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Paralegal
Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP
Amber May sees her job as exacting and meticulous but not at all boring. “The work we do is much more interesting than many people realize,” May said. “We work as part of a team toward a common goal and help achieve the best possible results for our clients.” Her primary responsibilities are litigation support and preparation, with a focus on discovery- and document-intensive matters. She also assists with insurance recovery, estates and personal injury cases. She found her current employer after spending a few years on the litigation team of a large insurance company. “I wanted to branch into other areas of law, so I replied to an opening for a position at PSRB because the practice areas were interesting to me,” May said. “It felt like a good opportunity to continue to grow.”
Important traits: Flexibility and the ability to think on your feet. “You may have a certain plan for your day that is quickly derailed,” May said. “Being able to effectively triage your tasks and pivot your focus can turn chaos into calm.”
Advice: “It can be a very fulfilling path. Being a paralegal offers many growth opportunities and a chance to continuously learn throughout your career. You also make real impacts for your clients, which is the reason we do what we do.”
Lessons learned: “Prior to joining the legal field, I spent 10 years working in an industry that I didn’t love,” May said. “I was afraid to move on since I had already invested so much of my professional life in that industry, and I wasn’t confident that my experience would transfer well to other careers. Once I decided to make a change and pursue something different, I realized that there had been nothing holding me back except myself.”
Favorite de-stressors: a night at home playing video games and talking with her husband and kids•
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