About Carole Bruno, Paralegal and Author

AUTHOR - BOOKS:

• LESSONS From the Top Paralegal Experts, the 15 Most Successful Paralegals in America and What you can Learn
• From Them, Cengage Learning (2008)
• Paralegal’s Litigation Handbook, 2nd ed., WestLaw Pub. (1993)
• Standard Legal Secretary’s Handbook, Prentice Hall (1986)
• Paralegal’s Litigation Handbook, Prentice-Hall, Inc. (l980)

EDITOR - BOOKS:

• Paralegal’s Resource Manual, Anderson Publishing Company (l994)
• Paralegals and Successful Law Practice, Prentice Hall, Inc. (1980)
• Legal Secretary’s Model Letter Book, Prentice Hall, Inc. (1989)

EDITOR - NEWSLETTERS:

• ” Editor, Attorneys Marketing Report (l989-91)
• ” Editor, CPA Marketing Report (l989-91)
• ” Editor, Diagnostic Imaging Update (1994)
• ” Co-Editor, UNILAW (l986-88)

ARTICLES:

The National Paralegal Reporter (National Federation of Paralegal Associations Inc.

• ” How to Raise Your Salary Up to $10,000 Without Changing Jobs” (2004)

The Honolulu Advertiser

• “Basking in Hawaii’s Aloha Spirit” (2000)
• “A Little Roasting Over Cooked Poke” (1998)

Island Business

• “Surviving the Family-Owned Businesses in Hawaii” (1997)

Hawaii Bicycling League

• “One Foot on the Bike, One Food in the Mud” (1997)

Hawaii Investors

• How to Cut Your Lawyer’s Bills” (1996)

Hawaii Association of Legal Assistants Newsletter (1996)

• “Assertiveness”
• “Assertiveness Revisited”
• “Training Paralegals In-House”
• “Creating Mutually Beneficial Attorney/Paralegal Communications”
• “Beyond Paralegalism”

Pacific Business News

• “Lawyers Learn about Customer Service” (1995)
• “Firms Offer Service Related Businesses”(1995)

Hawaii State Bar Journal ” “Marketing in a Down Market” (1995) Physicians Marketing and Management

• “Marketing to Women: What You Can Do to Attract the People Who Make 80% of All Health Care Decisions” (1994)
• “Filling Summer Vacation Voids. Ten Questions You Should Ask Before Bringing in a Locum Tenens Physician” (1994)

The National Law Journal

• “Holiday Cheer: Party, Gifts Can Project Firm Image” (1989)

Georgia Bar Association Journal

• “Up, Up, Up With Employee Morale” (1985)
• The Law Marketing Exchange (1988)
• “How to Get Attorneys to Write Articles”

Fulton Daily Report, 1988

• “Introducing New Associates”
• “Client Marketing for the Holidays”
• “How to Hire (And Keep) Support Staff”
• “Finding a Recruiter”
• “Finding the Right Personnel Agency”
• “Writing Effective Recruitment Ads”
• “Exploding the Myth About Paralegals”
• “Evaluating Your Paralegal”
• “How Good Is Your Receptionist?”

Law Office Economics and Management

• “How to Develop an In-House Paralegal Training Program” (1986)

Connecticut Bar Association Journal (1986)

• “Assertiveness Revisited”

Legal Assistant Today (1988-93)

• “Using Document Search and Retrieval Services Efficiently”
• “Measuring Progress: How Far Have We Come?”
• “Scheduling Out-of-Town Depositions”
• “Look Before You Leap Into Law School”

A Paralegal with Exceptional Giving to her Profession. USLegal, Inc.

I wanted to go to law school badly, but the lack of money stood in my way. When I read an article in The Los Angeles Times entitled, “A New Profession in the Legal Ranks,” I got excited.

Courses for paralegal personnel leading to a B.S. in legal administration and a certificate program in legal assistantship were announced. The American Bar Association had long advocated the establishment of paraprofessional assistants for the legal professions. In recognition of this need, the students would be trained to function as part of a team; and under the supervision and direction of their employer.

The ABA suggested such courses some time ago with the idea that legal assistants could prepare briefs, take depositions and perform many other chores, which only lawyers are supposed to do now. According to David Prescott, the former assistant dean of the then six-year-old law school in Culver City, the school mailed the announcement to 10,000 attorneys in Los Angeles, and received 600 inquiries.

In September 1972, I was among the 100 students admitted to the first class, with 33 graduates in 1974 receiving a certificate. As one of the pioneer paralegals of the 70s, I helped create and define a new profession in the legal field.

The article further stated that in recognition of this need, the student would be trained to function as part of a team; and, under the supervision and direction of their employer, perform such tasks as legal research, the preparation and interpretation of a wide variety of legal documents, and assisting in the many accounting procedures related to law practice.

My courses included law office management procedures with experience in the utilization of the latest types of office equipment and machines, including data processing, and indexing procedures with respect to office files, library publications and legal memoranda. I received extensive training in several areas of the law and the foundations of Anglo-American Jurisprudence. Four alternate programs were available, allowing the certificate program to be completed in either two or three years. I received a general litigation certificate.

I began my career as a paralegal trainee for the City Attorney of Simi Valley, California, and later worked for Troy Malin, a prestigious firm in Century City. In 1975 I moved to Atlanta where I worked in real estate for Hansel Post, a large firm. Through networking connections, I accepted a position in municipal law with Troutman Sanders, later transferring to litigation, my specialty. I loved my job and worked at TSLA for five years.

I joined the former Georgia Association of Legal Assistants (GALA), now the Georgia Paralegal Association (GPA) and worked my way up in several positions in the organization until I became the present of GALA and the national representative for the National Federation of Paralegal Associations in 1979.

In 1980, I wrote the Paralegal’s Litigation Handbook for The Institute for Business Planning, a subsidiary of Prentice-Hall, Inc., followed by the Standard Legal Secretary’s Deskbook in 1986.

In 1993, I wrote the second edition of the Paralegal’s Litigation Handbook (PLH 2E) with the Instructor’s Manual with Test Bank to Accompany the PLH 2E for West Publishing Company.

In 1994 I moved to Hawaii and served on the board of the Hawaii Paralegal Association (HPA), and later was a consultant to the board.

I have written numerous articles about paralegals for various legal publications, including Legal Assistant Today, The National Paralegal Reporter (NFPA) Legal Economics and Management, The American Lawyer, The National Law Journal, The Connecticut Bar Association Journal, The State Bar of Georgia, The Hawaii State Bar Journal, The Boston Association of Legal Administrators, The Pennsylvania Lawyer, The Deleware State Bar Journal and several other legally related articles listed on www.writersnet.com.

I wrote a weekly column on law office management, paralegals, and related subjects for the Fulton Daily Report in Atlanta. In addition, my credits include being the editor of several newsletters, including Attorneys Marketing Report, CPA Marketing Report, Attorneys Computer Report, CPA Computer Report, and Physicians Marketing and Management. I have also edited several books for various publishers, including Paralegal’s Resource Manual, (Anderson Publishing Company, 1994), and Paralegals and Successful Law Practice (Prentice Hall, Inc., 1980). I have the honor of being in the 1994 edition of the Contemporary Authors of America.

When I was in paralegal school, I always thought about starting a paralegal placement agency, but after I started the first such agency in the nation in Georgia in 1979, I found it was not for me. In addition to my writing and speaking engagements, I became a consultant to lawyers on paralegal utilization and law office management, which I enjoyed. In addition, I conducted in-house training in private law firms.

I conducted legal seminars and workshops for paralegal associations, many colleges and universities, and in major cities. My speaking engagements have included University of Delaware, University of Tennessee, and The National Institute for Paralegal Training. I presented a workshop on how to increase your salary at the Paralegal SuperConference in Washington DC. In March 2006 I spoke at the first conference of Paralegal Directors and Managers at the Harvard Club in New York sponsored by The American Lawyer.