Law Office of Virginia Cook 1988 – 1991
Sole Practitioner Personal Injury Firm in Inglewood, CA
Began as entry level runner delivering documents to court, acting as an in house courier. Moved into basic investigation of cases, photographing accident scenes, property damage and injuries, gathering witness statements, police reports, medical reports and bills. Responsible for all calendaring including statute of limitations, 2, 3 & 5 year dismissal statutes and fast track deadlines. Then moved into responding to discovery and very basic law & motion work.
Key Skills Acquired: Basic Office skills, beginning computer skills (this was still in the pre-Windows era when DOS was still the operating system for most computers), understanding of the civil litigation process through Rutter Group Civ Proc. Before Trial Seminar and hands on training in the office, investigative fact gathering and rules of evidence.
=====================================
The McKiernan Law Firm 1991-1994
3-5 Attorney Personal Injury Firm in San Luis Obispo, CA
Sole litigation paralegal supporting up to 5 attorneys with over 100 cases in litigation. Responsible for calendaring of fast track deadlines and weekly court appearances re compliance with fast track rules. Set up in house tracking systems, forms, pleadings for general use. Responsible for overseeing case managers responding to discovery. Responsible for tracking all law and motion matters and preparation of and responding to all law and motion matters including delegation of tasks to attorneys, assigning attorneys to court appearances, overseeing mandatory arbitration, preparation of arbitration, settlement conference briefs, setting up mock trials. Assisted in administration of firm, choice of office equipment, marketing and advertising recommendations, internal reassignment and training of staff, worked closely with IT department setting up systems for maximum automation. Acted as lead on all sexual harassment cases including cases with national media attention and cases involving high ranking government officials. Singlehandedly averted multiple malpractice cases against the firm through application of tolling provisions and factual investigations when suits had been filed after the statute of limitations had run. Solely responsible for any non-personal injury matters the office was handling.
Key skills acquired: Ability to be a team leader with full charge of a significant case load in litigation, supervised 10-15 case managers and support staff and reported directly to attorneys regarding entire case load; managed attorneys’ schedules, dramatically improved legal research, analysis and legal writing skills to implement strategic conclusions and recommendations under the supervision of a Harvard Law Attorney and became an expert in law and motion work, became an expert in civil procedure, gained valuable experience in the court room representing case status directly to judges on behalf of the firm, learned how to interact with the media on high profile matters and made the leap from support staff to managerial position as a supervising senior paralegal. Those skills allowed me to open my own companies after I left the firm, which are still in operation today under the name 111 N. Hill Attorney Support Services
=========================================================
1994-2022 H.E.L.P., Inc./Legal Ink/111 N. Hill Attorney Support Services
President/Director/General Partner/Owner and Senior Paralegal. These were businesses I owned or shared ownership of with general partners. Firms provided legal support services to attorneys including legal research and analysis, strategy recommendations, legal writing, document preparation, client contact, setup of office procedures, investigation, process serving, court filings, subpoenas, trial preparation and appellate work. Practice areas include Family Law, Civil Litigation, Personal Injury, Guardianship/Conservatorship, Landlord-Tenant, Probate, Estate Planning, Bankruptcy, Labor/Employment Law, Administrative Proceedings, Real Estate and General Business Litigation. Additionally, performed significant work in criminal litigation including traffic, misdemeanor, felony, capital cases, and civil commitments, including case analysis, law and motion work, legal research, trial preparation, parole hearings and processing of appeals, including research and writing of appellate briefs and various appellate Writs before the State Court of Appeals and the State Supreme Court. I have continuously operated some form of this business under different company names since 1994 while I also was employed by various firms on a part-time or full time basis.
Key skills acquired: Operation of a corporation and other businesses as a principal. Networking with other professionals both legal and associated fields (accountants, doctors, psychiatrists, other experts in their fields). During nearly 30 years of operating these businesses I was able to take on the most unusual and complex cases, the ones involving issues the attorneys either had never come across before or which were too time consuming and complicated for them to give the attention necessary to win. This spawned a knowledge base of the most esoteric of legal principles and obscure of laws, giving me a tremendous wealth of knowledge few in this industry possess. I came to be referred to as a “walking encyclopedia of family law” and was known as one of the foremost experts in civil procedure in San Luis Obispo County. In 2021 I was deemed a qualified expert in California Civil Procedure by a Florida Judge and testified extensively on the subjects of service of process and default proceedings in a Sister State enforcement of judgment proceeding.
During these years I gained extensive courtroom experience, appearing regularly with various attorneys and Mr. Cabrera in particular, which led to my being highly respected in the small legal community in San Luis Obispo. Judges and attorneys came to treat me much the same as they treated one another. Among the lawyers and judges in that “small town” I was, in many ways, accepted into the “good ol’ boys club” as one of their own.
Although I was not a licensed attorney, given the respect I commanded I gave the appearance of an attorney. So true was this that there were times when various judges would forego waiting for whichever attorney I was appearing with and ask me to brief them on matters before the court and, on occasion, to dance on the edge of arguing cases [successfully] in the attorneys’ absence.
While I never walked into a courtroom intending to practice law, when a judge starts asking questions, you answer. As a result, I have unintentionally argued matters of support, custody, property orders and DVTRO’s, and won every time. I believe those instances led to Judge E. Jeffrey Burke personally authoring a letter of recommendation when I was considering returning to law school wherein he states:
=========================================================
1994-2017 Law Offices of Angel R. Cabrera
Senior Paralegal responsible for all aspects of managing a law practice as well as being responsible for all aspects of civil litigation including legal research and analysis, legal writing, document preparation, client contact, case analysis, setup of office procedures, investigation, process serving, trial preparation and appellate work. Practice areas include Family Law, Civil Litigation, Personal Injury, Guardianships and Conservatorships, Landlord-Tenant, Probate, Estate Planning, Bankruptcy and Business Litigation.
Mr. Cabrera was the Harvard Law Attorney who taught me many of the skills I polished while we were both with The McKiernan Law Firm. We worked together to start his solo practice and continued for over two decades thereafter. In many ways we operated as “partners”, making business decisions together, sharing in formation of strategies, working together to analyze cases, attending hearings and trials together and dividing tasks in our cases based on each of our strengths. We were a formidable team when we combined our unique skills and we had an excellent track record of success for our clients. Key skills acquired: Over our 20 years together I learned the Harvard approach to the practice of law, which is uniquely thorough, meticulous and highly effective.
=========================================================
1994-1996 Law Office of David M. Eckhart, Cayucos, CA/Los Angeles, CA
Senior Paralegal and Office Manager. in charge of all business litigation, preparation of pleadings, preparation of all discovery, all law and motion matters, all calendaring, all legal research and analysis, trial preparation and appellate work in both state and federal court.
Set up all procedures and manual for expanding into personal injury practice including form letters, stock pleadings, in house checklists, calendaring system, accounting system, computer system and client database. Heavily involved in marketing strategy.
Transactional Law – Corporate/Business formations/Wills & Trusts. Worked in estate planning including domestic and offshore asset protection utilizing worldwide resources including Nevada & Delaware business formations domestically and various types of entities and accounts in the Bahamas, Switzerland and Lichtenstein.
Key skills acquired: Transactional experience and Federal Court procedure
=========================================================
1996-2001/ Law Office of David G. Stronge, Pismo Beach, CA 2006-2008
Senior Paralegal and Office Manager Primarily Family Law. 60 – 100 active cases
In charge of all litigation, preparation of pleadings, preparation of all discovery, all law and motion matters, all calendaring, all legal research and analysis, strategy and trial preparation. Heavy client contact and legal community contact. Responsible for all office systems and supplies.
Worked with Mr. Stronge until I decided to go independent in 2000-2001. In 2006 he contacted me and asked me to come back and help him close down the practice so he could retire.
Key skills acquired: Extensive training in family law by Mr. Stronge who had been practicing family law for over 40 years.
=========================================================
2001-2005 Law Office of Tammi L. Faulks. Santa Maria, CA (Employee)
2005-2012 (Contractual affiliation – Independent Contractor basis as needed)
Senior Paralegal in charge of all litigation, preparation of pleadings, preparation of all discovery, all law and motion matters, all calendaring, all legal research and analysis, strategy, trial preparation and appellate work. Heavy client contact and legal community contact. Primarily Family Law.
Key skills acquired: Further training in family law by Ms. Faulks who is a certified family law attorney. Worked on published appellate case as the lead brief writer. Set precedent on the question of step-parent rights after divorce where natural parents want no contact between step-parent and child. [In Re Witmer]
=========================================================
2012-2015 Alton & Allen San Luis Obispo, CA
Two attorney firm handling Family Law & Criminal Defense matters
Senior paralegal on all family law matters. Additionally worked on various criminal motions, appeals and writs, including SVP cases.
Key skills acquired: Criminal Appellate practice
=========================================================
2015-2017 Clarke Young, Esq. Santa Monica, CA
Sole Practitioner Boutique Family Law Firm [2-3 clients only]
Senior Paralegal on family law matters involving opposing party with Borderline Personality Disorder. Very specialized practice.
Key skills acquired: Extensive research, education and training regarding psychology of borderline personality and other disorders as defined by the DSM-IV and DSM-V