Tara Sa’id (pronounced sigh-eed) is an attorney at Hardesty & Tyde.
WHAT’S HER SPECIALTY?
Worker’s compensation, social security disability, contract law, personal injury and PIP cases.
FRESH FACE
While attending law school at night, Sa’id worked at the firm as a paralegal. She has been an attorney there for a year. “I did it [became a paralegal] to see if I would like the legal profession.”
PAST VOCATIONS
Before Sa’id delved into the legal profession, she was a Medicare case worker in Mississippi for the criminally insane. “I advocated for those who couldn’t help themselves [the chronically mentally ill who had committed crimes] to make sure they were treated fairly.”
WHAT FASHION HAS TO DO WITH JUSTICE
After graduating from college, she was a cosmetics buyer and manager for The Limited clothing store. “Working in retail management and law boils down to customer service: being an effective listener, responding and serving their needs. It’s amazing today how many clients shop for attorneys. I hired my legal assistant because she has a background in customer service.”
ARE ATTORNEYS LACKING IN CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS?
“I think so. Some people don’t know what their attorney’s face looks like. From the things I’ve heard from clients who have switched firms or representation, their calls don’t get returned, they don’t know what’s going on and they don’t know the status of their case. Contact gives them reassurance. It pays off. I have a lot of clients that come back or send me referrals.”
EDUCATION
Sa’id received her bachelor’s degree in international relations and foreign affairs with a minor in French from Samford University. She became certified as a paralegal at the University of North Florida and obtained her law degree at Florida Coastal School of Law. She teaches legal case analysis at UNF one night a week. “I like giving students the inside scoop on how to use what they learn.”
WHAT’S REWARDING ABOUT BEING A LAWYER?
“When the client recognizes you worked hard and appreciates it. When the case resolves, either in the client’s favor or not, it’s seeing that what I’ve done helps them in some way and we’ve gone through it together.”
WHAT’S THE TOUGH PART?
“Most challenging is trying to keep up with my case load while the laws are constantly changing. When you’ve got it down, it changes again.”
BORN
Mobile, Ala.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CONFLICT
Sa’id resided in the Middle East while her father was a missionary working with a Christian broadcasting company. “I lived in Beirut growing up. There was no law, no order. We had to evacuate when the Americans were moved out; it was too dangerous to stay. We left during the middle of the conflict. I remember hiding in a bomb shelter and listening to the radio broadcasts about strikes. We would go out [after an attack] with binoculars to see where they hit.”
LOVE
While living in Lebanon, Sa’id met her husband Sam when they were both children. “We don’t know what nationality he was; Sam was adopted by a Lebanese family. We were best friends growing up. He came to America to go to the University of Alabama.” Sam is a full-time F-15 pilot for the Florida National Guard.
TOLERANCE TODAY
“I would like people to understand that you can’t lump a few fanatical people in with a whole nationality or religion. I wouldn’t trade growing up there for anything. Growing up I had friends that were Christian and Muslim. The people are so hospitable. You know all your neighbors; it’s like America was in the 1950s. I loved to live there still if it wasn’t for the economy and the war situation. I wouldn’t have stayed there and I wouldn’t have married someone from there if I didn’t like it. Those people [bigots] have never been there. I recall when Beirut was the Paris of the Middle East.”
SPECIAL INTERESTS
Singing in a band at her church, reading spy novels at the beach, snapping photographs and compiling scrap books from travel adventures are her preferred pastimes. She is a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association and the Christian Legal Society. Hala Cafe is where she likes to get a taste of home, and the TV show “Malcolm in the Middle” is what she watches for a laugh. Every Saturday morning, Sa’id and her husband have coffee and read books at Barnes & Noble.
WHO’S YOUR HERO?
“[Rev.] Billy Graham, because he practices what he preaches.”
BRUSH WITH FAME
During college Sa’id was on the debate team. She attended the Southeast model of the United Nations where each school represents different countries and argues their issues in character. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was one of the judges. Ironically, Lebanon and Palestine were the two nations her university represented. She spoke her position in Arabic, much to her classmates’ dismay. “I remember thinking he [Kissinger] was awfully short.”
—by Monica Chamness