1. New Year. New Beginnings.
The beginning of something usually brings with it immense motivation and excitement.
Whether it is a new relationship, a new baby, or a new career aspiration. This honeymoon
phase is wrought with the promises of bliss, enjoyment, and fulfillment of desires that have
finally come into realization. The feeling of euphoria that this time brings is unequal to any
other emotional feeling. The ecstatic underpinnings of this time soon fade when the birthing
pains of hard work start. Read all the eloquently written pieces on letting this be your year to
achieve your goals as your heart desires, but until the real work begins nothing will change.
This dual joy and pain experience of new beginnings is the culprit behind the failed attempts to
lose weight, release an emotionally damaging relationship, finish the degree, and put in the
necessary work to get the promotion at work. The great thing is that once the reason for the
foiled New Year’s resolutions is uncovered the work can be done to ensure that this year’s
goals and resolutions can stop being recycled from one year to the next and actually get ac-
complished. This year can be the year where resolutions and goals are fueled with direction
and right action. After-all a plan without action is useless thus the reason for empty promises
being scribbled in a journal that more is spent on than the time spent to bring them into reali-
zation. On December 31, 2014 most if not all the same resolutions and (cont’d on page 3)
In This Issue
Pg. 1 Creating Your New Beginning
Pg. 2 Six Sigma and the Law
Pg. 2 Common Errors in the Legal
Process
Pg. 2 Minimizing Legal Errors
Pg. 3 Issues that Lead to Missed
Deadlines
Pg. 3 Six Sigma Certification Benefits
Pg. 3. What Every Paralegal can
Learn from California’s Paralegal Law
Pg. 4 Paralegal Rainmakers Webinars
Pg. 4 Lorman Education Webinars
Pg. 4 January Promotions
Paralegal Rainmakers Digest
Quarterly Newsletter of Paralegal Rainmakers
January 2014 Volume 3 Issue 1

2. Six Sigma and the Law
Six Sigma’s value has been proven over and
over again by various organizations in manu-
facturing, corporate, medical, and legal
settings. The foundation of Six Sigma is
rooted in quality improvement. Although,
the goal of no variations from the standard
and/or no mistakes seems unrealistic and
unattainable this methodology has been
successfully utilized to improve products and
services for decades. In this striving for per-
fection certain processes can be eliminated
and created in order to reach this goal. The
end result is always improvement.
With filing deadlines, strict adherence to
court procedures, and the necessity of legal
professionals to interact with clients in a way
that builds trust the implementation of Six
Sigma within an organization or into one’s
career is extremely beneficial.
Various studies have been conducted by bar
associations and insurance providers investi-
gating the functions within legal organiza-
tions that cause the most exposure to risk.
What these studies indicate is that the ma-
jority of the risks are related to functions
related to processes that can be easily inte-
grated into a Six Sigma program. The imple-
mentation of Six Sigma allows the measure-
ment, improvement, consistency, and avoid-
ance of variation from standard practices
and procedures. The implementation of Six
Sigma provides both qualitative and quanti-
tative approaches to process improvement
for legal organizations and professionals.
The Benefit of Six Sigma Certification
The Most Common Errors
in the Legal Process
1. Error in public record search
2. Failure to ascertain deadline
correctly
3. Inadequate discovery of facts
4. Failure to follow clients instruc-
tions
5. Failure to calendar correctly
6. Failure to react to calendar
7. Failure to obtain client’s con-
sent
8. Conflict of interest
9. Lost file, document, or evidence
10. Lack of follow-up
Issues that Lead to Missed
Deadlines
Various organizations offer Six Sigma training and certification. These trainings are
typically offered in various levels demonstrated in belt colors. The colors of the belt
determine the level of involvement and mastery of the Six Sigma techniques and meas-
urements. The most common belt levels are Yellow, Green, Black, and Master Black
Belt. The Yellow belt is commonly offered as the basic level. Yellow belts are typically
employees who work on a project and have a thorough knowledge of the functions
that are performed within a project.
The discussion of statistical concepts and numerical measurements is enough to intimi-
date some individuals from delving into the benefits that it offers. Six Sigma certifica-
tion provides a competitive advantage for legal organizations and professionals by
offering a tried and true method for offering quality and customer satisfaction. These
two ingredients are what allow organizations and individuals to successfully function in
the increasingly competitive legal market.
Missing deadlines is the number
one reason that leads to mal-
practice suits. Following are
issues that typically lead to this:
1. Data Entry Errors
2. Absence of back up calendar
3. Procrastination

3. California Paralegal Compliance
Paralegal Rainmakers likes to spot-
light organizations and individuals
that are doing exceptional work in
the legal community and paralegal
profession. If you are interested in
being in Paralegal Rainmakers spot-
light write a 75 word or less de-
scription of what makes you a Rain-
maker. Please email a bio along
with the description to
info@prainmakers.com.
The selection criteria is based on a
number of factors including leader-
ship roles in legal professional as-
sociations, education, work experi-
ence, and overall commitment to
the legal community and paralegal
profession.
If you are selected to be in the
spotlight you will be contacted to
provide a picture of yourself . This
picture along with a write up will
be included in this section of the
next issue of Paralegal Rainmakers
Digest.
Previous individuals and organiza-
tions in the spotlight include:
 Trina N. Brown
 Court Appointed Special
Advocates (CASA)
 Certified e-Discovery
Specialists
Log-in to the Resource Center or
click here to sign-up for a free ac-
count and read about these and
other spotlighters in previous is-
sues. A free account can also be
created by clicking on the Account
Manager icon on the upper right
hand corner of any page of our
website at www.prainmakers.com.
Currently California is the only state that has
mandatory paralegal regulation. This regula-
tion is contained in California Business and
Professions Code 6450. The regulation in-
cludes 3 parts; 1) Who is legally allowed to
use the paralegal title 2) Continuing educa-
tion requirements and 3) The activities that
paralegals should not engage in. This law
went into effect on January 1, 2007 and al-
lowed paralegals that were already working
in paralegal roles to be grandfathered in,
thereby avoiding the creation of a crisis for
paralegals and their employers in situations
where a paralegal did not have the required
training and experience as of that date.
Although, this law is unique within the para-
legal profession it addresses the topic of
mandatory paralegal licensure and certifica-
tion, which has been a much debated about
topic within the paralegal profession and
legal industry as a whole. Whether or not
one believes that this law was merely the
result of the attempt by lawyers to keep a
reign on legal professionals that were posing
a threat to Lawyerdom the value of this law
should not be overshadowed. As previously
outlined this law regulates the use of the
paralegal title, the activities they can per-
form, and the necessity for ongoing parale-
gal education. In essence all of these ele-
ments tie into one another, provide protec-
tion for the public, and set a standard within
the paralegal profession that can be consid-
ered for adoption for other states. Alt-
hough, the compliance of the law is pretty
much left in the hands of paralegal employ-
ers states like Texas, Florida, Ohio, and
North Carolina have separate paralegal divi-
sions within their state bar associations and
offer voluntary paralegal certifications which
can create a cohesive and standardized mod-
el for paralegal standards across the board.
New Year. New Beginnings
(Cont’d from page 1)
goals will be scribbled out. The degree will
never be finished, the promotion will never
be obtained, and the balance between work
and personal obligations will never be creat-
ed. This can be said with certainty unless a
commitment is made and kept by putting
action behind the words. Because as the
saying goes “actions speak louder than
words”.
You say you are tired of being undervalued
in your job, but nothing is done to rectify the
situation. Whether that means bringing the
intention to be promoted or given a raise to
the attention of someone who has the au-
thority to bring about that change, taking
the necessary steps to work in a more re-
warding job, or letting go of the need to re-
ceive value from the job and instead joining
a professional association or volunteering
for pro bono work, the action has to start
somewhere.
You say you are physically tired from juggling
work and personal obligations, but you still
volunteer for every PTA bake sale and con-
tinue to take up the slack from your co-
worker who is fresh out of college and has
not quite grasped the difference between a
full-time work schedule and a 10 hour a
week internship schedule.
You say you are going to get your degree,
but you have enlisted excuse co-conspirators
to help convince you of why you can not go
back to school. Whatever the scenario is
right action will ensure that this year marks
the beginning of putting an end to foiled
attempts to realize career and personal
goals.
A Standard for all Paralegals
Paralegal Rainmakers
Spotlight

4. January Promotions
$99 On-Demand CLE Bundle
Paralegal Rainmakers Digest
January 2014 Issue 1
Lorman Education Courses
January 14, 2014 - Using Self-Insured Retentions, Other Insurance and Deductibles
January 17, 2014 - A Primer on Social Security Disability Law
January 21, 2014 - Paralegal's Guide to Evidence: Gathering, Protecting and Spoliation
January 22, 2014 - Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) Litigation: Update on Defense Strategies
January 23, 2014 - Federal Communications Commission Rules for Calling or Texting Cell
January 28, 2014 - Understanding Oil and Gas Leases
January 29, 2014 - Medical Records Update for Paralegals
January 30, 2014 - Selecting, Deposing And Examining Experts in the Context Of Fiduciary Litigation
February 6, 2014 - Legal Issues in Running Social Media and Mobile Sweepstakes and Contests
February 11, 2014 - Tax Consequences of Employment Related Litigation and Settlements
1/25/14 Six Sigma and Legal Process Improvement
1/30/14 Six Sigma’s Application in a Legal Organization
2/1/14 Case Research & Investigation Bootcamp
2/14/14 Paralegal Black Belt: Technology Track
3/8/14 Paralegal Black Belt: e-Discovery Track
3/11/14 Paralegal Black Belt: Technology Track
3/18/14 Paralegal Court Drills: Depositions and Trial Preparation
3/25/14 Paralegal Court Drills: Demonstrative Evidence and Presentation Technology
4/3/14 Paralegal Black Belt: Transactional Law Track
4/8/14 Generally Accepted Paralegal Principles (GAPP): Introduction
4/10/14 Paralegal Black Belt: Litigation Support Track
Paralegal Rainmakers Winter Session Courses and Programs
Upcoming Events (Click on the title for course details)
Paralegal Rainmakers
888-256-8231
info@prainmakers.com
www.prainmakers.com
Download the FREE eBook
Legal Process Improvement