by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
It was on a day that she was struggling that she found out she had made it to the top.
“It was one of those bad days where it seemed like I couldn’t do anything right,” said Linda Whipple, a paralegal with Spohrer & Dodd. “Then Bob (Spohrer) tells me he wants to see me in his office. I’m thinking, ‘What have I done now?’ He started to talk about the AAJ (American Association for Justice) Convention in San Francisco and says, ‘I know you wanted to go to the convention.’ Then this big smile comes over his face and then he says, ‘You are going to San Francisco.’”
At first Whipple didn’t understand the significance of the moment or why she was able to go to the annual convention.
“You won,” said Spohrer, who nominated Whipple for the “AAJ Paralegal of the Year” award.
Whipple had many reasons to be excited including being honored by the legal community and earning an expense-paid trip to see her family in San Francisco July 27.
“The award is the pinnacle of the industry,” said Whipple, who is just the second Florida paralegal to win the award in its 20-year history. “It’s the highest honor a paralegal can get.”
Nominees were judged by paralegal affiliate members and one attorney member of the AAJ Paralegal Advisory Task Force. Judges looked for contributions to the paralegal profession through teaching, speaking/lecturing, mentoring paralegal students, involvement with paralegal associations and publication of articles in legal publications.
Whipple is active in her local paralegal association (Northeast Florida Paralegal Association) and served as their first vice-president in 2003-04. She became a part of the over 3,000 voluntary registered paralegals in March 2008 through the Florida Bar administered program.
“Becoming a registered paralegal through the Florida Bar is voluntary now, but I think that will change in the near future,” said Whipple. “It will become a requirement.”
The certification program was approved by the Florida Supreme Court in 2007 with the goal of setting high professional standards for the profession. The program requires paralegals to abide by a code of ethics while performing their duties under the supervision of a member of the Florida Bar. Registered paralegals must complete 30 hours of continuing education courses over a three-year period, with five of those hours in professionalism or ethics courses.
Whipple has also served on the Paralegal Advisory Board for continuing education at the University of North Florida’s Legal Studies Institute, as well as teaching courses in the Legal Studies program.
“She is a dedicated professional whose commitment to her work is very commendable,” said Spohrer. “She takes ownership of cases in that she gets very involved in learning the subject matter, whether it’s medicine, aviation or engineering. Linda exemplifies excellence in that profession.”
Whipple began her path to the award when she started her studies as a paralegal in 1974 at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, before the title was widely used or understood. Courses included torts, civil procedure, criminal law, probate law and legal writing and research. Paralegals differ from legal assistants because they apply their education to research and information gathering to assist an attorney rather than administrative duties, Whipple said.
She recalled the beginning of her career and how the tools she utilizes in her work now didn’t exist then.
“I can remember typing 50-page briefs for attorneys on a selectric typewriter,” said Whipple. “We would proofread them, correct the mistakes on the paper and then photocopy the document. That was before computers made it so easy to correct mistakes. I think lawyers wrote better back then. Corrections were more difficult, so lawyers had to be sharper and they paid more attention to detail.”
The Internet was also a luxury she didn’t have when she started out.
“I was working for a sole practitioner in Ocala and he took me into a room with shelves of books,” said Whipple. “He said, ‘Everything you need to know is in this room.’ So I would take books home and read until I found the answer I was looking for.”
Washington, D.C. was an answer to the question of where Whipple could find a soccer program for her daughter to compete in during the early 1980s. Female youth soccer leagues were developing in the area with the help of future women’s soccer icon Mia Hamm.
“We didn’t let the dirt settle under us too much back then,” said Whipple.
Her daughter wasn’t the only one to experience tougher competition in D.C. Though Whipple was able to land a job as a paralegal in the nation’s capital within two weeks, she realized that her colleagues were operating at a level she hadn’t experienced.
“You were expected to know where to find the answers because there were 100 other paralegals behind you that didn’t need help to do the job,” said Whipple. “That’s where I developed my research skills. It was stressful working there, but it was fun.”
She returned to Florida after her daughter graduated from college and was hired by Spohrer & Dodd.
“Working in D.C. was a great experience, but the most I have advanced as a paralegal have happened in the 10 plus years I have worked with Bob Spohrer,” said Whipple. “He trusts me and respects my ability to work on cases.”
Spohrer knew Whipple had excellent credentials, but her work has far exceeded what he expected.
“Most good paralegals will do what you ask of them in a timely and efficient matter,” said Spohrer. “Linda will aggressively work a case with me and she will come up with ideas, strategies for the case without me suggesting them. That allows us to be more effective and efficient and to help our clients better.”
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