C
O L U M N S
READER'S COMMENTS
I got it (the Summer edition of the Texas Paralegal Journal)
yesterday and read it cover to cover. I think it is the best one yet.
Congratulations on a job well done! P.S. I saw in the Statesman this
morning that the indictments against AISD were upheld in the Austin
Court of Appeals (re: "A Sitdown with One of Austin’s Top
Guns").
Pam Horn,
V&E, Austin
Well, I enjoyed the summer issue! Glad to see you are getting back
such positive feedback on the new format.
Ellen Lockwood, CLA, Jenkens & Gilchrist
San Antonio, Texas
I can’t believe how great this site (lad.org) looks and works!
Ingrid Bumstead, CLAS
Beaumont, Texas
CLE ONLINE
Would you like
to have additional Information at your fingertips for which you may
receive actual CLE hours? Check out the online seminars that NALS is
offering through www.CLEOnline.com. NALS debuted its computer CLE
courses in October 1999 with "YOUR ETHICS ARE COMMENDABLE, ARE THEY
NOT?" That was followed by an audio seminar, "MANAGING YOUR
TIME AND YOUR CAREER", which was presented in Houston and moderated
online by Camille Grabowski of The Affiliates. Ms. Grabowski has also
been an active member of The Association for Legal Administrators. The
next seminar, "THE WRITE STUFF", was a grammar update which
was presented in Houston by Ruth Piller, an attorney and associate
editor of LITIGATION NEWS. Upcoming presentations include "LIVING
WILLS" and "ETHICAL DILEMMAS" as well as repeats of the
most favorite seminars. For more information go to www.nals.org to New
Features, click on NALS Education at YOUR computer.
SPEAKERS BUREAU
The Legal
Assistants Division of the State Bar of Texas has established a
speakers bureau to be accessed by legal assistant groups seeking
speakers on various topics. If you, or someone you know, should
be included in the speakers bureau, please provide the following
information:
- Have you ever spoken to a legal assistants’ group?
c
Yes c
No
If yes, what was the topic of your speech?
To whom was your speech directed?
- Have you attended a seminar or meeting where the speaker
impressed you? If so, please provide the name, address, and
telephone number of the speaker, the group to whom the
speech was addressed, the topic of the speech, and the date
the speech was given.
- Would you like to be listed as a speaker in the Division’s
speakers bureau database? If so, please check the box below:
c Yes
Please provide your name, address, telephone number, and/or
e-mail address, as well as the topics you would like to speak
on:
|
- Would you be willing to speak for no fee?
c Yes c
No
- Would you be willing to travel?
c Yes c
No
- Would you require that any travel expenses be paid by the
group requesting you?
c Yes c
No
- Would you be willing to speak at functions held during the
week, Monday through Friday?
c Yes c
No
- Would you be willing to speak at functions held on
weekends?
c Yes c
No
c Saturdays only
c Sundays only
c Saturdays or Sundays are
okay
- Are you a member of Toastmasters?
c Yes c
No
- Do you teach in any paralegal program?
c Yes c
No
If so, please list the name of the institution at which you
teach, how long you have been teaching, and the subjects you
teach
Thank you for your time and cooperation. Please submit this
form to: Jodye Kasher, CLA, 3307 Windy Ridge Court, San Antonio,
Texas 78259 |
web WIZARDS
A great site for CEOs and everyone else! I thought you would be
interested in this site for the WEB Wizards. It’s great for business
research and finding just about anything on the Internet. The URL is: http://www.ceoexpress.com
Adele Hernandez, San Antonio
Houston attorney, Craig Ball, recommends "Craig’s Phone
Finder". It provides access to all major white page search engines
in one place. Reverse searches too! You may access Craig’s webpage
through the LAD "Legal Links" site or you may go directly to
his home page at http://www.craigball.com.
With the Focus on Ethics in this edition of the TPJ we want to point
out two Ethics sites. They are: http://www.LegalEthics.com
and Texas Ethics Reporter @ http://www.lawlib.uh.edu/ethics/.
If you are researching settlements and/or verdicts, you may want to
check out The National Law Journal http://www.ljextra.com/cgi-bin/vds
or Lawyers Weekly USA. Lawyers Weekly USA is advertised as being
"The National Newspaper for Small-Firm Lawyers". It contains
many other sections including, but not limited to: Law Library
(opinions, statutes, etc.), Experts, and articles containing information
on current court decisions.
PARALEGAL POINTERS
Do supplemental interrogatory
answers need to be verified? In federal court, yes. Refer to
FRCP 33(b). "Each interrogatory shall be answered separately and
fully in writing under oath, unless it is objected to...."
(Emphasis added.) And do not overlook the next part in FRCP33(b)(2):
"The answers are to be signed by the person making them, and the
objections signed by the attorney making them." In state court when
responding to discovery, TRCP193.5(b) states in part: "...An
amended or supplemental response must be in the same form as the initial
response and must be verified by the party if the original response was
required to be verified by the party..."
However, there are exceptions: "A
responding party must sign the answers under oath except that: (1) when
answers are based on information obtained from other persons, the party
may so state, and (2) a party need not sign answers to interrogatories
about persons with knowledge of relevant facts, trial witnesses and
legal contentions. TRCP197.2(d)
Submitted by Linda
Slayter
INTERROGATORIES
Many in the legal field (attorneys
included) are still confused about the number of sets of interrogatories
that may be filed. You are limited to 25 interrogatories, but you
may have up to 25 sets. Yes, that means if your attorney wants
to, she can send opposing counsel one (1) interrogatory at a time, up to
the limit of 25. TRCP 190.3(b)(3).
Many attorneys are wasting some of these
valuable 25 by asking for information in interrogatories that has
already been covered in their Request for Disclosure.
THE RULE
To "invoke the Rule" means
that "At the request of either party, in a civil case, the
witnesses on both sides shall be sworn and removed out of the courtroom
to some place where they cannot hear the testimony as delivered by any
other witness in the cause." TRCP 267(a). "This rule does not
authorize exclusion of (1) a party who is a natural person or the spouse
of such natural person, or (2) an officer or employee of a party that is
not a natural person and who is designated as its representative by its
attorney, or (3) a person whose presence is shown by a party to be
essential to the presentation of the cause." TRCP 267(b). TRE 614.
It may be your responsibility to be sure
that none of your testifying witnesses (or opposing counsel’s) are
present in the Courtroom; therefore, you must be diligent. If it is
found that a witness is present in the Courtroom after the Rule is
invoked, the presentation of their testimony may be denied and they may
be held in contempt of Court. Additionally, the witnesses should be
advised that they are not to converse with one another or with anyone
else about the case. TRCP 267 (c) (d). |
