Entire Issue - National Association of Legal Assistants

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y Ann Marie Verity Paris may be the ultimate glamour city, but my path to The City of Lights as a legal assistant has been circuitous, and more arduous than glamorous. I formerly lived here as a student of French, but my real residence began when I accompanied my spouse on a “short-term” assignment for him to launch a new company in Munich. The assignment was repeatedly extended, then became a transfer to Paris. At the time the transfer proposal was made, I was actually ready to return to family and friends in the United States, and to continue my career. After many years of working in law firms, I wanted to try a corporate legal department, preferably in an international organization. I hoped that my language skills and recent experience with a German IP firm would be of interest to a multinational company back home. But the appeal of Paris was strong. After some initial research, I realized that finding work as a paralegal in Paris would be challenging. The profession is not very developed here, and (to my knowledge) there are no specialized educational or training programs. I heard that “paralegal” positions often were filled by recent college graduates who treated them as interim jobs, rather than a career choice. Many large U.S. law firms and corporations, however, have Paris offices, so I concluded that there was at least a chance. le premier pas The first hurdle faced by anyone outside the European Community (EC), regardless of profession, is getting permission to legally live and work in France. A U.S. citizen can enter France as a visitor on a simple passport and remain for up to 90 days, but in order to work, you must first find a job and your prospective employer must “sponsor” you. Your employer/sponsor must also make the necessary applications to the appropriate governmental agencies, then submit a complete file including evidence proving that you fulfill the requirements of the position—rather than a French national or citizen of another EC country residing in France. I can understand that in a country with a relatively high unemployment rate (currently higher than nine percent), work permit applications must be scrutinized. But the procedure is burdensome for both the employer and employee, it can take many months, and you cannot begin working until the process has been successfully completed. bonheur Once settled in, I started work on what I intended to be a mass mailing to my initial target firms and companies. Then a bit of luck came my way. I picked up a copy of a publication called France-USA Contacts (www.fusac.fr), that I knew to be a good source for classified ads of all types, including jobs requiring native English speakers. I happened upon an advertisement for an experienced English mother-tongue paralegal, with proficiency in French, for a global enterprise. I sent my resumé immediately, and after two interviews (the first in French, the second in English), I landed the job. The company provides travel agent and travel-related services to businesses. My position was newly created, and it is exciting and challenging to be the company’s first paralegal in a country where the profession is not well known. The attorney 26 FACTS & FINDINGS / AUGUST 2003
to whom I report attended law school in the United States and practiced in New York for many years. She knows what professional paralegals can do and decided that it made sense to add a paralegal to her staff, rather than another attorney. My main responsibilities include management of our trademark portfolio, preparation of contracts for the products and services we provide to our clients, and general corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions. My experience in IP, business organizations, and transactional work prepared me for the diverse legal matters of a large global corporation. par élans The attorneys and I must continually educate others within the company and third party contacts as to what a true paralegal is and does. In addition, as all HR records are in French, there was the question of how to translate the word itself into French. After several attempts, it was decided to simply use the English term. French language purists may not be happy about another Anglicism creeping into their language (e.g., le marketing, le chewing gum, etc.), but the decision was not mine. Our offices are just outside the center of Paris, in a modern non-descript building. Since English is the official working language, and the two attorneys I work with are American, I sometimes can forget that I am in Paris. However, there are little reminders throughout the day—such as someone walking down the corridor with a cigarette in hand (yes, an employee can smoke in his or her private office), lunch in one of the nearby cafés or bistros, or a conversation with someone from another department who prefers to speak French rather than English (and I welcome the opportunity). In addition to housing the international legal department, the Paris office serves as the EMEA regional offices. We have expatriates who have transferred here from all over the world, which makes for a rich multicultural environment. We are also hosts for many company-wide events, so there is a constant stream of visitors from our other offices throughout the world. My department regularly conducts a Legal Workshop designed to help our sales people and account managers with the contracting process and increase their awareness of legal matters important to the company—such as trademarks, domain names, corporate issues, etc. Each Legal Workshop is a great occasion for me to polish my presentation skills in general, and concentrate on the special concerns that arise when presenting to non-native English speakers. The cross-cultural exchanges I have experienced during these workshops are enlightening and enjoyable. Learning the ins-and-outs of French labor laws and the social security system has been a bit less enjoyable. French workers have employment contracts for either a set time period—contrat durée déterminée, (CDD)—or, for an unspecified period of time—contrat durée indéterminée (CDI). When I try to explain the at-will arrangement that most U.S. workers have, I usually elicit horrified looks of incredulity. My contract is a CDI. An example of a provision that might seem unusual to an American is the termination clause. In order to lay me off, my employer would have to meet the statutory criteria and provide me with three-month’s notice. I can decide to terminate the relationship for any reason, but I would be required to also give a three-month notice. Whether covered by a CDI or CDD contract, enrollment in the French national health care and pension systems is compulsory, and both employee and employer must pay into these plans. The total mandatory contributions that an employer must make on behalf of an employee are equal to about 55 percent of the salary. le revers de la médaille French labor laws dictate the minimum amount of paid vacation for all employees, which is currently 25 days per year. With regard to paid sick time, there is no limit provided you have a written excuse from a physician. You will receive your full salary and you cannot be terminated (if covered by a CDI contract) as long as you are absent pursuant to a doctor’s orders. These generous benefits and safety net come with a price. The fact that the costs (on top of the salary) associated with adding an employee are high, and the difficulty involved in laying people off in the event of an economic slowdown, hinder the creation of new jobs and place a downward pressure on salary levels in general. With regard to paralegals, I find that total compensation (after adjusting for differences in time worked) is not competitive with that in the United States because the profession is in its infancy here. There are no salary surveys or governmental resources to rely on when negotiating a starting salary or raise as in the United States This is a disadvantage, but I try to look at it as a challenge and an opportunity to increase awareness of the value that paralegals can add and act as a sort of “ambassador” of the profession. And, of course, this is Paris! Money isn’t everything. jour de congé Weekends and some of that generous vacation time are spent exploring the city that I fell in love with on my very first trip here many years ago. The language, a rich literary heritage, culinary delights, and seemingly endless cultural offerings, are just some of the reasons I find Paris wonderful. The cost of living is high, but my New York friends tell me that housing in Paris is a bargain compared to Manhattan. An efficient subway and bus network does a good job (when the transportation unions are not on strike) of getting Parisians and continued on page 28 FACTS & FINDINGS / AUGUST 2003 27
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 12 and 13: Automotive Product Liability contin
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 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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