ParalegalGateway's Weblog

Paralegal's Estranged Father Murdered Before They Could Meet

A bloody fingerprint and a DNA match have tied a drifter to the January murder of Alexio Bello, a gay man found slain just before he was to finally meet his estranged daughter, police said Tuesday.

An arrest warrant for first-degree murder has been issued for Jorge Espinoza Navarette, 21, a Mexican national who detectives believe robbed and murdered Bello, 68.

''We believe he likes to target gay men,'' said Miami homicide Sgt. Confesor Gonzalez. ``He may still be in South Florida.''

Bello, who had once been married but later left the family after revealing he was gay, had never known his two children. A chance encounter with one of Bello's friends led daughter Joanna Bello, 28, to reconnect with her father by telephone.

They had planned to meet in person sometime in January.

''I'm glad Miami police are doing everything possible in order to resolve this case,'' Joanna Bello said Tuesday. ``It would bring closure knowing that they find this guy.''

Alexio Bello lived alone at El Lago Condominiums, 5505 NW Seventh St. He had met Navarette in late December at a coin laundry. They were seen together at a family New Year's Eve party.

On Jan. 3, a caretaker found Bello's body inside the apartment in what was recorded as Miami's first homicide of 2008. His two dogs, one covered in his owner's blood, remained alive inside.

Detectives declined to say how Bello was killed.

Police quickly zeroed in on Navarette, labeling him as a ''person of interest.'' But the curly-locked young man disappeared.

Navarette hails from the town of Las Vigas in the Mexican state of Guerrero. He came to Miami from Georgia and the Carolinas.

In May 2007, he was arrested in Georgia for beating up his mother, who lives in Atlanta. That charge is still pending.

''This is a very dangerous individual,'' said Miami Detective Orlando Silva.

Wanted fliers have been forwarded the FBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and the State Department -- in case Navarette has left the country.

The story of Joanna Bello's search for her father drew media attention in Miami-Dade.

He had left the family shortly after Joanna Bello and her brother were born. She had longed to meet him, even thumbing through phone books looking for his name.

Last August, Bello -- a paralegal at Miami law firm Mustell & Borrow -- by chance met a client who had been her father's lover. The man recognized her familiar face.

He excitedly told her about Alexio Bello, who later called the firm. His first words to his daughter: ``I love you.''

Days after his death, Joanna Bello visited his condo with his family to help clean the ransacked apartment. On his coffee table sat a framed photo of her as a teenager that he had secretly obtained through a family friend.

''It's an emotion that's hard to describe. It made me feel good -- everybody was wrong. He did love me,'' Joanna Bello said.

``I've been getting to know my new family and they're great. I would have loved to have been with them along with my father, but I have to accept it. I have a big family now and it means a lot to me.''

Anyone with information on Jorge Espinoza Navarette can call Miami's homicide unit at 305-579-6530 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. (Source)

Lawyer Blames Paralegal for Non-Transfer of Funds

Really?  A Lawyer pinned the blamed on their Paralegal?  I'm shocked!!!  (Insert sarcasm here)

NEW PORT RICHEY - NEW PORT RICHEY - Former Port Richey lawyer Jessica Miller was sentenced to 90 days in the county jail Tuesday for failing to appear at a court hearing in December.

Circuit Judge Shawn Crane found Miller guilty of contempt of court after a daylong hearing June 23. Miller, 30, was first charged with contempt after she failed to appear at a hearing Dec. 20, opting instead to leave the state for vacation the day before.

Crane chastised Miller at last month's hearing and continued on a similar path Tuesday before announcing her sentence.

"The pronouncement I made after the finding of guilt still stands," Crane said. "I've heard nothing here today which changes anything I said. That all stands as true today as the day we had the hearing."

December's court hearing was set to allow Miller to explain why she had failed to transfer $28,000 of clients' money into the account of another lawyer. The money, which belonged to a divorcing couple, is the profit from the sale of their house.

Miller represented the husband, William Morales. Neither Morales nor his wife has received the money, which amounts to their life savings.

Morales appeared in court Tuesday and described his frustration at trying to get his money. He asked Crane to sentence Miller to the maximum penalty, five months and 29 days in jail.

"I was depressed at times," Morales said. "Just the aggravation of dealing with that office - with the numerous phone calls, the visits, the messages that went unanswered, the visits when I had appointments and no one was there. I just went through hell with this office."

The missing money touched off a Florida Bar investigation and led to Miller surrendering her law license this year. The Bar concluded its investigation after Miller agreed to relinquish her license, but a criminal investigation continues.

Miller pleaded ignorance when she took the stand at the contempt hearing last month. She blamed her paralegal and office manager, Kristen Collins, for not transferring the money. Miller said Collins had sole control of the office finances. She said she had asked Collins to transfer the $28,000 and that Collins told her she had done it.

Miller's attorney, Steve Bartlett, said the money was already gone by the time his client was to transfer it. Bartlett said Miller didn't even know the money was missing until she went to court for an arraignment after her arrest Dec. 28. (Source)

Paralegal by Day - Motor Head by Night

By day, he's a paralegal with the Spokane County Public Defender's office.

By night, his idea of fun is going fast and turning left. Yep, motor head.

"It's what I do," said Post Falls driver Allen Tuckness, who started racing at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds in 1972.

"My hero has always been Richard Petty and I've just had this passion for racing. My wife (Michelle) knew going in, this is my hobby, it's what I love to do."

Tuckness got out of racing entirely three years ago when his son Jonathan moved back to Virginia in 2005.

"I had two cars at that time, one that I drove and one that he and his brothers worked on," Tuckness said. "When he moved to Virginia, I just sold everything and I quit.

"I also had a total knee replacement done, but one day I was sitting at home and I said, 'I just can't sit here. I race, that's my hobby.' "

Jonathan moved back from Virginia to Spokane and it was time for the Tucknesses to get back into racing.

So Allen bought a 1933 Chevrolet Coup last year, which he runs, and a 1987 Volkswagon Jetta, which Jonathan races in the Road Runner class at Stateline Speedway.

"I raced the same type of car back in the '70s," Tuckness said. "I had a 1932 Ford Vicky and we'd race Wednesday nights at the Spokane Fairgrounds and Friday nights here."

The Roadrunner class is a training ground and they found a hundred-dollar car out of the junkyard and let Jonathan put it in motion in his first season since returning from back east.

"It's a (bleeping) wienerschnitzel," Allen said. "I can say whatever I want, I built the damn thing."

Jonathan, a Post Falls High School graduate, just smiled as if he'd heard that line before.

"The biggest difference is that I'm used to rear-wheel drive and this is a front-wheel drive," said Jonathan, 21, who started racing in 2003 at the Spokane Raceway Park. "It doesn't slide at all. It pushes more than it's loose.

"With the front-wheel drive, I have an advantage because I can get through the corners better and then it's a matter of working up the speed to stay with them on the straightaway."

Racing in the corners is everything on the quarter-mile track at Stateline Speedway.

"Knowing where other cars are on the track is vital because you come up on something so fast because it's so small compared to a half-mile track," Jonathan said. "This year has been a struggle because neither one of us has ever had a front-wheel drive.

"It's a huge learning experience every week, for me five years and for (dad) 40-some years."

In a game where sponsorship is everything, Allen Tuckness does it all out of pocket.

"The most expensive thing I own is my Early Stock and this trailer," Allen said as he and Jonathan sat in a couple lounge chairs eating carryout from Zip's. "I've always had just a conventional trailer, but when I got back into it three years ago I got this to make it easier.

"I work on a limited budget. I don't have sponsors. The money going into either one of the cars comes out of my wallet from of my paycheck. I live within my budget. I guess I would rather have a guy beat me because he outdrives me, than he outspends me, but that's my choice." (Source)

Paralegal Gets 16-Month Sentence for Embezzlement

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A 44-year-old Bloomfield woman has received a 16-month prison sentence for embezzling nearly $700,000.

Karen Davis-Jennings was sentenced Monday in federal court in Hartford for embezzling $687,674 from her former employer and his elderly mother, who suffers from dementia. Davis-Jennings pleaded guilty last year to three counts of mail fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.

Authorities say she used the money to pay for personal expenses, including gambling expenses at the Mohegan Sun Casino.

Davis-Jennings worked as a paralegal and bookkeeper for a law firm in West Hartford and handled some personal finances for the principal and his mother.

Prosecutors say Davis-Jennings filed false income tax returns for 2001 through 2004 that resulted in a tax loss to the government of about $142,000. She was ordered to pay restitution of $621,174.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. (Source >>>)

Paralegal Firm Fights Speeding Tickets

When I was given a speeding ticket several years ago, I did what many drivers do — I 'fessed up to the police officer and quickly paid the fine. The circumstances of my apprehension were dubious at best (I wasn't going very fast; no speed limit was posted nearby), but pleading guilty seemed like the least painful way to clear up the matter.

Turns out, I'm an idiot. Speeding tickets are easy to fight and the fight can be well worth the effort. "In many cases, speeding tickets are nothing more than an arbitrary tax," says Ian Tootill, executive director of SENSE, an anti-photo radar group based in Vancouver. "It's probably everybody's duty to fight them in whatever way they can."

You're not just dealing with the annoying cost of the ticket, which averages about $150. You're also dealing with the impact on your insurance premiums, which can be painful and long-lasting. The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates your premiums will rise about 25% if you have four speeding tickets on your driving record. You can find out the exact damage with a quick visit to www.InsuranceHotline.com.  There, I discovered that if I received three tickets a year for three years, my annual premiums would rise a horrifying $5,000.

"Insurance companies are absolutely brutal," says Brian Lawrie, founder and president of POINTTS, a Toronto-based paralegal firm that employs former police officers to help drivers fight tickets. "Insurance companies take absolutely no notice of demerit points. What they look at is convictions. If you plead guilty [and receive no demerit points], it still counts as a conviction on the books of the insurance company." Your record remains on those books for five years.

The solution? If you feel that you have been wrongly accused, contest your ticket. According to U.S. estimates, only about 3% to 5% of ticketed drivers take their case to court. Yet about half of drivers who do fight back emerge from court victorious. Canadian statistics, though unavailable, are probably similar. But to ensure you're among the winning half of defendants, you have to know what you're doing.

The first step to keeping your record clean is making nice with the police officer who pulled you over. You want him or her to approach you in a good frame of mind, so stay in your car and put your hands where the officer can see them, preferably on your steering wheel. Think of it as damage control. By being polite and considerate, you stand a better chance of getting off with a warning or at least having the charges reduced.

Never — and I mean, never — admit any guilt. Police officers often ask potentially damaging questions, such as, "Do you know why I have pulled you over?" or "Do you know how fast you were driving?" Answer "Yes, I was speeding," or "I think I was doing about 120" and your case is cooked. "Anything the officer can do to make you admit your guilt makes his life at lot easier," says Eric Skrum, communications director at the National Motorists Association, a lobby group based in Waunakee, Wis. Skrum recommends politely turning the questions back on the officer: "Why have you pulled me over?" "How fast was I going?" Alternatively, just keep mum and profess ignorance as to why you've been stopped.

If the officer still issues you a ticket, inspect it. If you see a minor error, such as a misspelling of your name or a licence plate number that's off by a single digit, a judge probably won't dismiss your ticket. However, if the officer has forgotten to enter your name entirely or failed to sign the ticket, that's considered a "fatal error" and you're off the hook.

If you haven't been blessed with a big slip-up, don't worry. Make a careful note of your surroundings, especially the traffic and weather conditions at the time of the incident, and any obstructions that could interfere with a radar reading, such as bridges, railway tracks and power lines. Pick out precisely where you are on a map and, if you have a camera handy, snap some photos. They could be useful backup for your upcoming court appearance, and they will help refresh your memory.

Next, transform yourself into an indignant victim. On your ticket, you'll be given a choice of three ways to plead: guilty (you pay the fine); guilty with an explanation (you explain your situation to a justice of the peace in hopes that he or she will reduce your fine); or not guilty. Not guilty is the one to choose if you feel that you weren't speeding, the officer got the wrong car, or the evidence against you is flimsy.

Send in the ticket and wait for notice of your court date. If you don't mind being sneaky, here's a tip. As soon as you receive notice of your court appearance, ask to have the date changed. A police officer's court appearances are often lumped together on one day, a date that is convenient for him or her. Change the date and it's less likely the officer will show up. (And yes, when an officer doesn't show up, the charges against you are usually dismissed.)

However, never assume that the officer will be a no-show; their track record is actually pretty good. Also, don't bother drawing up a list of excuses for your court appearance. Excuses like "all the cars were speeding" and "my speedometer was broken" are words uttered only by the guilty-with-an-explanation crowd — and you're not guilty.

Instead, request full disclosure of the prosecution's evidence by sending a letter to the relevant police station. Be precise with your request. At a minimum, ask for the officer's copy of the ticket, the kind of speed measurement device used to nab you and the officer's training record for that device. Radar devices are not infallible, with potential interference coming from highways and railway lines. Police officers can also make errors in spotting a speeding car in a group of vehicles, especially if their training is substandard. "Radar is an extremely accurate device," says Lawrie, who pulled over many a speeder during his 10 years with the Metro Toronto police before becoming a paralegal. "But what it tells you is something out there is moving at, say, 80 km/hr. It could be a train or it could be another car on the highway."

Ask the officer why he thinks your car was the vehicle picked up on his radar. The officer must demonstrate that he had a visual estimation of your speed before he used the radar to confirm it. That's not always easy to prove, especially if you're armed with traffic and weather conditions and the officer's training record. "Radar is used to corroborate a visual estimate of speed," says Tootill. "In other words, a police officer is supposed to look at you and say, 'I think the driver is doing such-and-such a speed. I'm going to use this device to determine if that is the case.' But often what they're doing is setting themselves up two km away on straight stretches of road and firing at people with the devices [without estimating their speeds beforehand]." That's a no-no.

If the idea of cross-examining a police officer sounds daunting, there are ways to boost your confidence. You could hire a lawyer, if you don't mind racking up expenses that will likely dwarf the cost of your speeding ticket. Or you could turn to a paralegal firm that specializes in traffic tickets. POINTTS, for instance, has offices in Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta, and it offers you a free consultation to find out if your case is worth pursuing. Once a case gets to court, the firm claims a 90% success rate. It charges a flat rate, in the range of $250 to $500, depending upon the complexity of the matter. Other firms, such as X-Copper, guarantee their results: if you lose your case, the $300-plus fee will be either refunded or absorbed into the cost of the ticket.

There are cheaper ways to fight your speeding ticket. The NMA Web site contains useful information, most of which is applicable to Canadian drivers. Also check out the SENSE Web site. Better yet, simply drop in on a court session to see how the system works. You might be pleasantly surprised by the informal nature of these courts. You might even pick up some tips if a seasoned pro is fighting a ticket that same day. And who knows, after you fight your first ticket, you may emerge a seasoned pro yourself. (Source >>>)

Paralegal's Murder Trial Delayed

SANDPOINT — The discovery phase of Keith Allen Brown’s murder case is pushing his 10-day trial into the month of December.

Attorneys on both sides of the case filed a joint motion calling for Brown’s trial in July to be rescheduled because discovery, the process by which the prosecution and defense exchange information for their respective cases, has been fraught with unexpected delays and is “more complex than anticipated.”

Brown, 47, is charged with first-degree murder and grand theft by possession of stolen property in connection with the shooting death of Leslie Carlton Breaw at Priest Lake last year.

Brown is pleading not guilty to the charges and has suggested in court filings Breaw’s killing was an act of self defense. He also accused of taking a $56,000 escrow check belonging to the victim, but Brown has stated he was owed the money for doing paralegal work on Breaw’s behalf.

Brown’s 26-year-old wife and alleged accomplice in the case, Tyrah Brea Brown, is also charged with murder and grand theft. She has also pleaded innocent and her trial remains set for August.

Breaw, 48, was shot in the face with a .22-caliber rifle in January 2007, according to sheriff’s officials. The shooting happened while the Browns were living in one of the homes on Breaw’s property in Coolin.

The couple allegedly fled to Florida after the slaying. They were arrested the day after Breaw’s body was discovered in the woods near his home the following March.

A district judge is scheduled to hear a series of defense motions this month which aim to dismiss the charges against Keith Brown and thwart the presentation of evidence at trial.

Keith Brown’s defense team, Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson and Chief Deputy Public Defender Janet Whitney, argue in the filings that there was insufficient evidence at a preliminary hearing to justify trying him. They further contend valuable exculpatory evidence was lost when the home the Browns were living in was razed and other evidence was improperly obtained. (Source >>>)

At 68, this Future Paralegal is Determined to Graduate

Fifty years ago this month, Lula Mae Johnson dropped out of her rural South Carolina high school.  She was a mediocre student, kept home twice a week to work on her family's farm, spreading manure over the cotton fields with a pitchfork. She was promoted to the 12th grade, but with plans to marry over the summer, she believed she was too grown up for high school.

For decades she regretted leaving and disappointing her parents, sharecroppers who never made it past grade school.

"I always knew I needed an education, because I had a desire to do better in my life," said Johnson, who wanted to pursue a law degree after witnessing her parents fight multiple legal battles to keep their property.

Tonight, the 68-year-old great-grandmother with a silver bob and wire-rimmed spectacles will become the oldest Boston high school graduate. She and more than three dozen students, most in their 20s and 30s, will cross the stage of the historic Faneuil Hall and earn a bona fide diploma from Boston Central Adult High School.

Looking on from rows of wooden chairs will be her husband Leon, the man she married at 19; their four daughters, seven grandchildren, great grandson, and more than a dozen friends.

"I feel I was the first one that caused her to drop out, so it would only be right to see her finish," said Leon Johnson, also a high school dropout who drove his wife from their Mattapan home to class daily. "I'm relieved that she finally got through school."

Lula Mae Johnson has spent the last six years working toward her diploma. Refusing to settle for a GED - "Somehow that didn't ring right with me," she said - she attended classes at adult schools in Roxbury and South Boston.

Her classmates were mostly single mothers and other teenagers who had recently dropped out, youngsters who called her Ms. Lula. They marveled that she never missed class, not even during snowstorms. After juggling school and farmwork as a child, Johnson said that returning to class was a privilege. "Now, no matter what I'm doing, doesn't matter what weather it is, I am there," she said.

She and her husband made sure that all five of their children finished high school. After all, the couple had scrimped to afford one-way bus tickets to Boston in 1959 so their future children would have access to a better education.

Leon Johnson got a job cleaning cars at a Chevy dealer. Lula Mae Johnson worked at a Roxbury laundromat. School weighed on her mind, but she knew she could not take classes, work, and raise a family. She worked nights as a nurse's assistant for nearly 30 years before running her own day-care center for eight. (more >>>)

Paralegal's Bra Design at the Center Of IP Dispute

NEW YORK (NYT) — Hear the phrase "intellectual property," and the mind might wander to the epic struggle between the recording industry and Napster, or the more recent battle between J.K. Rowling and a fan who wanted to publish The Harry Potter Lexicon as a literary love note.

One place it would probably not go is to lingerie — bras and litigation being an uncomfortable fit. But then there was the lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Manhattan: a patent matter relating to Victoria Secret’s "Very Sexy 100-Way Strapless Convertible Bra."

The bra is, according to the lawsuit, the intellectual creation of Katerina Plew, a Long Island paralegal, who registered it under U.S. Patent No. 6,733,362 in May 2004. Plew, who is 38, contends that Victoria’s Secret stole, then mass-produced, her specialized design.

"The first time I thought of it I was getting ready for a christening," Plew said in a telephone interview from her home in Selden, N.Y.

"It was an idea that just popped into my head in — don’t know — like March of ’99."

The bra, with its various hooks and eyelets, is something like the Micronaut of the undergarment world. By a complicated series of manoeuvres, it can be worn in as many as 100 ways.

Robin Olshavsky, a spokeswoman for Limited Brands Inc., Victoria Secret’s parent company, said she could not comment on pending litigation. (Source)

One Paralegal's Path to the PACE Exam

I first learned of the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam back in 2000 when I joined the Philadelphia Association of Paralegals. I was immediately intrigued. How great -- an exam to test the competency of paralegals. It was right up my alley because I'm always looking for a challenge.

So I quickly ordered all the materials to begin my quest. About a week later I received my package of materials. But with a busy work schedule, billable-hour requirement and three children at home, I never had a moment to even open the envelope, let alone begin the process. I began to feel guilty because there was this exam out there that would enhance my position within my profession, and I couldn't find the time to take it.

At the same time I started to become more involved with PAP's newsletter committee. I began asking my fellow paralegals to see how they felt about the exam. To my surprise, most paralegals said they didn't feel it was worth their time since it wouldn't get them a pay raise and it wasn't mandatory. Well, if others felt this way, maybe this exam was a waste of my time. So I threw out the materials and went on with my busy paralegal life.

A few years had passed, and I became even more involved with PAP and its committees and, in 2005, was elected to serve on its board of directors. It wasn't until I became a board member when I learned PAP had a PACE ambassador, Barbara I. Nield. I quickly began to think again about taking the exam. I thought if PAP had an ambassador and promoted the PACE exam that this is something I need to do, regardless of no pay raise or whether it was now or later would be mandatory.

At the same time, Nield was working with PAP to offer scholarships to PAP members for the PACE exam. I was so excited, and I actually only attended the December luncheon to put my name in the drawing. What do you know, I won the scholarship. I almost immediately ran back to the office to ask my boss if I could take the exam. Lucas & Cavalier has always supported me in my profession, so I wasn't surprised when I was told, "Absolutely! Let me know what you need from me and/or the firm to get started."

The minute I got the OK from my boss, I called Nield to find out what the necessary steps were to take the exam. She suggested I order the study guide first to give myself a little extra time to study. From the time you receive the acceptance letter to take the exam, you only have 90 days to actually take the exam.

A week later the book arrived at my office -- all 676 pages of it. I almost fell over when I saw how huge the book was. I couldn't even fit it in my workbag. There was no way I could carry this thing to and from work every day. So the book sat on my desk for a few months before I even opened it.

It was now May 2006, and I decided I was again ready to start studying. But tragedy hit home, and my only brother suddenly passed away. After a few months of walking around in a daze, I decided I wasn't going to take this exam. I felt life was too short, and I didn't want to waste months of studying to take this four-hour exam.

But as more months went by, I began to remember all the things that make life worth living and that, yes, life is short, and we need to get all we can out of it, and taking this exam was just another step in my life to enhance me professionally. So I picked up the study guide in January 2007 and started studying.

I first planned out goal dates of when I wanted each step of the process completed. I gave myself until mid-February to complete the study guide, end of February to complete the application and until May 18, 2007, to take the exam. I was a little held up on my reading and didn't finish until the end of February. I started the application at the end of February but then had three trials back-to-back and didn't complete it until mid-March. I gave myself a two-week break from studying, and then I decided to re-read the study guide to pick up anything I may have missed the first time around. Then I went out and read the suggested additional reading materials listed in the study guide. At this point it was mid-April, and I finally received the letter granting permission to take the PACE exam. I had until mid-July to take the exam.

I then contacted Nield to see what advice/guidance she could give me. She suggested I purchase the online practice test, which would point out any areas where I needed additional studying. I passed the online practice test, which gave me great confidence to keep going and did let me know of my weak areas. I then scheduled the examination for my original goal date, which was May 18, 2007. The last four weeks before the exam, I went over my weak areas with the study guide, additional reading materials and the results from the online practice test.

It was May 18, 2007, and I was at the exam center. I felt my heart in my throat. My hands were sweaty. I had not taken an exam since college, which was 10 years ago. My exam was scheduled for 8 a.m. By 8:20 a.m., I was still sitting there waiting. I pulled out the study guide and began to read. I was so nervous that the words were not registering in my head. Finally, my name was called. I was given my computer, and the timer began to tick away. The entire time taking the exam, I could see the timer out of the corner of my eye. I finished in about two and a half hours, and I decided to re-check my answers. Thirty minutes later, I determined I was satisfied with all my answers. I gave it another minute while I thought about whether I wanted to go back yet again to check my answers but declined and then clicked the finished button. It was the longest three minutes as I waited for the results. Then there it was, "Congratulations, you passed." I almost cried.

My job, PAP and NFPA really hyped up my results and made me extremely happy that I decided to take, let alone pass, the exam. Did I get more money? No. Was it mandatory? Not yet. But I am thrilled to be registered paralegal and proud of it. I would encourage every paralegal to take the examination. The feeling of accomplishment was and remains wonderful.

Sharon A. DeNofa is a paralegal with Lucas & Cavalier, where her areas of practice include products liability, commercial litigation, professional liability, commercial insurance defense, insurance coverage, bad faith litigation, maritime personal injury and premises liability. DeNofa earned her associate's degree in paralegal studies from Peirce College in 1996. (Source)

KNOW Paralegal Magazine

A new and exciting magazine for paralegals premiers. KNOW, The Magazine for Paralegals is an outside-the-box, informative magazine balancing work style and lifestyle balance for paralegals.

Designed for paralegals in today's highly competitive market, the publication offers tools, tactics and strategies for a successful work life and lifestyle balance. Written by leaders in the field, just a few of the upcoming stories include:

Famous TV Stars: What Fans Don't Know About These Former Paralegals; Work Less, Earn More: Can You Ditch the 24/7 Stressful Routine? The 10 Most Influential Paralegals in the Country; Trends Guaranteed to Change the Paralegal Profession; Diversity's Little Secret: Are Caucasian Paralegals; Doing Enough to Support African-American Paralegals? Paralegals Succeeding Against All the Odds; Your Network is Your Net Worth; Wedding Cake Blues: When You Marry Your Job; Navigating a Male-Dominated Industry; New Case Law That Affects Your Career; Why Litigation Support Managers in BigLaw Can Earn Up to $200k Per Year; Can the IP Field Sustain Its Phenomenal Paralegal Growth?

You'll love the regular columns such as: TechKNOW - Technology Paralegals Need; KNOW News is Good News - Happenings in the Paralegal Field; Offbeat Things Paralegals Do To Succeed; Advice from The Career Guru; The KNOW List: Books, Publications, Resources; The Stress Doc Talks- Putting Passion Back Into Your Job; Corporate, IP, Investigative, Litigation, Personal Injury, BigFirm, SmallFirm, In-House, Technology, Compliance and much more!

KNOW delivers real stories of effective workstyle and lifestyle balance for busy paralegals with particular areas of concern. The latest news, trends, tips, important case law, and expert advice.

The magazine premiers in June. Charter subscriptions area available now. Charter members of the magazine will receive one free issue and their name prominently displayed in the premier issue.

To subscribe to KNOW click here.