Industrial Commission Carrier Search

http://www.ic.nc.gov/iwcnss/

This link will take you to the NC Industrial Commission's Worker's Comp Name Search System.  You must have the employer and the injury date to perform a search.

Decorate and Organize your Desktop

I am not a big fan of having a lot of desktop icons, but it is the most efficient way to open programs.

I attended a Lawyers Mutual seminar yesterday. Two speakers spoke about tech tips (yes, the tech geek in me waited patiently until 4pm yesterday to hear this, the last session of the day).  One of their tech tips was so simple but so cool - create a jpg with colored blocks and make it your desktop background, then you can group your icons within the colored blocks!  Why didn't I think of this before now?  Bring on the icons!

Monday Funny

A big corporate law firm recently hired are several cannibals. "You are all part of our team now “ said the HR Rep during briefing. “You get all the usual benefits and you can go to the cafeteria to eat, but don’t eat any of the other employees”.  The cannibals promised they would not.

Four weeks later the managing attorney remarked,  “You’re all working very hard, and I’m satisfied with you, however one of our paralegals has disappeared.  Do any of you know what happened to her?” The cannibals all shook their heads no. 

After the attorney had left, the leader of the cannibals said to the others, “Which one of you idiots ate the paralegal?” A hand raised hesitantly, to which the leader of the cannibals continued, “You fool, for weeks we’ve been eating associates and law clerks and no one noticed, but noooo, you had to go and eat someone they would miss!”

Court Costs - January 2012 update

COURT COSTS ARE GOING UP AGAIN?? Well, yes, sort of.  Starting January 1, there are three minor changes in estate fees, everything else stays the same (WHEW!).

The memo can be found here.  For a list of court costs in effect now, you can use this link.

Update Your Forms

One of the things I have on my end of the year to do list is to review my forms database. This includes my firm form templates and my court forms.  Do your templates need revising?  Are there typos?  Do you need to change any dates?  Also check your court forms to make sure you are using the most recent update (in NC, you can look on the bottom left of the AOC forms to see the last update date).  Things tend to be slow this time of year and this a great time to do something like this, I stay busy and the work is not all that hard.

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah!

The Value of Paralegal Association Membership

Did you miss the recent article in the NC Bar Journal about paralegal associations?  If so, check it out here.
 
http://www.ncbar.com/journal/archive/journal_16,4.pdf  (Page 33)

...and if you read my prior post on NC law changes, be sure to check the article on page 8.

News Laws in Effect Dec 1 2011

Several new laws take effect Dec 1.  Some of the noteable ones are:

HB 49 is also known as “Laura’s Law”  increases the punishment for certain DWI offenders.  Laura Fortenberry was killed by repeat DWI offender who had over over 100 charges in his name in just one County. (If you have the most recent NC Bar Journal, it has a great article about this.)

HB 379 enacts The North Carolina Interstate Depositions And Discovery Act and makes conforming amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure.

HB 408 amends criminal discovery laws to require timely disclosure of information to prosecutors and to provide for better protection for informants.

HB 650 is also known as the Castle Doctrine. You may have seen this on the news.  This provides for better protection for a homeowner who shoots an intruder.  It also amends various other guns laws

HB 427 is also known as “Run and You’re Done”.  If you are involved in a felony and are speeding to elude arrest, your car will be seized and sold.  There are exceptions for cars seized which did not belong to the driver.


The full text of all changes is here, starting on page 14.
www.ncleg.net/documentsites/legislativepublications/2011%20Effective%20Dates/2011EffectiveDates.pdf

NCGA App for Droid, iPhone and iPad.

Some of you will role your eyes but for a tech geek like me, this is COOL!  The NC General Assembly has announced an app that will allow access to information from the NCGA's website through the convenience of an  easy to use mobile application!  Right now, all that is available is an Android app but the iPhone/iPad app is coming.  I am even more excited because, as a droid user, I usually have to watch the i-app come out first and then wait for the droid version.  Legal tech geeks unite!

https://market.android.com/details?id=net.ncleg.ncga&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsIm5ldC5uY2xlZy5uY2dhIl0 

Tip of the Day

Before you forward that email to a group, check the chain of messages and make sure it is appropriate for everyone you are forwarding it to. Some of those messages may have been meant only for a select few.

Veterans Day 2011

Like most of you, I have tomorrow off for the holiday.  Great, a day off!  I can sleep in, run errands or be lazy.

While you are running around like I will be, please take a minute to remember WHY you have the day off - take a minute tomorrow to thank a veteran, a current service member or someone you know (or don't know) who made the ultimate sacrifice when she lost her husband, her son, her brother or her dad so we could live free.  Military members choose to serve our County, they do not always get to choose their wars.  Even if you don't support the war, support the men and women who serve this Country.

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations..."

http://www.militaryspot.com/news/meaning-of-veterans-day/