BeaglePapers

I have been a paralegal in Colorado family law firms since 1985, and with

The Harris Law Firm, P.C. since 2004. During my career I've worked for and with some wonderful attorneys, paralegals and other professionals, and I've tried to contribute by sharing the experience and knowledge I have accumulated, particularly in the technology area. I like being the old dog teaching new tricks.

With attorneys Rich Harris and Christine Nierenz, I am a co-author of Colorado Family Law Deskbook with Forms, Bradford Publishing Co., May, 2008. I have also served the Rocky Mountain Paralegal Association as editor of the group's monthly newsletter.

In 2001 I had the opportunity to present to the annual Breckenridge Conference for Colorado family law attorneys and mental health professionals. My panel's presentation was "60 Sites in 60 Minutes".

The list we developed for that seminar hung around my PC for a few months, and it occurred to me to turn it into a page of useful hyperlinks. By the middle of 2002, it became a web site of its own, "NiftyFifty", which I parked at my own family website. I shared the URL with my colleagues at Bob Hinds' office, and gave it to a number of other paralegals and family law practitioners in Denver. NiftyFifty followed me to Rich Harris' firm in 2004, and outgrew its name with over a hundred links.

In August. 2007, I purchased the domain, www.ColoFamilyLawLinks.com, and re-launched the website as The Legal Beagle. I'm glad it got your attention, and I hope you'll come back.

I am not an attorney, and I make it a strict practice not to give legal advice. With that principle in mind, The Legal Beagle has no original content. I check the links regularly to be sure they're still working, but I don't review any website for accuracy or vouch for its content. In most cases, I include competing websites offering similar utilities.

The Legal Beagle is free. It earns no income, but I unabashadly have added the promotional link to the Colorado Family Law Deskbook with Forms because I'm one of the co-authors.

After joining the firm of Robert T. Hinds, Jr. and Associates in 1998 as a paralegal and technology specialist, I had the opportunity to serve on the Supreme Court Rules Committee that developed the interim rules permitting electronic court filing of pleadings and other documents statewide.

During the early 1980's I also served on the faculties of two family law conferences sponsored by Colorado Continuing Legal Education, lecturing on matters pertaining to technology and the Internet (which eventually led to The Legal Beagle website). I was also the coordinator of a Special Master program in the 18th Judicial District sponsored by the Arapahoe County Bar Association.

Over the last 6 years, I have been a consultant to LawToolBox.com in the development of their family law forms, calendaring procedures, and case management software.

While employed in the middle nineties by the firm of Scheideler and Pittam, I was one of the most active participants in the original Colorado pilot program for e-filing, conducted in the 18th Judicial District. During that time, I also contributed to a paralegal handbook published by the Center for Legal Studies.

I am active in the community, particularly as an advocate of K-12 public education. I am a past president and a continuing member of the Adams Twelve Five Star Schools District School Improvement Team.