iap network apr 2011— may 2011 iap network april iap... · 2020. 2. 3. · iap network apr...

I A P N E T W O R K A P R 2 0 1 1 — M A Y 2 0 1 1

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I N T H I S I S S U E . . .

Highlight from the

2011 IAP Salary

Survey

1

Recovery of

Paralegal Fees

6

Education News 12

Paralegal Career

Outlook

17

IAP NetworkA P R 2 0 1 1 — M A Y 2 0 1 1 I D A H O A S S O C I A T I O N O F P A R A L E G A L S

"IAP Network" is

published

bi-monthly by the

Idaho Association of

Paralegals, Inc. and

is provided as a

service to all

members.

Articles and

submissions are

welcome.

Opinions expressed

in this publication

are those of the

authors and do not

Celebrating 30 Years

President’s Message By Kendra Fiscelli

I want to thank all of the members who participated in the salary survey this year. Also, big thanks to Teressa Zywicki for tallying all of the results!!

Highlight from the 2011 IAP Salary Survey By Teressa Zwyicki

See the complete survey results at:

http://cid-366e72640fa30592.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?resid=366E72640FA30592!107

Surveys were sent to 60 IAP members; 42 members responded. The response rate was 70%.

Workplace Over half (62%) of responding IAP members work in law firms; 21% work in corporate offices and approximately 10% work in the government sector. Almost 5% reported working in the insurance industry; 2% are self-employed. No one reported working in the hospital/health care field. Of the 26 respondents who work in a law firm environment, most (over 38%) work in firms with one to five attorneys. Almost 27% work in firms of 16 to 50 attorneys;19% work in law firms with fifty or more attorneys; 15% work with firms of 6 to 15 attorneys.


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IAP Salary Survey - cont’d

Years of Experience Seventy-two percent of responding IAP members have over ten years of experience.

Education Forty-two respondents hold a combined total of 76 degrees and certificates. Over half (60%) hold both a Bachelor’s Degree and a certificate from an ABA approved program.

Time & Billing Thirty-eight percent of you bill your time; 37% do not. Of those of you that bill your time, the rates range from a low of $44 to a high of $165. The average rate falls within the $116 to $140 category, while the rate most often billed is between $91 and $115. Of the 25 respondents (38%) who bill their time, almost half (48%) report no billable hour requirement; 44% report billable time requirements of between 1200 and 1800 hours per year. The highest requirement reported is 1900 hours per year. Lastly, as reported by the 25 respondents who bill their time, just over half (52%) reported that they spend between 0 and 50 hours per year on administrative duties.

Annual Salary While annual Salaries range from less than $25,000 to $72,001 and above, almost 25% of respondents reported their salaries as being between $47,001 and $52,000.


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IAP Salary Survey — cont’d

Bonuses In 2010, 47.6% of you received a bonus (20 respondents,) while 52.4% did not. The smallest bonus was $250; the largest bonus was $5,000. Most of you (35%) received bonuses of between $1001 and $2000.

Overtime Virtually three quarters (74%) of respondents are compensated monetarily for overtime. As regards non-monetary compensation for overtime, of the 39 respondents who answered, over half did receive this form of compensation.

Benefits Virtually all respondents (almost 93%) have medical insurance; 88 % have dental insurance and 69% have insurance covering vision. Thirty-eight percent participate in a 401k; 69% have 401k accounts with employer matching*; 19% participate in profit sharing. Eleven respondents (26%) receive other benefits, which encompass such things as Flexible Spending Accounts, retirement benefits other than a 401k, life and disability insurance, parking, memberships (in gyms and health clubs, and IAP,) and a cell phone.

*Note on tabulation: Ten people checked only 401k (28.80%); 23 people checked only 401k with Match (54.76%). Three

people marked neither. However, six people marked BOTH 401k and 410k with Match. This brought the number marking 401k to 16 (38%) and the number marking 401k with match to 29 (69%.)

Benefits Cut in 2009 Sixty-four percent did not experience benefit cuts in 2009. For those of you (14 respondents) who did receive cuts in 2009, the majority of the cuts were in healthcare coverage and in 401k matching.

Benefits Cut in 2010 Seventy-eight percent did not experience benefit cuts in 2010. For those of you (8 respondents) who did receive cuts, the majority of the cuts were in healthcare coverage and in 401k matching.


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Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you

understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring

few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.

~ Louisa May Alcott


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Recovery of Paralegal Fees By Colleen Kohler, Vice President of Policy and Public Affiars

The landmark case on the recovery of paralegal fees is Missouri v. Jenkins, a Supreme Court case which held that paralegal work should be compensable at market rates under Section 1988 of the Civil Rights Act. (Missouri v. Jenkins, 491 U.S.275, 109 S.Ct. 2463 (1989)). The Court reaffirmed Jenkins in Richlin Security Service Co. v. Chertoff, 128 S. Ct. 2007 (2008), when it held that the term “attorney’s fees”

in the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), included fees for paralegal services as well as compensation for the attorney’s labor. The Court stated it was “self-evident” that the statute was intended to include paralegal fees as well as attorney fees. In these cases, the Court saw the awarding of paralegal fees at market rates as a way to lower costs of litigation.

While the cases above

helped establish the precedent of the award of paralegal fees, the amount of fees actually awarded are at the discretion of the court. Records are required to establish the attorney/paralegal fees. The National Federation of Paralegal Associations wrote on this topic in an article called “Billing Paralegal Time” by Cathy Heath, RP:

A lack of this data may result in denial


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of fees. For instance, in McGreevy v. O r e g o n M u t u a l Insurance Co. (951 P.2d 798 (C.A. W a s h . 1 9 9 8 ) , paralegal fees were denied where the only information provided to the court was the number of hours worked and

the hourly rate. The court said it needed to consider the p a r a l e g a l ’ s qualifications a n d a description of t h e w o r k performed. In Walker v. U.S. Dept. of HUD, 99 F.3d 761 (5th Cir. 1996), a paralegal’s t i m e w a s e n t i r e l y

disallowed because all activity for a day was lumped together without adequate description.

So how do you effectively establish your paralegal fees to the court? Let’s begin with a look at applicable Idaho statutes.

The Idaho statutes for the award of attorney’s fees include Idaho Code § 12-117,

(1) Unless otherwise provided by statute, i n a n y a d m i n i s t r a t i v e proceeding or civil judicial proceeding involving as adverse parties a state agency or political subdivision and a person, the state agency or political subdivision or the court, as the case may be, shall award the prevailing party r e a s o n a b l e attorney 's fees , witness fees and other reasonable expenses, if it finds t h a t t h e nonprevailing party acted without a reasonable basis in fact or law.

And Idaho Code § 12-121, “In any civil action, the judge may award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party or part ies , provided that this section shall not alter, repeal or amend any statute which otherwise provides for the award of attorney’s fees.”

Further rules on the award of attorney’s fees are found in the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure (I.R.C.P.). “In any civil action the court may

award reasonable attorney fees, which at the discretion of the court may include paralegal fees to the prevailing party or parties as defined in Rule 54(d)(1)(B), when provided for by statute or contract.” (I.R.C.P. 54(e)(1)).

Various cases define the factors to be considered in the award of attorney fees (see Boel v. Stewart Title Guar. Co, 137 Idaho 9, 16, 43 (2002); Nalen v. Jenkins, 113 Idaho 79, 81, (Ct. App. 1987)), and the requirement of “reasonableness” in those stated fees (see Daisy Mfg. Co., Inc. v. Paintball Sports, Inc., 134 Idaho 259, 263 (Ct. App. 2000)), but the Idaho case of Medical Recovery Services, LLC (M.R.S.) v. Jones (2007 Opinion No. 83) made specific mention of paralegal fees. The case was remanded by the Court of Appeals “Because the magistrate court did not recognize that it had discretion to award fees for these [paralegal] expenses, …” The appellate court pointed out that the statute (I.R.C.P. 54(e)(1)) was amended in 1999 to state specifically that paralegal fees may

Paralegal Fees cont’d.

“So how do you

effectively establish

your paralegal

fees to the court?”


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Paralegal Fees cont’d. be included with reasonable attorney fees.

In M.R.S. v. Jones, the plaintiff argued that the magistrate had acted improperly by awarding attorney fees before having a Rule 54(d)(5) memorandum of costs and fees and Rule 54(e)(5) affidavit, “which are necessary for application of the Rule 54(e)(3) factors” (see the referenced sections of I.R.C.P.). Such a memorandum and affidavit are much easier to present if good records exist of the work done on a case.

In California, paralegals must meet educational and certification requirements by statute. Prevailing parties arguing for the award of paralegal fees must establish not only the paralegal’s tasks, but evidence of the paralegal’s education, continuing education, and work experience, to establish the paralegal’s credentials (the statute is at California’s Business and Professions Code § 6450 et.seq.). While Idaho does not define a paralegal by statute, it is still a good idea to have a declaration of your education, certifications,

professional memberships, and work experience. Keep this on hand for your employer. When needed to establish your professional qualifications, it will be ready.

Now, let’s turn to the process of detailing your work on a case. Jacqueline S. Vinaccia wrote an excellent article on how to record your work so that it will hold up to scrutiny in court (see, “Ensuring Paralegal Fee Recovery Through Proper Billing Standards” in RECAP: California Alliance of Paralegal Association Newsletter, Fall 2010, p. 9). In her words:

The paralegal must appropriately and completely describe what work is being performed and the benefit of the work to the case. If the paralegal includes what was done and why in a short billing description, with a separate time a l l o c a t i o n , t h e chances of the billing entry passing a fee audit or judicial review dramatically increases.

Routine billing entries

for repetitive discovery tasks on a large case might cause multiple entries that all look similar, such as, “Review client documents, 6.5 hours.” Vinaccia suggests that a better entry be made that notes the volume of documents reviewed and the reason for review, such as, “Review of 2 of 10 banker’s boxes of client documents for appropriate indexing, for privilege, and for production in several cases, 7.8 hours.” Vinaccia also correctly points out,

The likelihood of recovering paralegal fees i s a l s o increased if t h e p a r a l e g a l e x e r c i s e s g o o d judgment in billing. P a r a l e g a l s a n d attorneys alike are often required to perform clerical tasks in order to get work done in a timely manner, or spend more time on a project than is reasonably billable. This is what the courts refer to when

“...recovering paralegal fees

is also increased if

the paralegal exercises

good judgment in

billing.”


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Paralegal Fees cont’d.

the opinions state that these tasks are considered part of t h e a t t o r n e y ’ s overhead expenses and are subsumed in the attorney’s hourly rate. These clerical tasks or excessive time allotments present red flags for courts and auditors and can cause increased scrutiny as well as increased reductions. The paralegal can reduce these risks by looking over the b i l l i n g a n d exercising good billing judgment in the description, the task and the time allotment.

There are some motions, in particular, motions for summary judgment and motions to compel, where the prevailing party may or must be awarded attorney fees. See, F.R.C.P. 37(5)(A), I.R.C.P. 37(a)(4) and F.R.C.P. 56(h) and I.R.C.P. 56(c). Thus, it is wise to record your time with specific reference to that motion. An attorney in our office, a former law clerk, recalls pouring over pages and pages of

billing records submitted with a motion for recovery of attorney’s fees. She spent hours extracting charges associated with motions on which the moving party had prevailed, while setting aside charges associated with motions where the party had not prevailed. Clear records not only better the odds of recovering fees when the client prevails, but are appreciated by judges and law clerks tasked with billing record review.

If you are doing federal cases, also refer to District of Idaho Local Civil Rule 54.2: “Claims for attorney fees will not be treated as routine items of costs. Attorney fees will only be allowed upon an order of a judge of the court after such fact-finding process as the judge orders.” With an ‘at-the-ready’ statement of your credentials, and a clear record of the work performed on a case, you can effectively assist your attorney to establish paralegal fees as part of the attorney fees to be recovered.


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Upcoming Events APRIL 2011 1 Newsletter 7 Board Meeting, 5:30 pm at Starbucks on Franklin by the Mall 13 CLE Brown Bag Lunch in Meridian MAY 2011 5 Board Meeting, 5:30 pm at Starbucks on Franklin by the Mall 13 Spring Seminar at the Garden Hilton Inn JUNE 2011 1 Newsletter 2 Board Meeting, 5:30 pm at Starbucks on Franklin by the Mall 15 CLE Brown Bag Lunch in Boise

********************

IDAHO ASSOCIATION OF PARALEGALS, INC. BROWN BAG LUNCH SERIES

PRESENTS:

MIA MURPHY: COLLECTIONS CASES

Date and Time: APRIL 13, 2011

11:30AM TO 1:00 PM

Location: MURPHY LAW OFFICE, PLLC

847 E. FAIRVIEW AVE. MERIDIAN, ID 83642

(208) 855-2200

PLEASE RSVP BY APRIL 11, 2011

[email protected]


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Spring is definitely in the air, and the final run-up to our Spring Seminar is in progress. This year, we have decided to return to the Hilton Garden Inn, near Costco, for the event. Please mark your calendars for Friday, May 13 and watch for the registration materials and agenda next month. Our next Brown Bag CLE event will be held in Meridian, at Murphy Law Office, PLY. For more information regarding directions and parking, feel free to contact Kim Schwisow at (208) 855-2200. We hope you will find this to be a pleasant change of pace.

In addition, we are currently exploring other avenues of possible volunteer work for our membership. Through an IAP member referral (hat tip: Teresa Viker), we have been exploring paralegal volunteer opportunities with Idaho Non-Profits. Attorney Britt Ide is seeking paralegal volunteers to assist with document management and review, and we are pleased to pass along this opportunity to our members. If you feel this is something of interest to you, please contact the Board and let’s make it happen!

Please do not forget to submit nominations for the Paralegal of the Year; the timeframe for submitting

recommendations remains open until May 31st. We expect to present the first such award at our Paralegal Day Luncheon later in September. A very heartfelt thank you to Annette Bottaro-Walklet, Lauren Paul and Kendra Fiscelli for their dedication and hard work in making Paralegal of the Year a reality.

EDUCATION NEWS By: Greg Bradford, Vice President of Education

Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the

unborn could do it no better. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Don't forget...submit nominations for Paralegal of the

Year.


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CLE Opportunities Idaho State Bar

April

Intellectual Property Transactions: Identifying and Transferring Ownership Presented by the Idaho State Bar Intellectual Property Section Wednesday, April 6, 2011 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. (MDT) The Law Center - Boise, ID 1.0 CLE credit Also presented as a live webcast Bankruptcy Basics for the Non-Bankruptcy Attorney Presented by the Idaho State Bar Young Lawyers Section Wednesday April 20, 2011 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. The Law Center - Boise 1 CLE credit Also presented as a live webcast Courtroom Strategy in the 21st Century Video Replay – Moscow Presented by the Idaho Law Foundation Friday, April 22, 2011 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (PDT) University of Idaho College of Law -Moscow, ID 5.0 CLE credits of which 1.0 will be ethics CLE Program Replays Presented by the Idaho Law Foundation Thursday, April 28, 2011 1:30 – 4:15 p.m. (MDT) The Law Center - Boise 2.5 CLE credits of which 1.0 will be ethics Idaho Practical Skills Presented by the Idaho Law Foundation Friday, April 29, 2011 8:00 p.m. – 3:00 pm (MDT) Boise Centre - 850 West Front Street Boise, Idaho 7.0 CLE credits of which 2.25 will be ethics Many more approved CLE courses are listed here: http://isb.idaho.gov/licensing/mcle/upcoming_courses.html


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Make a note, because your attorney(s) may need to be out:

ISB’s annual meeting is July 13-15, at Sun Valley, Idaho.

Lorman Business Center: Upcoming Legal Audio Conferences

4/05/2011--Collection Ethics

4/12/2011 and 4/28/2011--Covenants Not to Compete and Trade Secrets

4/15/2011—E-Discovery: subpoenas and Non-Party Production Issues

4/18/2011—Successful Lien Avoidance and Lien Stripping in Bankruptcy

5/11/2011—Premises Liability: Investigation and Discovery

5/25/2011—FBAR Reporting and Enforcement: New Regulations and the IRS’s 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative

6/2/2011—Legal Ethical Issues

Useful CLE links: This link will take you to the paralegal courses by West LegalEdcenter where there is a wonderful array of online seminars available by topic:

http://westlegaledcenter.com/search/browseParalegalCoursesByPracticeArea.jsf

and of course, now they have mobile apps for CLEs as well, see:

http://westlegaledcenter.com/splash/index.htm?sc_cid=HP_CLEMobilev2

************************************

For additional CLE Opportunities, please visit:

www.westlegaledcenter.com

www.nbi-sems.com

www.halfmoonseminars.com


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Membership News By Lisa Warren, Vice President of Membership

No new members have been added to the IAP roster since the last newsletter; however, two late renewals were received. IAP currently has 54 members: 49 Active members, 2 Active Status Pending members, 1 Student member, 1 Retired member and 1 Supporting member.

The Association’s fiscal year runs October 1 to September 30. As a

reminder, all Active and Active Status Pending members need to obtain at least six hours of continuing legal education each year. If you have attended non-IAP-sponsored CLEs, please remember to fill out the CLE form that can be found on the IAP website (www.idahoparalegals.org) prior to submitting the CLE materials to IAP for credit. You can e-mail your completed CLE information at any time during the year to: [email protected]. A CLE waiver is also available on the IAP website, if needed.

Finally, please remember to let me know if you have a change of address,

e-mail address, job or telephone number to ensure that you continue to receive IAP news and seminar information, as well as job bank notifications.

IAP regularly emails job opportunity announcements to IAP members. For additional job opportunities,

check the Idaho State Bar’s website at http://www2.state.id.us/isb/job_announce/

announcements.cfm


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Paralegal Career Outlook By Lisa Hoag, National Affairs Representative

After reviewing several articles about the paralegal career field I found many paralegals were retained in their firms or governmental offices although they assumed additional job duties or absorbed other co-worker responsibilities when colleagues were not replaced. The retained paralegals also received a decrease in pay or benefits and sometimes both. However, as the economy slowed, individuals are more likely to face problems that require legal assistance, such as bankruptcies, foreclosures, and divorces during slower economic times. Thus, paralegals, who can perform various job skills, and continue to assist attorneys, seem to fare relatively better during this time period.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011 stated, “employment of paralegals and legal assistants is projected to grow 22 percent between 2006 and 2016, much faster than the average for all occupations.” As the world economy is slowly crawling out of recession, jobs for paralegals are expected to increase. “Many large law firms that consolidated support roles during the downturn are hiring for critical positions, particularly those related to litigation and corporate transactional work.” Robert Half, Legal 2011 Salary Guide, pg 5. Current in-demand practice areas and positions include litigation, bankruptcy/foreclosure, intellectual property, contracts and licensing, corporate transactional law, and healthcare.

The Association of Legal Assistants – Paralegals October 2010 Survey, which is the first web-based survey for the organization, described compensation related to geographic regions, educational backgrounds, size of firm,

and years with current employer with a small increase. If you wish to review the survey, please follow the link below.

The outlook after reviewing both surveys indicates smaller firms will increase paralegal’s compensation. For example, paralegals employed with a small law firm who have two to three years experience can expect to see an increase in salary of 2.5% where a paralegal in a larger firm can expect to see an increase of 1.7%. A paralegal employed with a small firm who will have four to six years of experience can expect to see an increase in salary of 2.6%, while a paralegal in a larger firm can expect to see an increase of 1.3%. Robert Half Legal 2011 Salary Guide, pg 9.

I invite you to visit the following resource links:

Resources:

Accessed March 16, 2011

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos114.htm#addinfo

http://www.paralegalmentorblog.com/

http://www.roberthalflegal.com/CandidateFreeResources

http://www.nala.org/survey.aspx

…”employment of paralegals and legal assistants is projected to grow 22 percent between 2006 and 2016,…”


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Last month, I had a fun time presenting the latest info on the new correct form of using a single space after a period, rather than the old, nonproportional font two-space method. In this issue, we will look at the use of commas in dates.

I often see Certificates of Service, or other dated legal documents that end something like this:

Dated this 13th day of March, 2011.

Correct form is:

Dated this 13th day of March 2011.

I quote from page 376 of A Grammar Book for You and I ...oops.Me! by C. Edward Good, p. 376, © 2006.

“If you omit the day and just include the month and year, do not

use a comma:

In January 1945 he was born in a large southern city.

We now wish to respond to your July 1991 letter.”

While it is true that the above example from a legal form does include a date, it does not include the date in the regular format of March 13, 2011. The reordering of the date to day-month-year, instead of month-day-year, removes the need for a comma to separate the date. For those of you who file and/or correspond with foreign offices, you will recognize this form of writing the date:

Grammar Corner By Colleen Kohler, Vice President of

Policy and Public Affairs


PAGE 19

On 17 January 1945 he was born in a large southern city.

We now wish to respond to your 1 July 1991 letter.

You may be inclined to place a comma after the year, in the examples above. My Word Grammar Check program is telling me to do that. Quoting from Mr. Good again (see pp. 374-375),

“When you indicate month, day, and year, put a comma after the day and after the year (unless some other punctuation mark, like a period or question mark, follows the year). Include these commas even if the month-day-year expression serves as an adjective:

On July 1, 1991, the committee dismissed the employee.

Grammar Corner - contd.

We already responded to your July 1, 1991, letter.”

(Mr. Good spends a little time discussing the controversy over the use of a comma after the year where the date is used as an adjective, as in the second example sentence above. Some would write: “…your July 1, 1991 letter.”)

Continuing on:

“If you depict dates by day-month-year, not month-day-year, do not use commas. Make certain you use a consistent system throughout the document.”

Isn’t punctuation fun?

Your contributions to the “Grammar Corner” are welcome.


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WIN

MO

VIE

TIC

KETS

Congratulations to LAUREN PAUL for correctly answering the trivia question in the February-March newsletter. The question was: “What is the ‘first use

date’ listed on the original trademark registration for CLA that was issued to

the National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc., on March 11, 1980?

The correct answer was: January 10, 1977.

Two movie tickets to the fifth IAP member who emails Colleen Kohler,

[email protected], with the correct answer to the question:

What word is defined in The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd

edition, as…

“Something given or received as an equivalent for services, debt, loss,

injury, suffering, lack, etc.”

(This is the 3rd definition of the word that is listed.)

(Only one email per member, please.)


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BOARD MEMBERS

2010-2011

KENDRA FISCELLI, PRESIDENT [email protected] 208-385-5452

COLLEEN KOHLER, VP OF POLICY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS [email protected] 208-345-1122

GREG BRADFORD, VP OF EDUCATION [email protected] 208-562-4858

LISA M. WARREN, VP OF MEMBERSHIP [email protected] 208-332-7964

MARYANN DUNCAN SECRETARY [email protected] 208-855-2200

KATHRYN BRANDT, TREASURER [email protected] 208-343-5454

LISA HOAG, NATIONAL AFFAIRS REPRESENTATIVE [email protected] 208-334-8823

IAP Board meetings are held monthly and are open to all members. The Board welcomes your comments, ideas and

suggestions. Please call any of us at the above phone numbers.

Choose a job you love, and you will

never have to work a day in

your life. ~Confucius

iap network apr 2011— may 2011 iap network april iap... · 2020. 2. 3. · iap network apr...

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