More than 50 members of the legal community attended the December 5 Paralegal Section Holiday Party at Robert Half Legal. The Paralegal Section honored the following individuals: Section Member of the Year: Colleen Dietterle, San Francisco City Attorney’s Office Legal…
Register Now for Paralegal Studies at City College
The Paralegal/Legal Studies Program at City College of San Francisco (CCSF), in operation since 1973, was granted approval from the American Bar Association (ABA) in August 2017. Designed for working adults, classes are taught in the evenings at its downtown…
Paralegal Section News: November 2017
The Paralegal Section’s third year is coming to a close with a bang! BASF’s first non-attorney section was the brainchild of Director of Continuing Legal Education Raquel Cabading, who recognized a need for support and education for paralegals and other non-attorney…
Navigating the Legal Workplace to Land Your Dream Job
In May, BASF’s Paralegal Section hosted a CLE presentation titled “Navigating the Legal Workplace” covering a wide range of topics: effective resume writing and interviewing techniques; self-promotion; office politics; and working through implicit biases. Panelists included two members of the…
Wanted: Nominees for Paralegal Awards and New Executive Committee Members
ANNUAL AWARDS How would you like to show some appreciation for your hard-working legal support staff? Now is your chance! The Paralegal Section of The Bar Association of San Francisco is accepting nominations of your dedicated non-attorney legal professionals for…
Absence of Court Reporters in Family Law Courts = Access to Justice Denied
California courts’ ongoing funding crisis is failing those most vulnerable. Since 2009, the nation’s largest judicial branch has experienced budget cuts in the hundreds of millions of dollars, resulting in drastically reduced court staffing and services in most of California’s 58 counties. Even as…
10 Red Flags of Potentially Difficult Clients
Paralegals and other non-attorney professionals are often tasked with the initial potential client intake interview. The first consideration is to determine if there is any conflict of interest in communicating with the potential client. All legal practices should have a…
How to Prevent the Leading Cause of Malpractice Claims
Are you still using Outlook, spreadsheets or hand-written “cheat sheets” to track crucial calendar deadlines? It’s time to seriously evaluate your processes. On March 22, 2017, Joseph C. Scott, J.D. spoke at a BASF CLE titled Calendaring as a Risk…
Section Member Spotlight: Ana Fatima Costa
Author. Speaker. Mother. Coach. These are just a few of the words used to describe Ana Fatima Costa, marketing coordinator for BASF’s Paralegal Section. Born in Portugal, Costa and her family immigrated to America when she was seven years old…
Client Service Strategies for Paralegals
When working directly with clients, it is important to develop and maintain client service strategies to ensure their satisfaction with your firm. Achieving client satisfaction through client service does not require an expensive program or subscription. It’s free and can…
Court Reporting Ethics Panel Takes On Controversial Topics
During the recent CLE program “Can You Say That? Legal Ethics of Working with Court Reporters,” put on by the Paralegal Section, these questions were addressed: • Do you know what Assembly Bill 1197 requires in Notices of Deposition? •…
Paralegals and Legal Staff: Make a Difference Through Pro Bono
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1960 Most nonprofit organizations are in need of lawyers but rarely ask specifically for assistance from legal support volunteers. While…