocative, hilarious, and inventive, Little Failure reveals a deeper vein of emotion in Gary Shteyngart’s prose. It is a memoir of an immigrant family coming to America, as told by a lifelong misfit who forged from his imagination an essential literary voice and, against all odds, a place in the world. Praise for Little Failure “Hilarious and moving . . . The army of readers who love Gary Shteyngart is about to get bigger.”—The New York Times Book Review “A memoir for the ages . . . brilliant and unflinching.”—Mary Karr “Dazzling . . . a rich, nuanced memoir . . . It’s an immigrant story, a coming-of-age story, a becoming-a-writer story, and a becoming-a-mensch story, and in all these ways it is, unambivalently, a success.”—Meg Wolitzer, NPR “Literary gold . . . bruisingly funny.”—Vogue “A giant success.”—Entertainment Weekly

This innovative book proposes new theories on how the legal system can be made more comprehensible, usable and empowering for people through the use of design principles. Utilising key case studies and providing real-world examples of legal innovation, the book moves beyond discussion to action. It offers a rich set of examples, demonstrating how various design methods, including information, service, product and policy design, can be leveraged within research and practice.

Elder law is a dual-natured creature and in many ways is quite unlike any other area of law. Substantively the law is law - statutes, cases, rules, and regulations - all of which must be researched, analyzed, understood and applied. Unlike any other type of law, however, elder law is not about something a client is going through, such as a divorce, bankruptcy, a real estate transaction, or even a criminal charge. Elder law is about whom and what the client is - an elderly person. The Empowered Paralegal: Working with the Elder Client enhances understanding of elder law clients, the laws applicable to them, and the issues they face. The Empowered Paralegal: Working with the Elder Client examines the many influences on elder clients and their families, the deeply personal perspectives which result from those influences, and how they affect the decisions elder law clients make. It focuses on awareness and understanding of the elder client, explaining in clear language the dual nature of the elder client, the physical and psychological changes that occur as we age, and the practicalities of accommodating these changes when working with elderly clients. It also examines: Issues surrounding competency, as well as the need for and methods of documenting competency in the file. Dealing with the client's family, including conflicts of interests, confidentiality and undue influence. Perspectives, many culturally or religiously based, on aging, death, and dying. Intestacy, estate planning basics, and the use of basic estate planning tools to meet client goals. Advanced directives and other means of planning for end-of-life decisions. Social Security, SSI, Medicare, Medicaid and other public benefit programs and laws directly affecting the elderly. Elder abuse and the conflicts that may arise between the attorney/client privilege and mandatory reporting statues. Ethical dilemmas faced by the professionals who work with the elderly. The Teacher's Manual is available electronically on a CD or via email. (Blackboard-compatible files available upon request.) Please contact Beth Hall at [email protected] to request a copy. "Mongue's book does not cover the ho and the hum of regular 'how-to' paralegal books. In fact, what he covers should be taught in every school regardless of specialty, profession or even age. Here, Mongue deals with our feelings about aging and the myths, stereotypes, cultural prejudices and extrapolations to the general population based upon personal experience. He draws you in as he explains behavior and the aging process and teaches you how to react as a result. As it turns out, much of what we think about the elderly is wrong, wrong, wrong." -- Chere Estrin, Editor-in-Chief of KNOW, The Magazine for Paralegals and SUE, For Women in Litigation; Chairperson of the Board, The Organization of Legal Professionals (OLP) "[A]n insightful guide that any legal professional who works with an older population will find extremely useful. Mongue brings his extensive expertise both as a practicing lawyer and a paralegal instructor to the table, and illustrates his points with interesting examples. He discusses the complexities of the law in regard to aging in a clear, direct style that readers of all experience levels will appreciate. This book is a must-read and a valuable desk reference for anyone who interacts with elder clients." -- Lynne J. DeVenny, Co-Author of Workers' Compensation Practice for Paralegals and blogger at Practical Paralegalism