The attorney who was interviewing Lydia Boydston for a front desk position at his small firm wanted to be certain she could handle the most unpleasant things the job could throw at her, so he didn’t mince words.
“People don’t come to us when life is going well,” he warned. “They come to us when life is at its worst. They’re going to be angry and crying and sometimes scream at you.
“I need to know you’re not going to stick out your tongue at them or flip them off when they turn their back. I need to know you’re not going to cuss them out under your breath as they walk away. I need to know you can be kind to those people in that time.”
A music theory major at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, Boydston wanted to attend graduate school and eventually teach. But reality was tapping her shoulder because she needed a job – screaming clients aside.
Boydston had seen the ad for the position in the Chattanooga Times Free Press. She knew nothing about working for a law firm, she says, but she figured she could answer the phone and mail letters, so she’d tossed her hat into the ring. Now it was time for her to convince her potential employer that she was up to the task.
“I said, ‘Yes, I can be kind to those people.’”
Satisfied with her answers, the man offered Boydston the job. Without knowing how little she knew, she accepted it.
Soon, reality went from tapping her shoulder to punching it.
“I learned there’s a lot more to being a receptionist at a law firm than I’d thought,” she laughs.
Paralegally blonde
Despite being a college student, Boydston says she felt like she was back in kindergarten as she started her new position. As a general practice, the firm took on cases involving criminal defense, torts, workers’ compensation, Social Security issues and more. That meant she also needed to be able to handle tasks related to each of these areas of the law – and more.
“I was doing a bunch of different things,” says Boydston, 35. “And when I said I knew nothing about working in a law office, I meant I knew nothing. I didn’t know what general sessions court was, what circuit court was or anything else for that matter.”
Boydston’s general lack of knowledge combined with the sink-or-swim nature of her job often led to her learning things the hard way, she confesses. One such occasion occurred after she mailed a personal injury complaint to the wrong court within a hair’s breadth of the statutory deadline.
“You have one year to file a personal injury claim in Tennessee,” Boydston explains. “So when the claim came back to us, I got on the phone and said, ‘What did I do wrong?’
After learning about her mistake, Boydston called the other court and suggested it mark the claim as received on the day the other court received it – which would keep the firm from missing the deadline.
“I somehow talked the correct court into letting us not be late,” Boydston says. “I think I bullied my way out of that mistake.”
When the firm moved to Knoxville a year later, Boydston searched for employment in a different field. However, external forces all but conspired to keep her in the legal arena and led to a stint with the late John Wolfe and a stretch with Spicer Rudstrom.
While working for Wolfe, Boydston swung for the bleachers when a client living on a fixed income entered the attorney’s office seeking justice in a landlord-tenant dispute. The difficulty of such cases combined with the man’s criminal history had led other attorneys to decline to take up the cause, Boydston says, but she believed she could deliver a win.
“While he was in jail, his landlord had pocketed his rent and then tossed his things out of his apartment. I told Mr. Wolfe, who did a ton of pro bono, that I’d do the grunt work, but he didn’t want to take the case, either. So, I made the phone calls, put the proof together and filed everything. And then I asked an attorney friend to go to court with the man.”
The court awarded the man the rent money the landlord had taken from him, giving Boydston her first grand slam as a paralegal. The attorney notched the win – as is the way – but there was no doubting who’d been at bat.
“That was a big deal for me because I enjoy helping people,” Boydston says. “I appreciated my attorney friend taking a leap of faith in me and I liked getting a victory for the man.”
Boydston also worked on a series of civil rights cases while she was with Wolfe. The managing partner of Spicer Rudstrom was often the attorney across the aisle and took note of the quality of her work. When one of his paralegals retired, the man called Boydston and offered her the job.
A woman of faith, Boydston says the opportunity was “a God thing.”
“My husband had just lost his job, and I needed a full-time position with insurance and benefits, so I was interviewed and offered the job on the same day as the original call. The other staff and the attorneys at Spicer Rudstrom are all excellent, and working with them helped me to grow as a paralegal.”
At Spicer, Boydston continued to demonstrate that her skills could be an asset to a firm. This was the case when the attorney for whom she was working asked her to put together a statement of facts for a large brief.
“When I gave him my first draft, he said, ‘This is precisely what I needed,’” she recalls with a smile. “That was a big moment for me because I’d spent a lot time on it and felt good about the product I’d put out. As I read the full brief, I loved seeing how my facts supported the overall argument.”
During this still-early phase of her career, Boydston also began to develop empathy for lawyers. She says this has made a big difference in her career.
“I grew up on farms and was in 4-H, so I learned by doing. That taught me to give grace in stressful situations, especially to litigation attorneys. They give up time with their families to do a good job for their clients. Some of them live and breathe their work and never take a vacation because they have to get in their billable hours. Paralegals who understand this and can give grace to others work better with their attorneys.”
Choosing Chambliss
Then came the day Boydston decided to pursue a position at Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel. By this time, she’d decided to hit the pause button on her dream of teaching music full-time and instead further her career as a paralegal in order to care for her growing family.
Working for Chambliss would not only introduce new challenges but also allow Boydston to learn new areas of the law, as she’d be assigned to attorneys who concentrated on narrower practice areas.
Today, Boydston is the paralegal component of the practices of Chambliss attorneys Dana Perry and Greg Willett. Perry practices elder law and serves estate planning clients, while Willett is the head of the firm’s trusts and estate group.
While Boydston might answer a phone call or mail a letter during the course of a workday, her current position within the legal hierarchy carries more weight than that of a legal assistant. Perry, for example, has tasked her with ensuring homes are insured, taxes are paid and clients are receiving their distributions, among other critical responsibilities. This places her elbow-deep in files and front and center with Chambliss’ clients.
Boydston says she relishes her role.
“I find a lot of value in my work. It’s up to me to use my time well to make the most of our client’s money. And it’s my job to make sure our clients can be cared for as long as possible. Knowing I’ve done my best to help our clients feels good.”
Unlike Boydston’s days with small firms – when she essentially had to train for a marathon while running one – Chambliss eased her into her work by placing her under the mentorship of senior paralegal Mae Shelley.
“Mae taught me about trusts and my role within that practice. She also helped me with the transition to working with a bigger team. I now have people who assist me with all of the things I used to do at the smaller firms.”
Boydston says she’s been grateful for Shelley’s support, especially since one of the lessons she’s learned at Chambliss is that a paralegal is never done learning.
“The longer I stay in the law, the more I realize how little I know. This world keeps opening up, and I’ll catch myself saying, ‘I’ve never done that,’ or, ‘I didn’t know that was a thing.’ Plus, laws are always changing; new decisions are made and old decisions are reversed. I’ve decided that’s fun.”
A forever paralegal
As Boydston has tallied years and experience as a paralegal, many attorneys have told her she has the aptitude to become a lawyer, if she ever chooses to explore that path. Her answer to every suggestion along these lines has been a succinct “absolutely not.”
Boydston says her family is a big part of why she chooses to remain where she is professionally. She and her husband, Jesse, are the proud parents of three children aged 7 and younger, and Jesse is a United States Marine Corps veteran and domestic dad. This means their life in Trenton, Georgia, is often a whirlwind of rehearsals, practices, doctor appointments and more.
Boydston cherishes all of these moments and has chosen to prioritize her husband and children over a more lucrative but also more demanding career.
“Some of that has to do with maternal instinct,” she muses. “Chambliss has women who are incredible attorneys and also killing it as moms. They’re badasses. But I’m not at their level. I’m fine with that because everybody is needed somewhere. I don’t feel less, I don’t feel more, I’m exactly where I want to be.”
Besides, Boydston says, being a paralegal has allowed her to provide well for her family, especially while working for Chambliss.
“I can leave early to see my kids in a play or work from home so my husband can keep his many doctor appointments. Chambliss has been exceptionally good to me.”
In return, Boydston stives to be exceptional for Perry, Willett and the firm at large.
“Attorneys put their name and license on the line every day. Paralegals don’t. We didn’t go to law school, we didn’t sit for the bar exam and become licensed, and we don’t sign our name on the work we do. That’s a heavy weight, and many attorneys shoulder it in exchange for a reputation they don’t deserve. That’s why paralegals take their jobs seriously; we can impact attorneys’ lives and work in a positive way.”
Music box
While paralegals might not carry the same burdens as attorneys, they can still have a hard day. When Boydston is feeling stressed, she tends to either escape into the arms of her family or disappear into the embrace of music.
In addition to composing music and playing piano at her church and other community events, Boydston runs a piano studio at home and is teaching 11 students. While this might sound like more work, it allows her to keep her toes dipped in the cool waters of a lifelong dream.
“I’ll probably never let go of my desire to making a living with music, but I’m embracing where God has me, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to be a paralegal. Supporting attorneys in their work and helping our clients navigate the obstacles in their lives is tremendously rewarding.”