On Friday, March 11, Case Manager Stacey Bechtel attended the Tampa Bay Paralegal Association’s Annual Seminar in St. Petersburg, Florida. Stacey is a Florida Registered Paralegal and a member of the Florida Bar. The day’s events provided 7 Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits. It was an interesting and informative day.
The theme this year was “Paralegals v. The Pandemic: Our Power and Positivity!”
The all day event included the following seminars:
Estate Planning Changes in the Pandemic Age – Preparing for the Unexpected – which discussed the many adjustments that Estate Planning and Elder Care law firms had to make during the pandemic to accommodate Estate Planning signing which require multiple signatures and witnesses. It covered the many innovations that law firms collaboratively devised including drive-in signings. It stressed the importance of legal support staff ideas that help make law firms successful not just during the pandemic but every day.
Real Estate Closings and Title Insurance: Successfully Overcoming Pandemic Obstacles – this seminar detailed the rise of hackers during the pandemic and the many ways in which email addresses are being compromised. The speaker gave multiple tips to how to spot emails sent by outside parties that may contain substituted instructions for wiring funds to improper accounts.
The Pandemic: Employment Law on Steroids – this lecture detailed the many ways that businesses, including law firms, have managed the pandemic from remote work to masking and vaccination policies.
6 Habits to Access Your Best Self – provided legal support staff with interesting and helpful tips to reduce and relieve the stress of working in the high pressure world of law practice. The speaker provided many tips on mindfulness and self-care . The focus centered on being true to yourself, having morning rituals to prepare for the day, gratitude, caring for our bodies, focusing not just on the tasks at hand but larger, longer term goals, and accountability to ourselves and others.
Cyber Security & Ransomware: Protect Your Firm, Your Clients, & Yourself – this was a fascinating look into the nefarious work done by cyber-criminals throughout all industries and the ways in which they infiltrate businesses and hold them hostage by seizing data.
Consumer Fraud: Impact of the Pandemic – the Paralegals received a look into how the State Attorney’s Office is prosecuting a multitude of crimes that have increased during the Pandemic including Unemployment Benefits fraud.
How to Practice Law in a Working from Home Environment – this informative Ethics lecture provided guidance to Paralegals working remotely to protect client confidentiality and adopting good work practices.
It was a wonderful event that included raffles and giveaways. Stacey met with scores of other Paralegal professionals from law firms of all types in the Tampa Bay area.
The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson is always excited and impressed by how seriously our team takes their careers and education. Our team members are consistently finding ways to improve themselves to better improve the representation of our clients.