Legal Base article

I was one of the younger kids in my class, and graduated at 17. Upon graduation, I was hired immediately by a city attorney. First full-time job - it was definitely my baptism by fire. I enjoyed it, really enjoyed it…well, except for having to deal with that older woman across the hall. She was the real estate paralegal and worked directly for my boss. Best description I can share is that she was a very handsome woman. Know the type? Not beautiful, but very attractive. Her regal style literally commanded respect.

My personality is outgoing and I don’t fear many things in life, but that woman intimidated me. Apparently the intimidation I felt fed my desire to please and impress her. I was rarely successful. Whew, tough nut to crack.

One day I was typing a Last Will and Testament for a waiting client. As the paralegal wandered by, she noticed me using correcting tape. “Is that a will?” “Yes.” “Do I see what I think I see, you’re using correcting tape?” “…yes? Almost finished…” “Take it out and start all over again, you must never make a mistake on a will, even if corrected.”

Now this was a few years ago. It was in the days before word processing. All right, it was several years ago. When we used tiny strips of correcting tape and had to line it up just right to rehit the incorrect stroke and hope it adequately covered the typo. Okay, it was several years ago. Okay, many. Fine.

I got so flustered I wound up wasting several sheets of heavier gauge special will paper before I finished a perfect document. Obviously, the incident impressed me to still easily recall it today. But she was right. Overkill, perhaps, but shouldn’t all documents prepared by law firms be typo-free? Clients pay for professional advice and the preparation of official documents. Shouldn’t those documents be perfect?

Excellent proofreading is a great skill for a paralegal to develop. A paralegal should check and recheck her work product, and not only her own but also the work done by others around her. Proofread work done by your boss. Proofread work done by your secretary. Proofread the work done by other paralegals down the hall. Proofread advertising on busses. Read the bathroom walls at dance clubs, no doubt some editing could be done there! Overkill?

That particular story ends well. Over time, I felt less intimidated and ultimately gained that woman’s respect. And friendship. I learned a valuable lesson - backspace and delete keys are pretty darn handy for invisible corrections.

Laura McDonald is a paralegal. She has many years of experience in the areas of personal injury (accident related and medical malpractice), workers’ compensation, civil litigation, family, environmental, and corporate law, estate planning, and bankruptcy. She is employed by Michael L. Hawkins & Associates, P.L.L.C. in Frankfort, Kentucky. Her website is: paralegalsecretary.bravehost.com paralegalsecretary.bravehost.com. Laura is available to encourage anyone interested in entering the paralegal field or seeking to improve related skills.

When the Enron and MCI scandals broke, it became clear to the US government as well as everyone else that something needed to be done to prevent financial abuses from harming the public. A bipartisan team of legislators led by Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael G. Oxley put together the Sarbanes Oxley Act, also titled the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, and more manageably called SOX for short. It was overwhelmingly passed by the House of Representatives, and the Senate voted unanimously to pass the Sarbanes Oxley bill.

The Sarbanes Oxley Act was signed into federal law on July 30, 2002. Its primary purpose is to protect investors by making corporate information released about accounting and finance more accurate and reliable. It addresses issues like the establishment of a public company, creation of an accounting oversight board, auditor independence, corporate responsibility, and enhanced financial disclosure.

According to President Bush, Sarbanes Oxley includes ‘the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.’

That may be true, but it’s also one of the most complex and difficult to understand reforms ever passed. It covers topics such as:

Personal loans by the company to executive officers or directors
Financial report certification
More timely insider trading reporting
Strong limitations on insider trades
Public reporting of top executive real compensation and company profits
Auditing independence
Personal accountability by the chief officers of the company, backed up by criminal and civil penalties including serious jail time and financial penalties on individuals who misstate financial statements and commit securities violations

You can see how a bill covering so many different topics might be seen as discouragingly complex

Understanding Sarbanes Oxley

There are a few things you can do to learn how Sarbanes Oxley works. First, read reviews and synopses of the Sarbanes Oxley Act on the SEC website; they give an excellent overview of what the law is about. Second, you can get training focused in several different ways on the part of Sarbanes Oxley you need to understand.

The main thing to understand about Sarbanes Oxley, though, is that it primarily affects how you do your accounting, and thus how you run your IT services. Electronic controls must properly manage your financial information, so that you have clear, easy-to-access real-time information on your company’s finances. Corporate finances must be kept separate from executive finances, payroll, and other moneys. Auditing for accountability is crucial, so that if errors or misinformation enter the data stream you will be able to determine the source.

With Sarbanes Oxley, even if you were ignorant of what was going on in your accounting, if you are a major executive you will be both civilly and criminally liable for any errors released to the public, or the failure to release certain information in a timely manner. You must learn about Sarbanes Oxley, not just to comply with more government regulations, but to protect your personal life.

Earl Powers, US Lawyer and sarbanes-oakley.info SOA expert - focusing on sarbanes-oxley-software.info Sarbanes Oxley and sarbanes-oxely.info Segregation Of Duties