Paralegal Tames Paperwork Beast
By Mike Fimea
Arizona Business Gazette
Lee Davis knows all about taming the paperwork beast.
"About 10 years ago, I was called in to help AlliedSignal gather documents for a merger with another company," said Davis, who operates a contract-paralegal firm out of her northeast Valley home.
"It was my first big contract. We did a sweep of each company's records and developed a collection procedure to make sure no documents were overlooked."
Such organization and attention to detail comes easily to Davis and her staff. Her company, Lee Davis and Associates, has carved a niche assisting law firms and corporate legal departments with complex cases and trial work.
"It certainly works for us, said Russ Kolstrud of Norling, Kolstrud Sifferman & Davis, a Phoenix firm specializing in commercial litigation.
"I can call Lee right now if I need a paralegal for a bankruptcy case, and she can send us someone with experience in bankruptcy matters. When we're trying a case in one of the electronic courtrooms, she runs the computers for us. She makes us all look good."
Nearly every law firm employs paralegals to help with the research and other tasks. But complicated litigation, particularly cases with 10,000 documents or more, can overload the staff and divert their energies from other cases.
"You need to get control of the documents, you need to know what's in them, and you need someone who's worked with these kinds of cases before," said Rick Hurd, an attorney at Gust Rosenfeld.
That's where the expertise of Davis and her paralegals comes in. They determine the documents needed - in response to a subpoena, for example - and work with outside companies that handle copying and coding the documents. An origanized database is thus established that can be used at trial.
Davis spent 10 years as a traditional paralegal. She often pictured herself at home, coffee cup in hand, awaiting a phone call with news of a lucrative paralegal contract.
The revenue didn't exactly roll in at first. Her first contract came in 1986, when Davis hired a paralegal to complete a short-term project for a firm where Davis formerly worked. Her profit from that project: $1.50 an hour.
" I contacted all the attorneys I'd ever worked for and started picking up more projects," she said.
By 1989, Davis had broadened her legal contracts and completed classes at Phoenix College and Arizona State University. She left her permanent job to begin a six-month contract at the Phoenix firm of Lee, Stegall and Katz. The assignment became a 4-1/2-year project, and Davis had the foundation for her new business.
The cost advantages of contract work appeals to law firms and the paralegals who work for Davis. She charges firms $45 per hour, half of what firms typically bill for paralegal services.
"If a paralegal is not busy all the time, a four-hour job can turn into an eight-hour job," Kolstrud said. "When I hire one of Lee's people, a four-hour job is a four-hour job."
Only a portion of the $90-per-hour rate ends up in the paycheck of a staff paralegal. Davis says the expenses of running a traditional law practice eat up two-thirds of the hourly charge.
"Paralegals in this area probably make $20 an hour, tops, and they might make up to $50,000 (a year)," she said.
"One of my paralegals will make $80,000 this year. They earn more because they control the hours they work, they share some of the profits and I don't have the overhead a law firm has."
Davis has stayed on top of high-tech trends through her use of Summation, software that can electronically organize and cross-search documents, depositions and court transcripts.
"Lee is just a computer whiz," said Alice Slack, a paralegal at Renaud, Cook and Drury, a firm that handles product liability and insurance defense work.
"With her experience as a paralegal, she knows what we need and can help direct us to the best application or format."
Enhancing the professional standing of paralegals is a priority for Davis as well. She is a member of a task force working on a plan to make paralegal associates members of the State Bar.
"We're not in favor of how California defined our profession. It's too stifling and restrictive," she said. "We strongly advocate an expanded role but we also need a code of ethics and educational standards."
Even after three decades, Davis still gets a charge out of paralegal work.
"It's a bit of a challenge; that's what gets me excited," she said.
"I love the courtroom scenario, and I feel like I'm helping both my clients and the paralegals who work for me. It's just fun."
