ParalegalGateway's Weblog

Paralegal Honored for Convicting Ex-Leader

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder honored six federal prosecutors and a paralegal for their work convicting Pavel Lazarenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister who moved to Marin County.

The seven received the Attorney General's Award for distinguished service during a ceremony Wednesday in Washington, D.C. The award, in its 57th year, was given to 286 honorees this year.

The recipients for the Lazarenko case, which was prosecuted in San Francisco, were prosecutors Peter Axelrod, Patricia Kenney, Stephanie Hinds, Hartley West, Jonathan Howden and Martha Boersch, and paralegal Christine Ying Tian.

Lazarenko, who moved to a $6.75 million Novato mansion after leaving the Ukraine, was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined $10 million in 2006 for money laundering, wire fraud and extortion. Authorities said it was the first prosecution of a foreign political leader for laundering the proceeds of foreign crimes through American financial institutions.

Source: Contra Costa Times

Paralegal Donna Henry is New Town Magistrate

Donna Henry will take over duties of town magistrate effective immediately, while her husband and former Magistrate John Henry takes on the position of deputy magistrate.

Since November of 2005, John Henry has been the official town magistrate and is also the former Wickenburg justice of the peace.

Early last year, due to John Henry’s health, Donna Henry applied for the position of deputy magistrate in order to fill in for her husband when he was not up to sitting on the bench.

“Court dates are set and a judge must be present for scheduled court dates,” Donna Henry said. “Municipalities can hire pro tem (non permanent) judges from the Justice Court for about $60 an hour, but that is very expensive. There is a Wickenburg town ordinance that says a deputy magistrate can be appointed when the magistrate cannot take the bench.”

Henry felt confident to sit on the bench due to her court background and said she wanted to do the job because of the town’s need. She has been working pro bono (free of charge) as deputy magistrate.

“John is recovering from colon cancer, and he wants to step back now and not have to make the day-to-day decisions that come with this job,” Henry said. “The arrangement that was worked out with the town seemed to work well for everyone.”

Henry took a two-week course for new judges, which is required of all appointed or elected judges in the state. Her prior court experience includes clerking for the Wickenburg and Peoria courts, and she has been a small claims and traffic hearing officer for various municipalities.

She possesses a paralegal degree, and Henry also administered the Wickenburg Justice Court Teen Court program for eight years.

“Teen Court was a very serious thing, and the experience was life-changing for many of the kids who participated as court personnel and for the defendants as well,” Henry said. “Many of the active members who worked at the court have gone on to do really great things. We have nurses, a cardiologist, and an attorney.”

Henry said teens who received citations through the Justice Court were given one opportunity to attend Teen Court. If the teen paid his or her fines, or performed community service, their respective charges were dismissed.

The teen had to have a job in order to pay his or her fines. Henry said parents were not allowed to pay the fines through Teen Court, because the money had to come from the hard work of the teen.

Henry continues to care and worry about the youth of Wickenburg and has attempted to put together a program of after-school activities for local teens. Her attempts have so far been unsuccessful, but she is planning to look into a program utilized by the Town of Surprise where teens sit on a city commission.

“It is scary because these kids think it is funny to get in trouble for underage consumption of alcohol,” Henry said. “They don’t realize that these charges stay on their records for 99 years. The charges show up on credit checks, when applying for car loans and when purchasing auto insurance. It has a huge effect on their lives, but they think they can pay the fines and walk away. This is just not the case.

“And the drugs are terrible,” she added. “They get addicted so quickly and then they don’t have a chance. We do need to get something going for the kids… something needs to be done.”

Donna and John married in 1986, while John was a deputy for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, and Donna grew up in a close-knit Flagstaff family.

There, her grandfather was a state representative, a state senator and a highway commissioner. Her father and uncle both functioned in various governmental positions.

The Wickenburg Municipal Court does not process felonies and handles only lower level charges such as misdemeanors, town code and municipality violations. However, Henry (who is known to be a bit sterner than her soft-spoken husband) does sentence offenders to jail.

“I don’t like putting people behind bars, but there are times I have no other option,” Henry said. “I like this job, it’s a good job, but some days it’s an energy sucker. I can’t get personally involved in these cases, even though some are heart breaking. I recently sentenced an 80-plus year-old man to eight days in county jail because he refused to pay his fines or do community service.”

Wickenburg Town Court takes place every Monday and every second and fourth Tuesday. Residents are also provided with an amusing letter from the court nearly each week which is printed in The Wickenburg Sun.

Henry says she enjoys the work even through all the heartaches, and finds satisfaction when she witnesses a defendant getting his or her life together.

“I listen to people who do some really stupid things,” Henry said. “They hit others, steal from grocery stores and drive on suspended licenses. But then I see some people little by little putting their lives back together,” she added. “They are not making great strides but doing it little by little. It is wonderful when you can hear in their voices the excitement of getting their licenses back.”

Henry reminds these individuals at that time about the responsibility of driving, like needing insurance and things of that nature. She says, though, that it is all in a day’s work.

She hopes to stay with the job for a number of years and hopes to make a difference in the lives of those in Wickenburg.

Source: The Wickenburg Sun

Margaret Cho to Portray Paralegal in New Series

Comedian and actress Margaret Cho, who plays smart-mouthed paralegal Teri Lee in the US series, says the show is a natural response to the shallow portrayal of women on television. "I think we, as a collective of women, started to feel invisible in the world of The Hills and Gossip Girl," she says, "so this show is responding to something. It addresses that need to feel visible, to see women who look like ourselves. There's just so much out there that isn't for women in a positive way."

In the opening episode, slim, sexy Deb Dobson (Brooke d'Orsay) is killed in a car crash. Once in heaven, she manages to get herself returned to Earth but lands in the body of Jane Bingum (Brooke Elliott), a size 24 lawyer. In addition to Cho's Lee, the series stars April Bowlby as Deb's vapid best friend, Stacy, and Ben Feldman as Fred, her guardian angel, the only two characters who know what is going on.

There is a lovely sensibility to the show, a gentleness combined with an Ally McBeal-esque sense of humour. It seems a good fit with the current taste for television with a softer touch.

Cho was the first actor cast in the project, having met series creator Josh Berman through a mutual friend. "I think when he saw me he realised I was perfect for the part. He ran up to me and was so excited and I got the script the next day and I loved it," Cho says.

"This is a topic I have talked about a lot in my stand-up comedy - body issues, weight, women and their relationship to beauty and the accessibility of beauty for us - so it was something I really believed in from the beginning."

On paper, Berman seems an unlikely creator and producer of Drop Dead Diva as his best-known credit is CSI. "But he's also a lawyer and he's a gay man - a young, very thin gay man," Cho explains. "Gay men experience the same kind of body fascism as women because so much of it is focused on the cult of the body, body perfection and becoming this ideal. He writes so beautifully from a woman's perspective because, as a gay man, he experiences the same thing."

In one of Cho's first stand-up tours, I'm the One That I Want, she talked candidly about working on the sitcom All American Girl, where she was pressured by network executives to lose weight, was told her face was too round and was criticised, at different times, for being "too Asian" and "not Asian enough". Almost a decade later, she says, the entertainment industry's obsession with image has not improved.

"This world has become a very treacherous place for young women because the ideal is so impossible to achieve," she says. "These thin role models that girls have nowadays, their bodies are so emaciated that nobody can look like that. It's unfair and many young girls feel like they don't exist, so I'm glad in the show we have different images of women."

Drop Dead Diva seems a significant departure for Cho, who has worked most recently in stand-up comedy or playing herself in reality shows such as The Cho Show. Drop Dead Diva requires her to turn down the volume, she concedes, but she isn't your typical working actress. "I don't have an acting technique. I just walk to the tape mark and say words," she laughs. "I love it but I don't have any serious method. I didn't go live as a paralegal for a year. I know there are real actors who do that kind of stuff but I don't know anything about that kind of stuff."

Cho says she and the show's star, Brooke Elliott, found a rhythm very quickly. "We're very close. We became friends instantly. There was just a lot of connection there. I think she's such a brilliant actress and she's such a wonderful person and so beautiful that I'm really excited that she's out there. We need images of women like her - she's so physically appealing and in the show she always wins and it does the heart so much good to see her win."

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Award-Winning Paralegal Faces Fraud Charges

The president of the Lafayette Commission on the Needs of Women was arrested on charges of forgery, theft and bank fraud Thursday following an investigation at her former employer's office.

Guadalupe "Lupe" Acosta, 57, had worked for the Daniel M. Landry III law firm for 25 years, according to a statement from Landry. Earlier this year, an internal investigation found that multiple forgeries and bank fraud had occurred at the firm, with losses of more than $100,000. The fraud allegedly began in 2005 and continued over the next three and a half years.

No clients' funds were involved, Landry said in the statement. Acosta was immediately terminated once the losses were discovered, and law enforcement agencies were notified. Louisiana State Police handled the investigation, the statement read.

"People who commit these offenses need to realize they will be caught, and I would encourage any employers who discover this criminal activity to prosecute this criminal offense to the fullest extent allowed under the law," Landry's statement read.

Acosta remained in jail as of Thursday evening, according to the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center Web site. She faces one count of theft and one count of bank fraud, both felonies, as well as 114 counts of forgery.

According to the commission's April 2009 newsletter, Acosta recently received the 2008 Louisiana State Paralegal Association Meritorious Service Award and has been involved in the legal field for 30 years, working as a paralegal since 1984. She has been a member of several legal organizations, including the Louisiana State Paralegal Association, Lafayette Paralegal Association, Southwest Louisiana Bankruptcy Bar Association and National Association of Legal Assistants.

In addition, she has served as a board member of Lafayette Volunteer Lawyers and a committee member of the Lafayette Parish Bar Association. Last year, she was elected to serve on the National Association on the Commissions for Women, the first woman from Louisiana to serve on the national board. She has also presented several seminars and been a guest speaker at local schools during career days.

As of Thursday, there was no indication that the alleged fraud involved any other organization.

Source: The Daily Advertiser

Non-Attorney UPL in Georgia

The State Bar of Georgia has made it clear that they are not going to be lenient on those participating in the unlicensed practice of law ("UPL").  A quick glance of their Reigstry of Injunctions and Cease and Desist Affidavits found on their website (www.gabar.org) reveals they served five Injunctions and well over fifty Affidavits in 2008.  The majority of those served were Paralegal companies or legal form preparation services.

The Georgia Bar stated their goal of "...protecting the public..." as the reasoning for publishing the list and one individual's photo was posted secondary to criminal contempt.  While the public certainly needs to be protected from unethical attempts of practicing law without a license, I did recognize a couple of names on the list and I know those individuals to be not only ethical but true professionals who would never think about practicing law void of a license.

We must understand that as well intentioned as we may be in assisting the general public in preparing legal forms "pro se" or as a self-representative, there are those who - aside from protecting the public - view the business of practicing law as just that.  A business.  Also, in these unstable times where many firms are taking a serious hit to the pocketbook, anyone viewed as competition for the dwindling consumer base, will be taken notice of and dealt with accordingly.

In fact, individuals have the general right to pro se representation and under Georgia law, those who act on their own behalf are free to prepare those documents they deem necessary.  However, O.C.G.A. §15-19-52 states, in part, that no person shall "be prohibited from drawing any legal instrument for another person, firm, or corporation, provided it is done without fee and solely at the solicitation and the request and under the direction of the person, firm, or corporation desiring to execute the instrument."

Did you catch that?  In Georgia, a non-lawyer CAN prepare legal documents for another individual however you can not charge a fee and you can not advertise.   Protecting the public or protecting their turf or a little bit of both?

Laid Off Paralegal Fears She May Lose Unemployment Benefits

AUSTIN – Critics say the Texas Workforce Commission has overstated the role that federal requirements played in delaying 13 more weeks of unemployment benefits for Texans who have been out of work more than a year.

Andrew Stettner of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group for low-wage workers, said a requirement that the jobless document their work searches is a quarter-century old and has been partially waived by the Obama administration.

"Some states have had problems for sure, but other states have done it faster and we've heard of no state that's doing it this slow," he said.

On Wednesday, Texas officials announced they had indefinitely postponed a 13-week extension of unemployment compensation approved by state lawmakers in late May.

"It seems like Texas is more worried about one worker getting a check in error than getting the benefits out quickly," Stettner said.

Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken of Dallas called the criticism "incredibly unfair." Unlike with regular unemployment compensation, people who apply for extended benefits "have to be willing to take a job that is below what they normally would be willing to do," he said.

"We really don't want to break the rules," Pauken said. "The question is: How can we speed it up?"

U.S. Department of Labor spokesman Michael Trupo said many of the 36 states now eligible for the federally paid extended benefits have had difficulty implementing their programs. Rules were adopted in the early 1980s, when laid-off workers filed in person at state offices or by mail, he said.

"Now claims are filed mostly over the phone using interactive voice-response systems. It means the state has to get a new system in place," Trupo said. "Of course, this requirement has been well-known and part of Texas law for about 25 years, so Texas shouldn't have been surprised by it."

Ill-equipped for need

Federal rules are just one problem vexing Texas' unemployment insurance system as it struggles to pay out about $3 billion to the state's jobless this year, up from $1.3 billion last year.

While a commission spokeswoman blames "17 pages of federal regulations," experts cited creaky computers, a lack of experience with prolonged recessions and manpower shortages. The commission has added 350 temporary workers to its call centers.

To speed the start of extended benefits, Pauken said, the commission may recruit technicians versed in its old German-made data programs that run on mainframe computers.

By state law, the commission's unemployment insurance trust fund can never have more than $1.7 billion in employer tax money on hand, so it soon will borrow from the federal government and might issue bonds to keep benefits flowing into next year.

Pauken said that although news accounts about the fund's deficit have worried many claimants, "benefits will be paid." Borrowing is routine, he said.

Busy signals at commission call centers also are routine, as is uncertainty about program rules and how long benefits last.

Angela Dinwiddie of Dallas said her internal alarm bells went off this week when she read about delay of the 13-week extension of benefits.

Dinwiddie was laid off from her job as a paralegal at a golf course management company last November. Her regular 26 weeks of benefits expired in late May. She now draws "emergency unemployment compensation," which lasts 33 weeks.

But she recalled a call center representative's saying last spring that she had been approved for 13 weeks of the next round of benefits, so Dinwiddie feared she might soon be cut off.

Although that's not true, Dinwiddie, who said she's applied for about 150 jobs and gotten only two interviews, is anxious.

"I have $100 in the bank," she said. "And Sunday I'm supposed to file for my next payment, which I would receive on Tuesday. So if I'm not getting any more money, then that means that this is all I have for my food. My utilities are due. Are they going to cut off my utilities?"

Pauken, a former state Republican Party chairman appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to lead the workforce commission, said he understands "people are struggling out there."

That's why, he said, he's pushing commission executives to seek federal lenience on certain rules and possibly add staff to accelerate the extension. One midlevel agency official said this week in an e-mail that it would be November before the benefits flow. They would be retroactive.

"But it's not as simple" as critics say, Pauken argued. "The other states in question already had a system in place, already had a law, already had been through this process in many instances. And we haven't. And so it's a different situation."

Other states ramp up

Stettner, though, said Georgia and Florida passed laws in May to take advantage of the special 100 percent federal funding of the extra benefits, which will expire early next year. Extended benefits in both states began flowing this month, he said.

Don Winstead, special adviser to Florida GOP Gov. Charlie Crist, agreed that to have claimants prove they've "met the suitable work requirement and still make timely payments does create a challenge."

He said Florida quickly ramped up extended benefits after it hired computer specialists.

"We were able to bring in some outside contractors who assisted our staff in the development, programming, testing and implementation," Winstead said in an e-mail.

He said Florida, like Texas, hadn't granted extended benefits since 1981.

Stettner said federal officials tried to ease the mid-1980s paperwork rules, telling states in May that they may take people at their word that they've looked for work and do audits later.

Former state District Judge Scott McCown of the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, an advocacy group for low-income Texans, said as many as 70,000 of the more than 350,000 unemployed now drawing benefits will exhaust eligibility before November.

He said the state should "set up some special hotlines and staff them."

Texas pays benefits to a lower percentage of its jobless – 31 percent – than any other state except South Dakota, Labor Department statistics show. McCown said Texas has shown generosity when hurricanes devastate communities and should do the same for workers hurt by an awful recession.

Ann Hatchitt, the commission's spokeswoman, said it must act cautiously "so that once we start paying benefits, [the federal government] won't disqualify the claims and ask the state of Texas to pay the money back."

Source: DallasNews

Non-Lawyers Offering Legal Assistance Will Be Investigated in Virginia

The Virginia State Bar's standing committee on unauthorized practice of law stopped conducting undercover investigations years ago out of concern that the practice might violate ethical constraints against deceit and misrepresentation.

Now the Bar's legal ethics committee has issued a formal opinion clearing the way for investigators once again to engage in sting operations when there is no other feasible way to investigate a complaint that a non-lawyer is practicing law.

"This has been an issue for a long time because of situations in which people are engaging in the unlicensed practice of law and the witnesses aren't willing to come forward, and there are other evidentiary problems," said Barbara Balogh, assistant ethics counsel for the Virginia State Bar.

That situation has been cropping up lately in investigations of non-lawyers holding themselves out as immigration attorneys, with victims who don't want to come forward for fear of attracting the attention of immigration authorities, Balogh said.

The committee's opinion, adopted in June, posits the hypothetical example of a paralegal who worked with a trust and estates solo practitioner in a small town until the attorney's death. Through word of mouth, the paralegal offers assistance in preparing wills and advanced medical directives using forms from the deceased attorney's practice. Because the paralegal does not advertise those services, there's no overt evidence of wrongdoing.

Under the scenario, a court clerk files a complaint with the Bar alleging that the paralegal has been preparing wills and other documents, and that problems have been discovered in those documents years after they were filed. The evidence is based on hearsay, and no one involved can or will provide information as to what the paralegal has been doing. The committee also believes that the paralegal is still providing these services, to the detriment of the public.

A simple solution would be to send investigators in posing as clients who want to do business with the suspect. But there's a problem: The Virginia State Bar's rules of professional conduct prohibit attorneys from "engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation." A sting operation might conceivably run afoul of that proscription.

The new ethics opinion sweeps that concern away, declaring that it is ethical for a Bar investigator or volunteer lawyer to go undercover to look into complaints of unauthorized practice of law when witnesses won't cooperate or there's no substantive evidence, and when there is significant harm to clients, as long as there is no other reasonable alternative to collecting the necessary evidence.

Law enforcement agents regularly engage in covert investigations, and the Virginia State used to do the same until officials began to worry that bar attorneys might not enjoy the same privilege, Balogh said. Rather than risk ethics violations, the bar pulled the plug on its covert investigations.

Similar questions had been circulating in the late 1990s. In 2000, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that a lawyer who had directed law enforcement officers in an undercover operation had violated ethics rules by directing the officers to misrepresent themselves.

Even with the protection of the new opinion allowing such investigations, Balogh expects stings to be used rarely.

"It's not something that will be used in everyday cases," she said. "It will only be used in those cases where we are up against a wall."

Virginia State Bar officials surveyed the ethics policies of other state bars around the country as part of their review, focusing closely on the Florida Bar's rules. That state's standing committee on unlicensed practice of law used to run undercover investigations but in 2000 it, too, stopped because of ethics concerns, said Lori Holcomb, the attorney in charge of the panel.

"We started looking at it and asked, 'Is this is a problem?' " she said.

In 2006, the Florida Bar set out a series of prerequisites that must be met before staff attorneys or volunteers may go undercover. Since then, the bar has conducted only two covert investigations.

"We do it as a last resort," Holcomb said.

Most complaints can be investigated by interviewing victims or the non-lawyer accused of practicing law, she noted. Still, but as in Virginia, immigration fraud cases tend to be some of the more difficult to investigate.

The number of immigration fraud complaints received by the Virginia State Bar has remained fairly steady in recent years, Balogh said, although she couldn't provide hard numbers. What's changed is that the circumstances have grown more egregious.

"We see non-lawyers who hold out that they provide immigration services and their victims pay them thousands of dollars," she said. "These are the people who can least afford to lose that money, and we've seen a huge amount of financial damage done."

The ability to go undercover to investigate these claims is just one more resource the Bar now has to protect the public, Balogh said.

Source: Law.com

Paralegals Take Up the Slack

Kay Rhodes, of law firm Fox and Thomas at Goondiwindi on the NSW and Queensland border, says the firm employs three lawyers.

The firm had so many shortages in the past nine years that work had to be given to paralegal staff members, she said.

"The hiring process can take a long time because we have to make sure the person is really suited to the work and the lifestyle," she said. "It can be distressing for everyone if the person doesn't work out."

She said the decision to move from city to country can be "immense", often involving leaving friends and family and at considerable expense.

She felt the firm was like a "training ground" for young lawyers, who left once they were fully qualified.

The townsfolk try to help prospective employees find accommodation and jobs for their partners to help them settle in.

"Young lawyers these days are much more mobile than baby boomers and, even though most enjoy their training here, usually they don't want to stay," she said.

The firm has tried to overcome shortages by keeping an advertisement permanently on its website, hiring gap-year students and attempting to hire from overseas.

Deborah Frecklington of Kingaroy firm Kelly & Frecklington said it had asked local students if they were interested, but they were all heading for the bright lights of the city.

"Young lawyers usually don't consider coming to the country," she said.

"I think it's a generation Y thing. Tree-changers are usually a better option because they want to move out of cities," she said.

The firm recently employed a fourth-year university student as a law clerk. As an incentive, the firm is considering paying the clerk's $6000 to $8000 College of Law tuition fees.

She believes the Government should consider introducing a HECS-type scheme.

Source: BrisbaneTimes

Paralegal Turned On-Set Pet Trainer

Christine Mahaney was working part-time as a  paralegal when she and her rescued Border Collie, Toula, won Petco's America's Most Talented Pet contest. Since then, Christine has become one of the most sought-after on-set trainers in the Mid-west and Toula is currently starring opposite Johnny Depp in Michael Mann's "Public Enemies."

L: How did you get started working on TV and movie sets?

C: It all started with winning America’s Most Talented Pet contest with Petco.

L: Really? Wow! You didn’t even consider that beforehand?

C: Well, I dreamed of it. I actually worked as a paralegal. I’ve been training dogs my whole life. I always loved watching movies with dogs and the behaviors they got the dogs to do. Living in Michigan, you just don’t have those opportunities. You can dream it, but can you live it?

I went down to the store and stayed up till 3 in the morning getting my props ready – I didn’t even know what I was doing or what order, which probably worked better for Toula and I, because you have to just roll with it when you work with dogs.
We went in there – won first place [local], and then we won the top 12 – and then we won. So – it was really from the Petco competition that got us out got us out there.

When Mahaney flew out to LA to do to the photo shoot, (FYI: Toula flew “Celebrity Status” – which was available to Toula specifically because she was going out to LA to work on a job) she also took the opportunity to meet with the owner of Paws for Effect, an animal agency. They immediately asked Mahaney if she wanted to work with them.

That was in Nov 2007. By April, Mahaney was training a a 12-week old dog for them to use in film and commercials. After that, as more jobs became available in the Midwest, Mahaney worked more and more.

L: Do you, then generally work with dogs that are provided by the company?

C: It just depends. It’s about 50 / 50. Right now I’m working on a movie for Disney Pixar in Chicago. That’s a private party animal that I located. They wanted a bulldog. It really depends on what the script calls for.

For “Public Enemies” they wanted a Border Collie. Now, Toula is not a typical-looking BC. She doesn’t have the white blaze – but she fit the part.

L: How is training for TV or commercials differ from everyday training or obedience?

C: It is different. The biggest difference,: training a dog for a movie is scripted. Real life doesn’t come with a script. Unless you have a crystal ball, you don’t know who’s showing up at your door, or when. So, as a private dog, you have to deal with real life situations. Training for movies, you have a very good idea of what the environment is going to be, so you know what you have to get the dog used to.

For private home training, I’m not really training the dog, it’s more that I’m training the person. When I work on a movie, I’m working with that dog. And you’re making the director happy.

L: Do you ever “train” any of the actors involved?

C: Absolutely! You have to. For example, in “Public Enemies,” Stephen Spencer [who plays Emil Wanatka] plays the owner of the dog. Toula had develop a relationship with this complete stranger to make it look like she was his dog. Now, that doesn’t happen just by sticking a dog— any dog -- with an actor 2 minutes before you start rolling. You wanna make it believable. ‘Yeah! That was his dog! Look at the way she looked at him!’ So you do want to prep the actors: 'this is cue you need you to give her' or 'this I the way you need to hold your hand. This is her release word.'

I’m getting ready to work on a movie with chickens. A 13-year old girl has to pick up a chicken. I’m going to have to work with that 13-year-old to teach her how to properly pick up the chicken so she’s comfortable with it.

L: How often have you worked with chickens?

C: Ironically, I seem to have been working with chickens often in this past year. It’s amazing. I wasn’t raised on a farm, but I like animals. Every animal you work with – it’s a learning experience. With chickens – you have to know how to make them settle more quickly – so their wings aren’t out. Those are other things I’ll have to go over with this girl.

L: What other exotic animals have you worked with?

C: Goats. If you consider that exotic. Deer. Squirrels….

L: Are squirrels trainable?

C: It was a trained squirrel, if you can believe it. A pet squirrel. He worked with audio and hand signals. The squirrel was trained to go to a buzzer: when it hits the buzzer, food comes out. Somewhat like clicker training.

I haven’t had the opportunity to work with reptiles. But, quite frankly, I’m OK with that.

L: What tricks and traits or behaviors are most important to train for camera / performing work?

C: For me, FOCUS work is key. If you can take your dog and walk down the street and you say “LOOK” and he looks right up at you no matter what’s going on around him, that’s HUGE. And that’s how I train, even when I train privately. With private pets, it’s a safety factor. If they have a desire to chase a squirrel or deer, and you see it before they do, and you can have them look at you, well -- you just saved them from chasing that animal.

As for a studio dog, or someone looking for movie work, FOCUS work is really key. When you’re on the set, there’s a lot going on. There are a LOT of distractions. Rarely are you in a studio that’s self contained and there are one or two people. So it’s FOCUS work.

The other key is to have a dog that’s really happy. And what I mean by that is: when you have a dog that’s really happy, that dog is happy in any environment. He’s happy meeting anyone - has no fears with strangers – a man, a woman, a child, infants, somebody wearing snowmobile suit with a helmet or a baseball cap. Every person is great to that dog. He’s happy to meet everybody. I think that’s huge.

L: Do you believe in coercive methods or positive methods?

C: I am a firm believer that you get a lot more mileage out of making a dog do what you want them to do from marking the positive and not focusing on the negative. Now when you work with positive-based training, it takes a lot more patience. So, when teaching a dog go into a tunnel, for instance, you’re luring that dog, making it positive for them to stick their head down there. But that dog might stand there for what seems like forever, even when it’s only 10 seconds. ‘Do I stick my head in? Do I? Don’t I?’ But eventually when the dog finally does it and they get that reward it’s like: Boom. He’s got it! ‘Nobody shoved me in there. Nobody had to pull me or push me in; I did it on my own.’ It’s a positive experience. But it takes a lot of patience.

L: What was the most difficult thing on “Public Enemies” you had to train Toula to do?

C: The most difficult thing on that set was to get Toula to walk outside the lodge with this actor she just met not even 2 hours before while I walked away into another room where she could not see me. It was shot on a wide angle, so I had to stay hidden inside. Meanwhile, she is walking out with this actor, it’s night, they’re out in the woods, there are cars pulling in, she’s off-leash, there are 100 some odd people around, cameras overhead, camera on-track, and she’s out there all by herself. I couldn’t give her any hand signals, verbals, or anything.

L: Did you get to rehearse beforehand?

C: I did. When we got there, we did some pattern training. And Stephen Spencer was willing and kind enough to work with us and do some prep – cause you do want it to come off as if they do have a relationship. And it was great – cause I was peeking through the window, and he stops at the end of the walk to meet Johnny Depp and the other gangsters, and Toula stops and sits down and looks up at him as if to say, ‘What’re we doing, Dad?’ It was perfect.

L: How did you do the pattern training?

C: Well, we did have a script, and I knew she would be exiting, but I didn’t know if the door would open in or open out -- something you never really think about – but it affects how you set your dog up. So, we went to a lot of different businesses with a lot of different people and traffic and I had her on a long lead -- with doors that opened in and doors that opened out -- and then we only had three days to do this.

And then when we got on set I did a lot more pattern-training -- Cheese wiz is a beautiful thing.

L: Did you work with target training?[Where you teach the dog to hit a target or ‘mark’]

C: I didn’t on this. I could have used a mark – but I didn’t want her to get down there and start looking for the mark. Even though it was outside – I have different marks: rocks, etc. But, again, it was dark – I didn’t want her searching with head dropped looking for a mark. I wanted her head focused on ‘oh, there’s people coming, I’m supposed to look alert, and I’m next to my owner.’

Source: examiner.com

Paralegal Becomes Citizen on July 4th

Joel Alonzo, 15 minutes after becoming a United States citizen, said he knows the opportunities his new country holds for him and what he has to offer America.

"This is my best day," the paralegal and aspiring lawyer said. "I have the chance to make a contribution to this country."

Alonzo, 43, a native of the Dominican Republic, was among about 195 immigrants who became United States citizens Saturday during a naturalization ceremony at Strawbery Banke.

The waving of American flags and tears of joy marked an event that saw families from all over the world coming together to celebrate their first Fourth of July holiday.

It wasn't lost on Gov. John Lynch that holding the ceremony on Independence Day reflected an American story of individuals continuing to embrace life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

"Your desire and pursuit of citizenship reminds us of what it is to be Americans. What you do is now up to you ... that's the beauty of America," he said.

He was among the guests who paid homage to the individuals who spent years working with U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services to finally earn their new status.

The governor urged Saturday's assembly to enjoy the freedoms bestowed on them, but also stressed that responsibilities come with it.

He urged the newly sworn Americans to give back to their communities through volunteering and take part in voting, which he called more of a duty than a right.

"Make the most of it, because your America is whatever you want it to be. You will help us keep the nation strong," Lynch said.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Boston District Office Director Denis Riordan — the son of immigrant parents himself — appeared to get teary-eyed when he talked about a country whose ideals haven't changed as it has welcomed individuals looking for opportunity.

"In this country there are no limits," Riordan said.

The ceremony saw him and others honoring Joseph Francis — a particularly unique applicant who received a Bronze Star and several other medals for heroism while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War.

Francis — of Native American heritage — is Canadian, but served the United States and was injured when a grenade exploded near him in August of 1968. He was also shot in the back, but asked to return to his unit despite being offered the chance to go home after a stay in a Guam military hospital.

Francis led the group in their first pledge of allegiance.

Riordan said Francis has earned his rights as an American.

"We owe that to you," Riordan said.

Those becoming citizens on Saturday hailed from 49 countries, ranging from Armenia and Chile to Tanzania and Iran. A number of them came from India and the Dominican Republic.

Alonzo said he has lived in the United States for 15 years and worked hard to earn his new status.

The Lawrence, Mass., resident said he works as a paralegal and plans to attend law school.

Preeta Sharma, 33, was born in India. She said she came to the United States for the jobs and the lifestyle it affords her family. She was all smiles Saturday as she sat with others and awaited the taking of their oath.

"It's really exciting. Nothing could be better than this day," Sharma said.

She works for a health insurance provider and has spent more than seven years in the country.

"Last election we wanted to vote so much for Obama," Sharma said.

Ravi Kulbushan, 35, another native of India, echoed her sentiment.

"You feel like part of the country and you want to contribute more," he said.

Kulbushan — a senior software engineer — said America affords individuals unlimited opportunity that isn't an option in other countries.

"You can do whatever you want to do," he said.

Lawrence Yerdon, president of the Strawbery Banke Museum, said it was appropriate the ceremony took place at a Portsmouth landmark, a location with a long history of serving as the home of immigrants searching for a new life in the United States.

Source: Fosters.com