Our very own, Laura Ambrose writes for AIEG Paralegals Journal Paralegal Voice, Congratulations Laura!
I’ll start off by saying I am very new to the legal world. Prior to Pope McGlamry, I managed a Chiropractic office for five years. Needless to say, it was very different from what I am doing now. I have been a legal assistant/paralegal at Pope McGlamry since July of 2016. Luckily, I had some experience with attorneys from patients that had personal injury claims and my extensive experience with medical records has also been useful a time or two. It has been a whirlwind and overload of information but has been the best experience of my life. I have learned so much in such a short time and continue to learn every day.
When I heard about AIEG, I was excited to learn there was a group of professionals like me that had tons of information and resources that I could use when I needed help. Since joining, I’ve found everyone to be more than willing to share their knowledge and experiences with myself and others, and it has proven to be extremely helpful. Tom Willingham, the attorney I assist, raved about AIEG and insisted I attend the Spring Paralegal Seminar. I knew the conference would be equally, if not more, informative than all the materials passed through the Listserv emails, so I signed up right away.
It was a bit intimidating at first when I walked into the conference room full of experienced paralegals, but that feeling went away quickly. Everyone was so friendly and nice that I felt very comfortable and excited to get started. Over the next two days I learned about so many topics that my head was exploding! I took almost 20 pages of notes that I still continue to reference. The presentations included a wide range of information, including investigating cases, biomechanics, and de-stressing yourself and handling the high pressure of being a paralegal. Speakers gave tips on how to be more efficient in day-to-day work, as well as on how they prepare for trial and depositions. It was interesting to see the viewpoints of others and to learn more about what goes into litigation behind the scenes.
The variety of the topics and the enthusiasm the speakers exhibited when presenting kept things interesting. All of the presenters were exceptional! One topic that stood out to me was the HITECH Act and process of obtaining medical records much faster (and cheaper) under the provisions of the Act. Requesting and obtaining medical records has been an ongoing, stressful process at our firm and hearing that there was a better way to go about it was very exciting. If I had not attended this seminar I may have never learned about it! I have met with a few attorneys at our office and we have begun implementing this process. Thanks so much to Rachel and Alesia at Langdon & Emison for teaching us about this and continuing to help after the seminar was over!
Not only was the conference informative, it was an experience to get to know other paralegals in the group and make connections. One of the most rewarding segments of the seminar was at the very end. We had a “storytelling” session that proved to be quite insightful. Everyone shared funny stories about situations that they’ve encountered over the course of their careers as paralegals that I could relate to. It was refreshing to be able to talk about the quirks of the job with others that have experienced the same things that I do.
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the AIEG Paralegal Seminar and am looking forward to the next one!
