Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 2, 2009
Local paralegal celebrates 25 years of work with attorney
Samara Litvack
Julie Gee always knew she would go into the legal field. And, if her career is any indication, when something seems right for her, it usually is.
Fresh out of college with a political science degree, Gee began work as an escrow secretary at Lawyers Title and Escrow. She proved herself early and was soon promoted to closing agent.
“It was very interesting work, but it was all business. It was very impersonal”, she says, and anyone who knows Gee knows she is a people person.
When one of her coworkers left that office to begin work in the insurance defense industry, she suggested Gee do the same. She interviewed with Leitner, Warner, Owens, Moffitt, Williams and Dooley and began her new job on Sept. 17, 1984.
“That was my first job as a paralegal,” she says. It was also her very first case with attorney John McMahan, a relationship that would prove very valuable as her career went on.
At that time, Leitner’s paralegals worked with any and all attorneys in the office. Considering this was a time before computers adorned every desk, one can imagine how difficult it might be to juggle all those calendars and schedule all the trials and depositions.
“It was quite challenging,” says Gee. “”So we made a proposal to the partnership that we go into litigation teams and that a paralegal would work with two attorneys, and it was accepted by management.”
From then on, Gee worked with McMahan and attorney James Golden. As time passed, her work gravitated more toward McMahan, and by the time he began working on plaintiff’s cases, she was working almost exclusively with him.
“We developed a rapport at that time that’s now lasted a quarter of a century,” she says.
At the end of 1992, McMahan left the Leitner firm because, Gee says, he felt his style of litigating cases was more suited to the plaintiff’s side than the defendant’s. He joined another partnership in town, Clements, Schulman and McMahan, and began representing the other side of the cases he’d been defending.
Gee rejoined McMahan on Jan. 1., 1993, and two years later, was the only employee by his side when his partners and staff left to join another law firm.
“It was just John and just me,” says Gee. “He wore the attorney hat full-time. I had several hats that I was wearing and then he would wear other hats as we needed, to just make things be productive.”
McMahan built the firm back up from himself and Gee in ’95 to a current staff of five attorneys and numerous paralegals and assistants. Today, McMahan Law Firm is a plaintiff’s firm, perched at the corner of 4th and High Streets, that helps the injured pursue claims against people and institutions that have negligently harmed them.
Through all the changes the firm has seen, Gee says she enjoys her job today more than ever. She is confident in her role as senior paralegal and one of four non-attorney managers, interviewing all new motor vehicle accidents and premises liability clients. And while her schedule stays busy with intakes and a full MVA/premises liability caseload, she loves her job and never tires of it. In fact, she says confidently that she wouldn’t rather be doing anything else.
“I hate to say that I’m set in my ways, but I have always been very proud of and very devoted to John,” she says. “I just can’t see myself working at any other place.”
Gee recently celebrated her 25th anniversary as a paralegal with McMahan and still sees each day as a challenge, and as an opportunity to better herself as a paralegal and an employee.
“To this day, I still learn something new all the time,” she says. “A new issue will come up frequently that I haven’t encountered.”
She enjoys the different aspects of her job, namely working with so many sorts of people on a regular basis. She says successful paralegals must develop strong relationships with court clerks, law enforcement officials, health care providers and insurance companies. They must assist attorneys with all sorts of things, just short of practicing law itself, and ensure that each attorney’s time is spent efficiently. They must also have an eye for detail, she adds, and use their time wisely.
“You have to be tactful, yet direct,” she says in closing, with a smile. “A lot of times you can be tactful or direct, but the goal is to try to be both.”
While all paralegals must have these qualities to be successful, Gee says those who work at McMahan Law Firm must share something else. Modeled after McMahan’s own work ethic, the firm sees very little turnover and its staff has a very close-knit relationship.
“I think all the employees are loyal to John and to the supervising attorneys that they work with most closely,” she says.
“It is imperative to be happy in what you do. If you’re not happy, you need to be doing something else. We’re friends here, in addition to being coworkers.”
Gee is undeniably proud of her work. She respects McMahan, the opportunities he’s given her and the confidence he’s placed in her since their working relationship began. She is proud of her colleagues’ performance and the dedication they show to the entire McMahan team. When asked specifically how the firm differs from others, Gee mentions the fact that each lawyer, paralegal and staff member cares deeply about each other and the firm’s clients.
“We strive to make sure every phone call is returned,” she says. “We strive to stay on top of our deadlines. We try to move each case as efficiently as possible. Our goal is to get our clients fairly compensated for whatever injury they’ve sustained as expeditiously as possible.”
Gee is proud to have been by McMahan’s side over the years, as he built his law firm and made a name for himself in the community. Because she is so passionate about his philosophies, she looks forward to working by his side for many years to come.
“We treat our clients like we would want to be treated,” she says. “John has said before, ‘Treat them like they’re family. Care about what they’re going through. Don’t just assign a number to them.’”
And with that, Gee says once more that she will remain a loyal member of the McMahan Law Firm team as long as she possibly can. And surely, considering her undying loyalty and support for the last quarter century, McMahan and his partners feel the same about her.
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