She has been married to her husband, Rick, for the past five years. Further, she also has three children and is very proud of their accomplishments. Her son (Tracy, age 21) served in the United States Army for three years, one of those years was spent in Afghanistan. Dawn's oldest daughter (Elise, age 19) graduated from high school a year ahead of time. Her youngest daughter (Tara, age 15) excels in all of her subjects and is currently getting straight A's, which is very difficult to do when you are in the honors program and taking demanding courses such as Chemistry and Pre-Calculus.
When Dawn is not working, she roots for the Washington Redskins and New York Yankees. The paralegal stated she became a Yankees' fan after Derek Jeter joined the team. But Dawn's favorite sport is NASCAR and she is an avid Tony Stewart fan. She has season tickets to one of the most dangerous sports and noted “the noise of the car is insane.” The paralegal acknowledged that you cannot hear the person sitting next to you when you attend races.
Dawn enjoys scrapbooking. After she got bifocals, she wanted a hobby “where she could see things, so scrapbooking made sense.” She also loves to shop, especially for purses. When the paralegal has time, she reads anything written by James Patterson.
Dawn's Successful Paralegal Career and Tips for New Paralegals
Dawn was asked why and when did you decide to become a legal staff member? The paralegal revealed she was watching television one day when an ad said come work for an attorney. Dawn tried the paralegal profession and after three weeks of attending school she said, “This is what I wanted to do, this is perfect for me.”
Before Dawn was enrolled at college, she used to work in an auto part store, restaurants, shoe shine girl, and dry cleaner. One month before she graduated college, Dawn secured her first law job and has been “working in the legal field for the past nineteen years.”
What is the best part of Dawn's job? The business woman stated she “loves the research.” She continued to say she likes when an attorney tells her “to go find the information.” Dawn recalled that her favorite class in college was advanced legal research. The professor told her this profession is like a puzzle; it's your job to put the pieces together.
The paralegal recognized she had a knack for typing quickly and getting the job done on time. Dawn mentioned it took her only 10 to 15 minutes to type up a motion. She is also known for calming her clients down “when they were crying, yelling, and screaming.” The business women added, “I am also very organized.”
Dawn used to be a legal assistant at the City of Phoenix prosecutor's office. She discussed how she was known for having a ninety five percent rate of turning cases from misdemeanors to felonies. Dawn explained that if an individual had enough priors, the person could be tried as a felon. The paralegal noted that her high successful percent rate “broke the prosecutor's office record.”
So what does Dawn think about the field today? She expressed that it was “as exciting, as interesting as ever.” Dawn firmly believes that technology has made her job easier. The paralegal emphasized that “Technology and the internet makes my job easy. I can do thing on-line and I don't have to leave the office. I can electronically file paperwork at eight at night and get the job done.”
Is there anything Dawn would change about her industry? The tenacious business woman would like to see “uniformity.” She elaborated by saying if you had three attorneys in one office and you asked them to file a motion; all three motions would be different. The paralegal believes all pleadings should be uniformed.
Dawn gave her advice to new and recent legal staff members. The bold woman has worked with very difficult bosses in the past and she described how she even got sick because of the stress created at work. She said, “No matter how difficult the person is just persevere above it and keep doing your job.”
If Dawn wasn't a paralegal she would have eventually went into accounting or became a medical biller who prepared invoices.
Dawns' Volunteer Activities and her Mentor
The paralegal registered with the National Association of Legal Secretaries (NALS) in November 2005. In November 2011, she was elected president of a local chapter, NALS of West Coast Florida. Some of her responsibilities include conducting monthly meetings virtually and attend national conferences across the country.
Although Dawn does not participate in Purses and Love, the paralegal proclaimed she admired the non-profit organization. Purses and Love assists individuals who have endured domestic violence and are now living at shelters. The main goal for volunteers at this organization is to rehabilitate the victims of domestic violence and help them to find a job. They also provide the children of mothers in these shelters a ‘gift' to give the woman – which is a purse filled with items necessary for day to day living.
Dawn is very grateful for working at her first law job, North Valley Legal Service. She stated “it was a real mom and pop operation run out of a home.” She talked to Fran Forgan, owner of the business, for an hour and a half over the phone and Fran asked Dawn to intern for them. Fran specialized in divorces and bankruptcy and showed Dawn how to file summons and petitions with the court. The paralegal credits Fran for being her mentor since she learned so much from her at her first legal position.
Motivation and the Future
What motivates Dawn? The paralegal replied she loves her job. She announced that she had a handful of clients who are now her friends. One of her clients respects her so much and thinks the world of Dawn that he calls her mom. The business woman gets her motivation from her clients who encourage and support her through their warm comments. They tell Dawn to “keep going girl, you are doing fine.”
Where does Dawn see herself doing in five years? The paralegal has a great job and truly enjoys working with her clients. She asserted, “I will be doing exactly what I am doing right now, still helping the public. I don't want to change anything.”
