Week 3 Post 1

Wow! Time has flown by! I can't believe the third week is already done. I was not formally given a job because Mr. Teixeira's usual hiring day is June 1st but he did tell me to search around and see if a bigger law firm may be something I am interested in, because he would not want me to always wonder how it would be working somewhere else. He did inform me that if I did not find anything until then, or even the last week on May, when the other assistant is gone on vacation, that he is more than happy to have me come work for him. I am happy with how my three weeks turned out at Teixeira Law Office and I hope everyone else is going well too.

Give examples of oral and written communication used in your work placement. Did you draft your own communications? Are you using 'clean formatting'? Are you using Outlook. If so, what features are you using?

All the forms we prepare in Convencyer are already written up. We just delete I am currently not using Outlook at my desk because the email assigned with that computer was having some issues. I have a calendar for the week pinned up so I can see the meetings Mr. Teixeira has but when clients call in to make an appointment I transfer them to the legal assistant so she can schedule the appointment.

Provide an example of a problem you encountered and describe how you solved it.

Are you using a To-Do List/notebook to prioritize you work to meet deadlines.
I have a note book where I write down what I have to do, but because there is only one other assistant in the office, most of the time I do one thing at a time and when I've completed it I see what else needs to be done. That is excluding the typical office duties like telephone calls, clients, letters that she may ask me to package and send out with the Purolator.

What is one of your weaknesses? How did you overcome this in your work placement?

I feel that while I was working I depended a lot on the other legal assistant. I know during my exit interview she said I should have more confidence in what I do. I feel like I still need to strive a bit more to overcome this weakness and I am sure that if I were to have a more one on one training basis about everything then I would be more confident in what I do and I wouldn't have to ask too many questions about the slightest things.

Provide recommendations for refinements to the curriculum (i.e. are there specific elements we should spend more time on to better prepare you for your work place). What is right about the curriculum? What needs to be improved upon? Which courses did you prefer - explain why. Which courses did you not prefer - explain why.

I believe that there is just so much to learn in Real Estate that more elements within the course should be covered. Topics like new builds or condominium's would be good topics to study.

I preferred Corporate Law above all the other courses just because I was always more business oriented since high school. I didn't mind Real Estate, but I did find it very stressful. Doing my placement in a firm that mainly focuses on Real Estate also confirmed to be that theory. Requisition dates are extremely important, days of closing are stressful an hectic because you need to be funded in order to give title to clients, and it's even more stressful when there are multiple closings on a day (just like today, my last day, we had 5 closings).

Family Law and Litigation were the two courses I preferred the least. In litigation I found that their was too many date deadlines. In family I found that the forms were quite complicated to fill out, especially if you did not have a lawyer acting on your behalf. Also I am an emotional person, I do not have the personality to be able to separate work from feelings to the extent that is needed for some of the matters.

How will you continue to learn and develop professionally as a legal assistant?

I plan on just learning more through my experience of working more. Nobody can just sit around all day and expect to know to do something without every trying it for them self. Whether it will be at Teixeira Law Office in June or another law firm I hope I continue to learn and expand on the skills and knowledge I was taught.