Entire Issue - National Association of Legal Assistants

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Automotive Product Liability continued from page 13 In addition to these types of opportunities, legal staffing agencies supply the Big Three with contract or temporary, direct hire, and temp-to-perm paralegals. Some familiar agencies include: The Affiliates (http://www.affiliates.com/jobsAFF/) Contract Counsel (http://www.contractcounsel.com/) Kelly Law Registry (http://www.thelawregistry.com/) Paralegals Plus Placement Service (http://firms.findlaw.com/ppps/index.htm) Special Counsel (http://www.specialcounsel.com/) Legal Assistants Rule! The firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone is the largest law firm in Michigan and one of the nation’s leading firms in its specialty areas. The firm’s Product Safety Group works with DaimlerChrysler Corporation in responding to discovery in product liability and warranty litigation, and assists with discovery in class action and patent matters. Legal assistants outnumber the attorneys in this group. Headquarters for this practice group is the firm’s office in Troy, MI, where the main responsibilities are written discovery responses, document production, and dispute resolution in both product liability and warranty litigation matters. The group also has two attorneys and one legal assistant in the firm’s office in Ann Arbor, MI, who work primarily on Jeep and rollover cases. Computer litigation support duties, including involvement in development and maintenance of the practice group intranet, and database creation and maintenance also fall to the legal assistants. As national discovery counsel for DaimlerChrysler Corporation’s Product Liability and Warranty Litigation matters, the firm’s Product Safety Group paralegals work closely with DaimlerChrysler Corporation’s in-house legal assistants, as well as paralegals from law firms around the country. These firms serve as local counsel for DaimlerChrysler Corporation in product liability and warranty litigation, and most of them employ legal assistants in their automotive product liability practices. The firms include Bourdeaux and Jones, Meridian, MS Clark, Thomas & Winters, Austin, TX Cornell & Gollub, Boston, MA Cunningham, Harpool & Cordonnier, Springfield, MO Feeney Kellett Wienner & Bush, Bloomfield Hills, MI Grace, Genson, Cosgrove & Schirm, Los Angeles, CA Hall & Evans, Denver, CO Hanlon, Boglioli & Hanlon, Edison, NJ Herzfeld & Rubin, New York, NY Hill, Ward & Henderson, Tampa, FL Hogan & Hartson, Washington, DC Lightfoot, Franklin & White, Birmingham, AL Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin, Philadelphia, PA McGlinchey Stafford, New Orleans, LA McGlynn & Luther, St. Louis, MO Quale, Feldbruegge, Calvelli, Thom & Croke, Milwaukee, WI Sanchez & Daniels, Chicago, IL Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, San Francisco, CA Snell & Wilmer, Phoenix, AZ Sutter, O’Connell, Mannion & Farchione, Cleveland, OH Swanson, Martin & Bell, Chicago, IL Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, Atlanta, GA Webster Szanyi, Buffalo, NY Legal assistants are an integral part of the automotive product liability defense team, and are employed extensively and effectively. Paralegals looking for a field that is rich with interest, busy with activity, and bristling with challenge would do well to investigate this area as a career option. Margaret Lucas Agius, CLA, is an automotive product liability defense paralegal with the Miller, Canfield, Paddock, and Stone firm’s Ann Arbor, MI, office of the Product Safety Group. She has been a legal assistant for more than a decade. She holds a B.S. Degree (with Highest Honors) from Madonna University’s ABA-approved Legal Assistant Program, and earned her CLA in 2000. Margaret is an active member of NALA, and the Legal Assistants Section of the State Bar of Michigan, for which she has served as a section council member. She is also the immediate past editor of the Michigan Legal Assistant, for which she has written a number of articles. Prior to joining Miller Canfield, she was employed by the State of Michigan Attorney Discipline Board for 11 years, nine of which were as the board’s legal assistant. mlagius@wideopenwest.com 14 FACTS & FINDINGS / AUGUST 2003
Commonly Used Acronyms Acronym Definition Web Site (if applicable) 8D Eight Discipline Problem Solving Method and Report ACAS Automotive Collision Avoidance System www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/research/pub/ACAS/ACAS_index.htm AIAG Automotive Industry Action Group www.aiag.org/ AIAM Association of International Automobile Manufacturers www.aiam.org/ ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials www.astm.org/ BAC Blood Alcohol Concentration BTS Bureau of Transportation Statistics www.bts.gov/ CAMP Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov//JPODOCS/REPTS_TE/13631/IVI-80.html CDS Crashworthiness Data System www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/cds.html CI Compliance Investigation CIREN Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-50/ciren/ciren.html CODES Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/codes.html DOT U.S. Department of Transportation www.dot.gov/ DVI Driver-Vehicle Interface EA Engineering Analysis EDV Engineering Development Vehicle FARS Fatality Analysis Reporting System www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/ FHWA Federal Highway Administration www.fhwa.dot.gov/ FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ FMEA Failure Mode Effects Analysis http://thequalityportal.com/glossary/f.htm FMVSS Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/FMVSS/ GES General Estimates System www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/ges.html GVWR Gross Vehicle Weight Rating IAOB International Automotive Oversight Bureau www.iaob.org/ IIHS Insurance Institute for Highway Safety www.hwysafety.org/ IS Impact Simulator (or Simulation) Test ITS Intelligent Transportation System www.itsa.org/ LTVs Light Trucks and Vans MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet NADS National Advanced Driving Simulator www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-12/nads/ NASS National Automotive Sampling System www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/NASS.html NCAC National Crash Analysis Center www.ncac.gwu.edu/ NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ NTSB National Transportation Safety Board www.ntsb.gov/ OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer P/N Part Number PAR Police Accident Report PCR Police Crash Report PCs Passenger Cars PE Preliminary Evaluation QS-9000 Quality System 9000 http://thequalityportal.com/q_QS.htm SAE Society of Automotive Engineers www.sae.org/servlets/index SCI Special Crash Investigations www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/sci.html TREAD Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/Tread/MileStones/index.html TSB Technical Service Bulletin www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/index.cfm UMTRI University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute www.umtri.umich.edu/ UTQG Uniform Tire Quality Grading www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/UTQG/ VC Vehicle Crash Test VIN Vehicle Identification Number VOQ Vehicle Owner Questionnaire www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/ivoq/default.htm VRTC Vehicle Research and Test Center www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/vrtc/vrtcstar.htm
Page 2 and 3: Departments President’s Message -
Page 4 and 5: Call for Proposals 2004 Convention
Page 6 and 7: Anatomyofa Construction Paralegals
Page 8 and 9: Anatomy of a Construction Defect Ca
Page 10 and 11: Resources & Opportunities Reviewed
Page 14 and 15: Po Windows er Can by Robert M.N. Pa
Page 16 and 17: Estimated Number of Persons Injured
Page 18 and 19: The Digital Millennium Copyright Ac
Page 20 and 21: Get ‘Wired’ for Savings by Robe
Page 22 and 23: Get ‘Wired’ for Savings continu
Page 24 and 25: y Ann Marie Verity Paris may be the
Page 26 and 27: An American Paralegal in Paris cont
Page 28 and 29: CONVENTIONSNAPSHOTS July 9-12, 2003
Page 30 and 31: CONVENTIONSNAPSHOTS NALA Board and
Page 32 and 33: Experts on the Internet continued f
Page 34 and 35: Experts on the Internet continued f
Page 36 and 37: EDUCATION A Road Worth Traveling Th
Page 38 and 39: TECHNOBITS Use the Technology Elect
Page 40 and 41: PRACTICETIPS Knowledge Really IS Po
Page 42 and 43: Practice Tips: Behold the Power of
Page 44 and 45: members demonstrates the importance
Page 46 and 47: y the United States Bankruptcy Cour
Page 48 and 49: AFFILIATESCOLUMN Making the Most of
Page 50 and 51: ility of course content and materia
Page 52 and 53: & NEWS INFORMATION Phyllis L. Dunha
Page 54 and 55: & NEWS INFORMATION NORTH DAKOTA Red
Page 56 and 57: & NEWS INFORMATION Alicia L. Castil

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