Law from a legal assistant’s point of view, week 36: Planning
By Quinton Lister, legal assistant
Planning is something that I have always aspired to do in my life but being a legal assistant has helped me realize that there is a level of planning I have never experienced, comprehended, or even imagined.
For instance, to generate an effective argument my boss must contemplate (or at least try to contemplate) every likely potential counter argument to his own. After considering each counter argument, he must come up with his own response to each counter argument. Even if he doesn’t end up confronting those arguments, he has to be prepared for them so that he can make the most effective case he can.
And there are plans, then there are schemes.
One particularly nefarious scheme I’ve experienced in at least the family law field is the lengths to which most lawyers will go, virtually every time, to avoid having direct communication with opposing counsel. For example: when I call other law offices to speak with opposing counsel in a case, I have to navigate a maze of assistants and “policies,” all of which function to ensure I never speak to that attorney. If that is not by design, then it is amazing how every law office coincidentally operates the same way.
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Tags: clerk, court, divorce planning, law, law brief, legal assistant, legal education, planning, plans, secretary