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Athora Law Group LLC
Ball State University, 1990
What makes a good paralegal/legal support staffer?
Good legal support looks to the future and anticipates what an attorney needs — from file organization, maintaining task lists, watching deadlines, and maintaining good relationships with staff, the courts, other attorneys, and professionals like court reporters and real
estate agents.
What makes a good lawyer?
A good lawyer cuts through all the information to get to the facts and quickly and effectively negotiates a settlement where everyone thinks they got a good result.
What’s something people might not know about working in the legal support profession?
People might not know how difficult it can be when working in a field where there are high emotions, big egos and sensitive information.
What would you say to someone who is considering a career in legal support?
I’d tell someone who is considering a career in legal support to be ready for anything — fetching coffee, clearing jams in the copier, setting up meeting rooms, giving directions, lint-rolling suit jackets, being a cheerleader and being a trusted confidant. You need to be able to slow the panic that sets in when under pressure.
How do you spend your free time?
My free time is spent at home cooking and baking, watching movies, planning the next holiday event, shopping with my kids, and going to wine dinners with my husband and friends.
How did you end up working in bankruptcy law, and what do you enjoy about it?
I landed in bankruptcy because the litigation attorney I was assigned to was also a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee. When a position opened up in her trusteeship, she asked me to consider it. I really enjoy the variety of tasks. No day is boring because there are many things to do. I enjoy continuously learning and the thrill of finding assets. It’s also very gratifying to work with the United States trustee to help prevent bankruptcy fraud and abuse.
We hear you have a background in radio/TV. How did you go from that career path to your current career path?
My first love was television and radio. I worked at an NBC affiliate throughout high school and in college, but I quickly learned that it was not a career for me. I worked as a bank teller and sold cars in order to pay for paralegal courses. In a strange twist of fate, on the very same day I was offered my first legal assistant job, I was offered a position in radio news. Thirty years ago I began this journey, and I’m thankful for the support and training I’ve received from my supervising attorneys that’s allowed me to grow into the legal professional I am today.
If you weren’t working in legal support, what would you be doing?
If I wasn’t working in legal support, I’d have a bed & breakfast.
Do you have a secret talent?
I don’t think I have a hidden talent, but if you ask my daughter, she would say my talent is baking; my son-in-law would say interior decorating; a close friend says it’s hospitality; and my husband says it’s my ability to recreate old family recipes. I believe I have a secret super power, and that is my intuition. My instincts are rarely wrong.
Why did you decide to become a paralegal?
My mom encouraged me to become a paralegal.•
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