Paralegal Profile: Thirteen Questions for Dorothe Howell ACP

Paralegal Profile: Thirteen Questions for Dorothe Howell ACP

Dorothe Howell ACP shared her experience and expertise on the September episode of The Paralegal Voice titled E-Discovery Trends in the Paralegal World. You can listen to Dorothe’s terrific e-disovery tips by following this link and find additional e-discovery resources here. Dorothe was also kind enough to share her paralegal journey by answering the Paralegal Mentor’s Thirteen Questions:

1. Where do you work and what is your job title? E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, DE – Senior Paralegal in IP and Commercial Litigation department

2. What prompted you to choose a paralegal career? I like the law and worked as a legal secretary first and my boss encouraged me to take paralegal classes. I liked it and continued to pursue the career

3. What is your favorite part of your job? I like every part of my job, but the collection, processing and production of documents is probably my favorite

4. What professional associations do you belong to? NALA

5. How has your membership benefited you? Absolutely

6. Do you have any professional certifications? Certified Paralegal designation in Trial Practice, Discovery and Business Entities

7. What has been the highlight of your career? Being able to work on landmark high profile, document intensive cases like the Enron matter

8. What do you see as hot trends in the paralegal industry? Technology and electronic discovery

9. Have you dipped your toes in the social media waters? If not, do you see that in your future? Somewhat, since that is where we are now finding discoverable documents

10. If someone contemplating a paralegal career asked you for career advice, what would your answer be? Study hard, work harder and make sure you stay ahead of the multitudes by being on the cutting edge with your knowledge

11. Is there a quote that inspires you? Yes, but it has nothing to do with legal: Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul! (Note: Dorothe can be found riding her Harley in her ‘spare’ time.)

12. You’ve enjoyed a successful paralegal career. To what single event or person do you attribute that success? My first attorney boss, Powell Welliver, who inspired me to become a paralegal

13. What is the most important step a paralegal can take to keep his or her career interesting? Never stop learning

Bonus…Just for Fun Fact: The best thing I ever created during my paralegal career are spreadsheets to keep my professional life organized.