In this last blog you will read about is a personal story of my own and the circumstance that I had to use professional practice to deal with the situation at hand. To set the scene I previously worked at the only medical centre in town, as a receptionist you were constantly busy with shredding, scanning, ‘lighting’ people up in the appointment book, collecting payments/organizing Medicare reimbursements and answering phones (to name a few).

The main issue with this job is the confidentiality side of it all, you constantly have to be weary of the information you distribute over the phone or the information you can hand out. Many of times I would run into the complication of people asking for their results to be given to them over the phone and a receptionist is not trained to give results.

In this circumstance we have to email or give them a release of information form to sign and send back to us. This form allows us to send their entire file with us to another doctors surgery of their nomination. This is to prevent information being distributed to fraudulent people or receptionist giving out incorrect information.

This week I must choose three different law firms and evaluate their website and the information they have in it.

The first firm I will be evaluating is a not for profit organisation called ‘New Way Lawyers’. New Way Lawyers reside in Brisbane and offer family law and estate law services with free consultations or phone services. On their website they have everything you would be looking for if you were needing their services however they could update the way they present the page, although it is very straight forward which is great they are lacking pops of colour to draw you into using their services. I do like how they have many reviews from previous clients however they could diminish some of this and just keep the most recent ones possibly updating them with the star reviews from each month.

The next firm is a high profile private firm, ‘Lee, Turnbull & Co Solicitors’. This is a high profile firm residing in Charters Towers and Townsville, a firm I heard quite a lot of from living in Charters Towers. Lee, Turnbull & Co supply conveyancing, family law, criminal law, commercial law and wills and estate services all advertised in their website. Under all of the services provided headings they also supply a ‘Get an instant quote’ link which I think is quite helpful for those that want to look at how much money they would be spending. I believe they have too many photos on their website and this can make it look bulky and can make users feel a little uneasy. They also have ‘ask a question’ and ‘make an appointment’ links at the bottom of the page which I would move to the top so it is easier for people to click directly on the link instead of having to scroll down to the bottom.

The last law firm is a small local business in Mount Isa call ‘Gun Lawyers’. They supply family law, wills and estate, civil litigation, commercial transactions, property law and criminal law services, this information was difficult to find as they don’t have a title on the links to each service, instead they have a picture relating to the service. I would keep the pictures however put the title of the service on each picture. Their home page alone is very affective and draws you into the page, although simple is stands out. The only other thing I would add is some reviews from previous clients and this would be an ideal website for the firm.

New Way Lawyers, 2019, New Way Lawyers, 19/07/19, https://www.newwaylawyers.com.au/
Lee, Turnbull & Co Solicitors, 2019, Lee, Turnbull & Co, 19/07/19, https://www.leeturnbull.com.au/
Gun Lawyers, 2019, LEAP, 19/07/19, http://www.gunlawyers.com.au/

Today I will write about my personal learning style and the range of activities that help me learn in this way. Firstly, there are a three basic learning styles; visual learners, auditory learners and kinaesthetic learners. I am an auditory learner – this means I learn through the process of speaking and listening. To retain information I need to say it allowed or have someone read it out to me, hearing someone speak seems to keep the information in my mind for a longer period of time then what reading silently does.

Auditory learning has its detriments also, whilst in school majority of the class work revolved around reading silently which then meant I would have to read the material at home aloud again. Another negative to auditory learning is I can be easily distracted by other people talking, humming or music playing. However it has been said that auditory learners are able to increase their retention span as well as being able to multi-task as we don’t need to use our eyes or hands to listen.

Some activities for auditory learners are;
• Recite and repeat phrases aloud to yourself to retain the information
• Incorporate your learning information into a catchy song
• Use musical instruments and voice recordings
• Use verbal games when learning

If you would like to quiz yourself to find out your own learning style click on the link below;
http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles.shtml

Auditory Learning Style: definition and techniques, 2019, Vaks, 18/07/19,https://vaks.co.uk/inspire/auditory-learning-style-definition-and-techniques/

Continual Professional Development is the continues study/learning in your field of work. In a law firm the employees have to keep up to date with all new regulations/laws/legislation. Throughout this blog I will identify two (2) professions that require CPD and explain what the requirements are to allow the professionals to remain current and able to work.

Firstly – Lawyers
Lawyers must complete a minimum of 10 Legal CPD points every year (1 April – 31 March). The Practical Legal Ethics, Practice Management and Business Skills and Professional Skills are three mandatory cores that lawyers must earn 1 legal CPD point in each unit at a minimum. Lawyers are able to find courses to complete legal CPD points at https://lawcpd.com.au/legal-cpd. Once they have completed the courses or units the lawyer must keep all record/s of achievement under the Law Society QLD continuing legal education scheme. To find more information on CPD’s please visit Queensland law Society Administration Rule 2005 section 48.

Secondly – Nurses
Nurses also have to continue Professional development on an annually basis. This is set by the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, Nurses don’t earn points like lawyers do, they need to complete a certain amount of hours yearly. Any practicing or registered nurses must do a total of 30 hours of continues professional development and must provide evidence of this just as a lawyer must.

Majority of careers now do involve continues Professional development whether you take it upon yourself or it is a compulsory rule. Continuously learning in your chosen field not only benefits yourself but benefits the people around you and your clients. There is nothing wrong with CPD.

Premium Online Legal CPD, 2019, Law CPD, 16/07/19, https://lawcpd.com.au/legal-cpd

Law CPD, 2019, Law CPD, 16/07/19, https://lawcpd.com.au/cpd-requirements-queensland-lawyers

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2019, NMBA, 16/07/19, http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/documents/default.aspx?record=WD16%2F19500&dbid=AP&chksum=o3kBSzNfPtsk7maXOSBDyg%3D%3D

Queensland Law Society, 2019, Continuing professional development, 16/07/2019
<https://www.qls.com.au/For_the_profession/Your_legal_career/Continuing_professional_development_CPD>

Queensland law Society Administration Rule 2005
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law

This Blog is to identify a current job of interest within the legal system and identify any gaps in your knowledge and explain how you would address your professional development needs to gain the training to undertake the duties of this position.

The position I have chosen is a part-time Paralegal job at YHC Lawyers in Brisbane’s CBD, YHC specialise in commercial law, property law and wills and estate law. I would prefer a part time
position as I am a parent and like to spend my time with my son and, I have chosen Brisbane as it is the destination I am currently working towards living in. I specifically looked for a paralegal position as I am currently completing my Diploma in Legal Services and I have an interest in property law.

The main reason for choosing this position is that they aren’t looking for someone with any qualifications, YHC are offering to train the employee in the way they want them to be. I would also have to research more into commercial law and wills & estate law to understand more about my roll and this will also make it easier to help my colleagues.

The main obstacle that would arise whilst applying for this position is that I currently don’t live in Brisbane.
As I stated earlier, YHC aren’t looking from someone that holds any relevant qualifications. This means that YHC will supply the training they would like me to learn in the first three weeks of
employment with them. I would still continue my Diploma to widen my own perspective on what is expected of a Para-legal in other practices.

YHC Lawyers, 2019, 15/07/19, <https://www.yhclawyers.com.au>

Seek, 2019, SEEK, 15/07/19,<https://www.seek.com.au/job/39436096?type=standout&searchrequesttoken=9ed9179c-18bc-4495-883e-a1680ecf5f08&gt;

This weeks blog is to look at the concept of organisational goals and objectives of Stephens & Magolin Family Law Practice and how they impact myself in the workplace.

Firstly, what are organisational Goals? They help define a company’s purpose and assist in is growth while achieving its financial objectives.

Stephens & Margolin’s aim is to earn trust, respect and loyalty of the clients, provide clients with prompt, efficient and effective legal counselling and representation, always being accessible and responsive to clients, handling client needs with honesty, integrity, fairness, compassion, courtesy and diligence and offering cutting edge service in all aspects of Dispute Resolution from Collaborative Practice to Litigation.

I am a trustworthy and respectful person and I believe that this makes people comfortable and will earn their trust and respect. I am also a person that puts all of my effort into my job and would be accessible to clients whenever they needed. I also pride myself on being an excellent communicator, enthusiastic, a team worker. Things I will need to work on are being compassionate, being prompt, effective and efficient legal counselling and representation as I do not have the degree or knowledge to do that yet, as well as, offering cutting edge services in all aspects of dispute resolution.

I have many strengths and weakness however working in a team can even those out as what I lack in, a colleague could be excellent at.

Stephens & Margolin Law Family Practice, 2019, Stephens & Margolin LLP, 14/07/19, https://www.stephensmargolin.com/about/why-were-different/

Organisational Skills, 2019, 14/07/19, <https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/organizational-goals&gt;