< Previouso understand Davis Miles McGuire Gardner, you must not think like a lawyer. This firm is what happens when truly entrepreneurial lawyers come together to form “the only law firm you will ever need.” During the internet boom, Charlie Davis, while conducting his very successful real es- tate and transactions law practice in the Phoe- nix East Valley, became convinced the inter- net was part of the future of law, as well as a future transformational force for business. He started the company law.com in 1998. The site quickly took off as a legal informa- tion portal, and 21 years after he founded it (selling it to a private equity firm along the way), it is still one of the most robust websites for legal information on the internet. He also founded scrapbook.com, which today is still held by Charlie and his family and is a highly popular international scrapbooking business, based in Mesa. This is not the typical path of a law firm founder. Greg Miles started his law career as a clerk in the Arizona Court of Appeals. He went on to build a successful practice in real estate litigation and title defense work. He also rep- resents medical professionals before adminis- trative boards. In addition to his varied prac- tice, Greg is a careful student of business and civic leadership. Greg treats his law practice as any other type of business: he makes sure he takes care of both his clients and his employees. The ap- proach makes for a sustainable law firm … because the underlying business is successful. Not all lawyers recognize the importance of maintaining a practice as a business. Because of his business ethic, Greg has never had a lack of clients. In 2002 Davis and Miles had a novel idea. Their desire was to create a unique law firm that would not only provide outstanding and sophisticated legal services to businesses and individuals, but also have as its mission to im- Davis Miles McGuire Gardner Freedom Through the Law “We help Davids slay Goliaths of indus- try and government, and we also help Goliaths go toe to toe with other Goli- aths. We represent foreign countries, businesses and individuals on cases with millions at stake, and at the same time, we help the widow(er), the elderly, the average Jane and Joe, the small busi- ness, the large business and everything in between.” – Charlie Davis, Founder 10 ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · PHOENIX· VOL. 11 NO. 7prove the lives of clients by access to the law. They merged their law practices and formed Davis Miles, PLLC. With 50+ years of combined legal experi- ence, the new firm quickly gained a reputation for legal excellence. This reputation caught the eye of the corporate giant LegalShield (for- merly known as Pre-Paid Legal Ser- vices). The access to justice provided by LegalShield was in line with the firm’s mission, and Davis Miles be- came the provider firm for Arizona in March 2004 and New Mexico in Au- gust 2006. To broaden its offerings in debt re- structuring, bankruptcy and family law, Davis Miles joined forces with McGuire Gardner in 2011. The firm name changed to Davis Miles Mc- Guire Gardner, PLLC in 2012. The firm has been on a growth trajec- tory ever since, and in 2018 it had its strongest financial year in its history. SECRETS OF SUCCESS: VALUES, VISION, AND A BUSINESS MINDSET Managing Partner Pernell Mc- Guire has training as an accountant. He leads the state’s top-ranked bank- ruptcy practice, and is certified by the Arizona Bar as a specialist. Competi- tion, goals, accountability … all are in his blood. You can find Pernell at 5:30 am starting every day either on the bas- ketball court or hitting the weights pushing to improve himself. Pernell leads the firm with the compassion and empathy you’d expect from a bankruptcy lawyer, and the precise understanding of finance you would also expect. Under his leadership, the firm has doubled its revenues and grown to become the 6 th largest firm in the valley. Name partner Douglas Gardner has an MBA, applying business principles to his top-10 ranked divorce practice. As successful as Douglas has been as a divorce attorney, he has spent ample amounts of time helping people im- prove their relationships. He has a book in the works on the subject. Both Gardner and McGuire are certified specialists in their legal fields. They also devote a lot of time working on culture. When you see the firm’s Mission and Values painted in huge letters on the wall of its offices in Tempe Town Lakes, you realize this is not your typ- ical law firm. Words like accountabil- ity, integrity, and teamwork point to Davis Miles McGuire Gardner’s mis- sion statement which proclaims their commitment to providing solutions and creating relationships to improve the lives of clients, employees, and the community. Today the firm is ranked among the leading large law firms in Arizona, with eleven of its practices ranked in the top ten in Arizona according to Ranking Arizona. “We strive to live our values,” says McGuire. “It is one thing for a firm to try and articulate what it stands for. It is obviously a much larger challenge to intentionally and deliberately op- erate, recruit and plan according to those values. We say, ‘family first’ and we mean it. We say, ‘improve lives’ and we mean it.” Part of the business mindset is an attorney compensation plan that rewards lawyers with more of a share of the revenue they generate. The firm also rewards lawyers for referring work to one another. That has made it an attractive spot for lateral partners. “This has been a tremendous fit for our practice,” says immigration partner Jared Leung, who joined the firm from a storied down-town firm. “We feel valued by not just the manag- ing partner. All other practice group leaders treat us as an integral part of the firm. “This level of collaboration is so rare in law firms with multiple areas of practice, where different groups often exist in separate silos,” says Leung. For next generation law- yers, the firm focuses on men- toring and providing young lawyers a chance to spread their wings and gain real-world experience while being guided and provided help. “I have always had great coaching here,” says David Williams, a litiga- tion partner who has been at the firm for more than nine years and today is the head of its Litigation Department. Brittney Walsh, one of the firm’s newest lawyers, puts it this way, “As a brand-new attorney, I was thrilled to receive an offer here. This firm al- lows me to live according to my val- ues and encourages healthy living and balance. The mentorship program enables me to flex my skills and flour- ish as an attorney under careful guid- ance. I think the firm is an example for other medium-to-large firms to follow in order to retain employees and avoid burnout in new associates.” Mike Ferrin, who runs the firm’s transactional department, moved his practice to Davis Miles McGuire Gardner seven years ago. As an at- torney who makes a living helping business people plan their futures so they can live the life they want, Ferrin says the firm helps him live the life he chooses, too. GILBERT, WITH ITS BUSTLING DOWNTOWN AND GROWING TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY, IS JUST ONE OF THE AREAS DAVIS MILES MCGUIRE GARDNER IS TARGETING FOR EAST VALLEY SERVICE GROWTH, AS THE LARGEST EAST VALLEY FIRM. LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR 11“I love the culture of this firm,” he says. “I can service my clients with a full range of services they need…of- ten provided by my colleagues, but I don’t have to put up with the big firm pressures or politics. And, I get to live the lifestyle I choose.” Ferrin adds that he feels a very close friendship with the lawyers on his team, even though practices range from sophisticated asset protection and corporate work, to product li- ability and plaintiff’s personal injury. What’s more, Ferrin loves when his transactions team stands toe to toe with any law firm in the state on large transactions. “We represent some of the largest companies doing business in Arizona, and do very sophisticated transactions. To get to do that and have this culture…that is a winning combination.” ACCESS TO JUSTICE – NOT JUST LIP SERVICE – AN ENTIRE BUSINESS UNIT The pivotal choice in 2004 to be- come the law firm in support of Le- galShield was monumental for the firm. For some of Davis Miles Mc- Guire Gardner’s competitors, it was misunderstood at the time. How can a firm balance a sophisticated trans- actional and litigation practice serv- ing leading businesses and high-net- worth individuals, while at the same time providing access to justice for tens of thousands of Arizonans (and now residents of New Mexico as well) who might not otherwise be able to afford a lawyer? What the firm built over the past 15 years is nothing short of a miracle. In an era where every law firm now recognizes the vital role it can play in providing access to justice – largely through firm organized pro-bono ef- forts – Davis Miles McGuire Gardner serves tens of thousands of clients a year with a wide range of legal ser- vices. It has developed a call center to im- prove its service delivery and its law- yers and support team are measured by a Net Promoter Score to see how well they do in serving clients. Few firms serve so many clients in such an organized way. The firm seamlessly walks clients through legal issues, and has the bandwidth to escalate and ex- pand services if needed. “It was a unique challenge to build a system that could provide easy ac- cess to legal services to LegalShield’s nearly 50,000 members in two states,” says Ron Jones, who oversees the op- eration from the firm’s Mesa office. Members purchase a membership which serves as a form of insurance – enabling them to access legal advice typically for a fraction of the cost of a traditional arrangement. ‘It’s so gratifying,” says Jones. “We have lawyers here who have been Wall Street dealmakers, or at the up- per echelons of government agencies. Today, they line up in the corner of the little gal or guy to level the play- ing field and help that client get the affordable legal representation they need,” he says. According to Davis, the vision has always been about access. “When I purchased the domain name law.com in the late 90s and launched the com- pany, our idea was freedom through the law. If you don’t have access to the law, your freedoms are limited. Some people make the mistake of thinking you can’t have a law firm that does a $30 million dollar merger – we did one last month – or a $350 million dollar estate plan…that also helps a grandmother draft a will. It can be done, and profitably. We do it every day—with an amazing system and group of gifted lawyers and staff. We help Davids slay Goliaths of in- dustry and government, and we also help Goliaths go toe to toe with other THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL! ATTORNEYS WHO COME TO THE FIRM IN TEMPE SEE THE VISION FIRST THING EVERY DAY. 12 ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · PHOENIX· VOL. 11 NO. 7Goliaths. We represent foreign coun- tries, businesses, and individuals on cases with millions at stake, and at the same time, we help the widow(er), the elderly, the average Jane and Joe, the small business, the large business and everything in between. They all need access to the law to protect them- selves, enhance their lives and solve problems they can’t solve themselves.” GO EAST (VALLEY) YOUNG WOMAN AND MAN! The firm is the largest law firm in the Phoenix East Valley with offices in Tempe and Mesa. While it is very focused on its thriving offices in Flag- staff, Albuquerque and Salt Lake City, the firm’s leadership recognizes the unique opportunity it has to exploit its size advantage in one of the fastest growing areas of the country. “Projections estimate there will be nearly 1 million new residents and more than 400,000 new jobs in the next 30 years in the area,” says litiga- tion partner Scott Gibson, who serves on the Board of the Phoenix East Val- ley Partnership. “That means more businesses needing representation in employment law matters, more com- panies concerned about intellectual property and restrictive covenants, and more residents who start busi- nesses, need estate planning, asset protection and elder care.” If you’ve seen a Davis Miles Mc- Guire Gardner Billboard on the I-10 or the 202, you’ve gotten the mes- sage: “Your East Valley Law Firm.” That message will soon be in playbills throughout performing arts centers in the East Valley and in support of im- portant business organizations, such as the East Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Gibson, who chairs the firm’s marketing committee, says a key plank in the firm’s marketing plan is its East Valley message. With a majority of its Arizona law- yers living in the East Valley, McGuire says the firm is a perfect fit for the area’s clientele and is ripe for expan- sion. “There are a number of talented lawyers who live in the East Valley who drive by our billboards or our of- fices every day on their way to some distant location like downtown. Our message to them is, “You can prob- ably make more money, serve your clients just as well if not better, and be home an extra hour or so with your family every night,” he says. MAYBE THE ONLY LAW FIRM YOU’LL EVER NEED…AS A CLIENT, AS A LAWYER AND AS A STAFF MEMBER “There is a certain kind of atti- tude we look for in the lawyers who join us,” says partner John Skabelund, who helps recruit new lawyers to the firm. “Our recruiting literature liter- ally says…we are not for everyone, no egos. Maintaining our friendly work culture is paramount. The DMMG difference is real. I think it starts with that.” Partner Alan Soelberg, who was a successful in-house legal and busi- ness executive before joining the firm agrees. But he also says it’s a firm that fosters individual growth and sup- ports different approaches to prac- tice…rather than imposing a domi- nant culture on practitioners. “If there is one thing I can say about the firm … it’s that it lets me be the best ver- sion of me as a lawyer I can be. That results in better outcomes for my cli- ents and for my family. I feel free to practice how I need to.” Associate Emma Chalverus adds that attitude is not just for partners coming in, but for new lawyers devel- oping a practice. “I focus on manage- ment-side employment law issues for companies of all sizes. The firm and my colleagues go out of their way to help me do that. I have access to sup- port, and I have a lot of freedom.” COO Jackie McAferty has been with the firm for 17 years and be- lieves strongly in the values that are promoted. When it comes to work- ing with the firm she says, “When people ask me what I like best about working at the firm it is easy for me to answer. I love the people that work here! We have a team of people that own their work and are always look- ing for ways to do better work and help others. When I ask anyone at the firm for help, even if they are super busy, their answer is ‘I’ll be happy to’ and they mean it.” With hardworking employees and attorneys Davis Miles McGuire Gardner is a versatile team that works together to grant clients not only access to the law but the free- dom that comes with it. McGuire points out that this single law firm can help a small business get started, get passed down through generations, and help its owners pro- tect their assets and plan their estate – while also being able to help provide elder law counsel, bankruptcy advice and family and criminal law. It is quite possibly the only law firm an Arizona, New Mexico or Utah resident would ever need. He says, “If you look at our cli- ents… we can help improve their lives on such a broad range. If you look at our lawyers and staff, they have found a unique culture that they probably get to experience once in a career. It’s a culture we’ve carefully cultivated. So I guess for clients, attorneys and our staff, we really are the only firm they’ll ever need.” For clients, lawyers and staff, it seems Davis’ initial vision for his legal career two decades ago is playing out: a little more freedom … through the law. DAVIS MILES MCGUIRE GARDNER, PLLC 40 E Rio Salado Parkway, Suite 425 Tempe AZ 85281 (800) 435-5081 www.davismiles.com 13A ndroid 10 was released in early September and I immediate- ly updated my Google Pixel phone. Android improves with every release. The most immediately obvi- ous change was a subtle, but effective user interface update. Switching be- tween applications is now even faster, simpler, and more intuitive. If you are running Samsung or some other non- Google Android phone, you may not experience this particular benefit. I used to own a Samsung Android and it came with a lot of “junk” software on it including software that manages the user interface. On my Google phone (Pixel), there is a new option to use “gesture system navigation” which is interesting and some may prefer it. But I will contin- ue to use the updated default 2-button navigation which is faster and more natural for me. Notifications have also been significantly improved. If you press and hold on any notifica- tion, you can now make all notifica- tions from that application “silent” or simply disable all notifications from that application. There are many such improvements throughout Android 10 that are noteworthy. However, the updates to applica- tion permissions may be the most significant change in the new release. It is always important to look at appli- cations that you may install on your iPhone or Android with a critical eye. Android 10 gives you new, useful op- tions and tools to manage these per- missions. All application permissions are now neatly organized under “Permissions Manager” where you can see all applications that were granted particular permissions, such as access to your microphone. Addi- tionally, Android has begun restrict- ing what applications can do in the background. For example, you may opt to permit an application to ac- cess your location while running, but limit background location tracking so that the application cannot track you wherever you go. I’ve revoked back- ground location tracking permission from a number of my applications. They should not need that permis- sion, so I’ve cleaned that up. One Android 10 change that I dis- like is that at some point I found my- self asked if I wanted to enable “Smart Unlock.” This is a feature that has been available on Android for several years that uses “on-body detection” to keep your phone unlocked while it is on your person. On the face of it, this sounds useful, so I enabled this feature to see how it worked. After a couple of minutes of experimenting with it, I immediately disabled “Smart Unlock.” First, I will assume that every read- er understands the importance of re- quiring a PIN on their phone. There is no good excuse not to require a PIN. Additionally, there is tremendous convenience in enabling fingerprint to unlock. Alternatively, face unlock- ing is a feature that exists on the lat- est iPhones and is apparently coming with the Google Pixel 4 that will be shipping by the time this article goes to print. The problem I have with “Smart Unlock” is that Android determines that your phone is “on your body” by means of a simple accelerometer. So, you must put your phone down for a certain amount of time for it to lock. Android cannot detect pick- pocketing. If your phone remains in motion, Android thinks your phone is still “on your body.” If you put your phone down for a very short period of time and someone else quickly picks it up, again Android doesn’t under- stand that you just lost your phone, it remains unlocked. It is trivial to pro- vide a fingerprint to your phone when you pick it up. You must literally use your fingers to pick up your phone, they merely need to touch the part of the phone with the sensor. This is fast, mindless, and there is zero work in- volved to ensure reasonable security. Perhaps someone who was severely disfigured and can’t pick up a phone or doesn’t have fingerprints might benefit from this feature. Everybody else, if you have hands with fingers, you have no excuse to enable “smart unlock” if you care about your privacy and security. Disable this if you’ve al- ready enabled it. I do not know why Android 10 asked me if I wanted to enable “smart unlock,” but it did ask me. Other than this easily avoided security faux pas, Android 10 is a solid upgrade and provides great usability and privacy enhancements. Managing application permissions is one of the most important things you can do to manage your smart- phone security and privacy. Android 10 is a huge step in the right direction, making this simpler and easier. DAVE KINSEY | Technology Android 10 Updates: Security and Privacy Considerations Dave Kinsey is the president and owner of Total Networks, the technology adviser to Arizona’s law firms. Mr. Kinsey is on the technology committee for the State Bar of Arizona, has presented at several CLE seminars on the topics of technology security and data protection, and his team is the first and only Arizona IT company to earn the CompTIA Security Trustmark, certifying that Total Networks meets or exceeds security best practices.. 14 ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · PHOENIX· VOL. 11 NO. 7Today telecommuting, cloud storage and outsourcing are as commonplace as the electric typewriter was to law offices a quarter of a century ago. But long before technology changed the landscape, one woman had a vision that would revolutionize the legal community and, while embracing all the tools of our high-tech world, has built a uniquely indispensable practice. INDUSTRY INNOVATOR B. Kathleen Gilbertson Outsourcing Outstanding Legal Expertise BY SUSAN CUSHING 15F reelance support attorney might be an unfamiliar term to some legal profes- sionals, although most are comfortable with the term contract attorney. Hailed as an industry trailblazer, attorney Kathleen Gilbertson has effectively built upon and in- geniously expanded the latter, creating a very specialized and unique practice, which she rebranded freelance support attorney. Mrs. Gilbertson’s vision, born more than 25 years ago, called for an all-encompassing classifi- cation for the services she and others in this practice area now provide. Today, she has not only established herself as an experienced and trusted resource for other attorneys and firms but heads a robust freelance support attorney practice that is growing exponentially with ever-increasing demand. To be sure, the name revamping reflects more than simply semantics, but rather the recognition of an entirely new area of practice dedicated solely to providing the highest qual- ity legal support to other legal professionals in a wide variety of areas. A freelance support attorney is a licensed attorney hired by other attorneys to assist in the broad representation of the hiring attorney’s clients on a project-by- project and as-needed basis, undertaking all phases of legal representation, from transac- tional drafting to pre-litigation through appeal. This unique service, which translates into ef- ficiency and cost-savings, has made Mrs. Gilb- ertson one of the most sought-after attorneys in our state. Not bound by typical “office hour” schedules or other time/space constraints, she is able to provide services in a timely and eco- nomically sound way that might be otherwise prohibitive. Indeed, she is typically already at work in the wee hours of the morning while her family and most of the world is still asleep. “I am a morning person. I routinely start work between 1 and 2 a.m., which lets me not only get almost a full day in before my family gets up,” she says, “but it allows me to timely review the assigning attorney’s comments from the day before no matter how late they were provided to me. It’s a time to begin sen- sitive projects ASAP or simply provide an up- dated draft for the attorney first thing later that morning.” “I also work late in the day when required to meet my clients’ needs,” Mrs. Gilbertson adds. “Frequently, I’ll work weekends as well. I try to always respond to my client’s emails in a timely fashion, often within a few hours.” A testament to this drive and dedication is that in all her 25 years of practice, she has never missed a deadline. EARLY DAYS Mrs. Gilbertson was just a junior in high school when she realized her future would be in law. Her driving motivation was the desire to help others who needed someone in their corner. In law school, while serving as a law review casenote associate editor, she discovered her innate talent for understanding and applying the law and that she had a real passion for research and writing. After passing the Arkansas bar, she moved around a little, finally moving to Arizona in 1995, where she passed the Arizona bar. While waiting for her Arizona bar results, Mrs. Gilbertson says she was fortu- nate enough to work with an attorney whom she not only admired, but who took her under his wing and offered invaluable advice. “Early in my career, I worked with Paul Conant,” she says. “He helped me understand how to provide excellent customer service, high-quality detailed work and to deal with very complicated legal matters. I think the most significant thing I learned from him was the importance of always remembering to see our clients as individuals in need of help.” They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and so it was for Mrs. Gilbertson. Although, the specialized area of freelance support attorney may not have been on her radar throughout school, as soon as she married and began planning a family, she also had to figure out a way to be able to pursue both her legal career as well as embrace her life as a wife and mother. “It was important to my husband and I that we be the ones to raise 16 ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · PHOENIX· VOL. 11 NO. 7our two girls,” she says. “I wanted to be a stay at home mom, involved in field-trips, school parties, know all the teachers and friends and share in my daughters’ lives as they grew up. But I was also drawn to the mental stimulation of law and needed both to feel complete. There was no way to do that with the way law was practiced 25 years ago so, I started something new.” The best way to be both a fulltime mom and follow her passion for law was to create a new genre of attorney, and so the freelance support attorney was born. While the idea was inge- nious and progressive, it was also a bit foreign with built-in challenges. In the beginning, it seemed that vir- tually every attorney or firm she met with either didn’t understand the con- cept or had already had a very nega- tive experience. “It wasn’t a field that back then was widely recognized,” says Mrs. Gilbertson. “It was a lot to overcome, but I’ve never seen chal- lenges as an indicator of an unattain- able goal. Giving up on being a full time stay-at-home mom and a prac- ticing attorney really never crossed my mind.” “In addition to having to introduce the concept of my new practice, start- ing out I was impeded by less compe- tent, uncaring or temporary support attorneys using this way of practicing law as only a stop-gap between jobs or a way to disguise their poor legal skills.” Upon meeting one attorney, Mrs. Gilbertson was apprised of his un- fortunate encounter with pseudo competitors. Fortunately, this veteran legal professional recognized not only her obvious legal expertise, but also her innate drive, passion and dedica- tion, as well as the great need for the services she provided. “He told me he’d give me a try,” she recalls, “On one condition. He would pay me half my normal fee, and if he had to throw my work in the trash, as he had done with my predecessors, he wouldn’t owe me anything and we’d never work together again.” Not only was he impressed with Mrs. Gilbertson’s work but developed a respect and trust for her that blos- somed into a long-term working rela- tionship. Ultimately, the two worked together on various projects for more than six years before the senior attor- ney retired. As Mrs. Gilbertson explains, “I slowly began gaining ground as more and more solo practitioners and firms started to understand the important need my type of practice fulfilled.” OVERCOMING OBSTACLES Sadly, overcoming the stigma of lesser so-called “support attorneys” was just one of the challenges she faced. Remember, this was the early 1990’s and the fact that Mrs. Gilbert- son was a female automatically made some male attorneys dismiss her out of hand. One instance in particular she recalls made it very clear that 20 years ago the legal profession was still very much a man’s world. “A prominent Arizona attorney mistook my motion as being the work of one of his male associates,” she says with a sly smile. “He praised the work effusively, believing it was the work of a high-level associate. When he learned I was the actual author, he slashed it both verbally and with a heavy-handed red pen. All of a sud- den, the very same work that had gar- nished such high praised when writ- ten by a male associate was not worth the paper it was written upon.” Perhaps the cruelest, and most egregiously false comment came after years of practice. Mrs. Gilbertson had spent a week of 18+-hour days pre- paring joint pre-trial documents for a huge, multi-million-dollar federal case. As the filing deadline loomed closer, Mrs. Gilbertson, who was as- sisting in the representation of the defendant, became anxious that those in plaintiff’s legal firm with whom she was interacting did not seem to be concerned with the upcoming dead- line. “It was plaintiff’s attorney’s obli- gation to initiate the pre-trial docu- ments. With little time remaining, I stepped in and prepared the first drafts, forwarding them to plaintiff’s attorney for comment,” she explains. “I kept reminding them of the ap- proaching deadline and requesting their comments on the documents, but they didn’t timely respond. Plain- tiff was represented by a large firm with multiple attorneys and support staff, meanwhile there was just me and my work was complete.” “After opposing counsel assured me his firm would file the document that day by the midnight filing deadline, I went to bed thinking everything was handled,” Mrs. Gilbertson continues. “I discovered the next morning that they had not filed the pre-trial docu- ments. The federal court was not hap- py the parties had missed the dead- line, issuing orders to show cause to all counsel. Plaintiff’s attorney explained to the court that it was my fault, after all I was ‘just playing attorney but was really a stay-at-home mom.’” In response, Mrs. Gilbertson sup- plied the court with all her work and communications with the firm who had besmirched her good name. The court recognized the ploy for what it was because the issue was never raised again with Mrs. Gilbertson. “Had I been a man working from home, I doubt the way I chose to prac- tice would have even come up,” she says. “Today,” she continues, “work- ing at home has become common place.” Over time, Mrs. Gilbertson has earned her place of respect in the legal community. “Fortunately, there are a lot of good men in the legal field,” she says. “Many of them have praised my decision to prioritize my family life and understand that my decision to enjoy raising my children did not affect my ability or desire to practice law.” So cognizant was she of the preju- dice against female attorneys that when she first began practicing, Mrs. Gilbertson never dressed in feminine colors, choosing dark suits and un- derstated accessories. As her practice, confidence and reputation for excel- lence grew, she was able to be more herself. “I like being feminine! Once I felt confident in my practice, I purchased a pink tote,” she explains. “My experi- ence and abilities stand on their own. So, if I want to have my feminine bag- I’ll have it.” 17THE RIGHT STUFF More and more, solo practice attorneys as well as both small and large firms are discovering the value behind outsourcing one or more of their day-to-day tasks. Not only does it make good business sense, it’s a way to ensure client service and complete satisfaction. Developing a relation- ship with a highly-skilled support attorney who is available upon request ensures sufficient staff to meet an ever-changing workflow which in turn, alleviates the day-to-day stress of operating a solo or firm practice. “Many solo practitioners and smaller firms become overwhelmed with motion writing, responding to discovery, researching and similar time- consuming routine tasks,” notes Mrs. Gilbertson. “While these types of tasks are vitally important requiring the skill and knowledge of an expe- rienced attorney, they are often the least enjoyable part of a legal practice. These mundane yet critical tasks can easily be outsourced to an experi- enced support attorney. That’s were my practice comes in.” The trick of course is finding and hiring the right freelance support at- torney. But what does that mean? Who is best qualified to step into your office, speak with your clients or handle your most sensitive documents? According to Mrs. Gilbertson, “A good support attorney should have significant experience with a vast knowledge of various legal matters, a strong work ethic, be a good communicator, self-starter, fast learner, must have good attention to detail, and be very dependable with excellent re- search and writing skills. A good freelance support attorney must further be a good team player and willing to work with the hiring attorney to ad- just hourly rates to ensure the needs of the hiring attorney and the clients for which services are provided are efficiently met.” She goes on to explain that, “An experienced freelance support attorney will also have her own legal research subscription and understand the ethical obligations related to such practice.” Fortunately, with more than a quarter century of legal and freelance support attorney experience, Mrs. Gilbertson not only meets, but exceeds all these criteria. Her background includes extensive experience in, in- ter alia, research and memorandum preparation, document preparation for all phases of litigation (pre-litigation letter writing, pleadings, mo- tion practice, discovery and disclosure, pre-trial documents, and appel- late matters). She also has experience in drafting and reviewing contracts, non-compete and other business agreements, as well as drafting and edit- ing CLE materials. Most recently, Mrs. Gilbertson has begun to expand the appellate aspect of her practice. She explains, “While I enjoy all parts of my practice, one of the areas of law I really relish is appellate work.” Today, she works with attorneys and law firms throughout Arizona and, while she does not represent herself as a licensed attorney outside Arizona and Arkansas, she is frequently called upon to provide freelance legal ser- vices throughout the United States under the guide of ABA Op. 08-451 and all applicable ethical obligations. DEFINING SUCCESS It’s human nature to occasionally pause to take stock of where we are in life. Of course, also because we are human, everyone seems to evaluate themselves and define success in slightly different ways. For Mrs. Gilbertson, who has been married for more than 24 years and successfully raised two daughters and is now a young grandmother, her idea of success is quite specific. “Even though my practice has been quite successful over the years and kept me challenged and excited, what defines success to me is the fact that I have been able to have the best of both worlds,” she says. “I never had to sacrifice time with my family for my career and vice-versa. I had this vi- sion when I first decided this was the niche I was designed for, and to be honest, it’s turned out to be even better than I had hoped.” To learn more about freelance support attorneys and specifically, Mrs. Gilbertson’s practice, check out: https://attorneyatlawmagazine.com/au- thor/kathleen-gilberston. At a Glance B. KATHLEEN GILBERTSON (623) 218-6334 bkgilbertsonpc@cox.net www.researchandlegalwriting.com PRACTICE AREAS Business and Commercial Law: Transactional and Litigation General Tort Litigation Personal Injury Medical Malpractice Product Liability Appellate Practice Ethics Document Drafting & Review General Research EDUCATION Juris Doctor with Honors, University of Arkansas, William H. Bowen School of Law, 1994 Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management with accounting emphasis, Texas A&M University, Summa Cum Laude, 1990 BAR ADMISSIONS Arkansas Arizona Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals HONORS United States Congressional Page American Jurisprudence Award Select Member, William R. Overton American Inns of Court Associate Casenote Editor, UALR Law ReviewW ith teaching documenta- tion classes, the problem is not so much that the re- cords are weak. The problem is that no matter how much you put into a patient’s file, there could always be more. An uncrossed t or an undotted i is enough to raise questions. At the other end of the spectrum is the defense’s expert, the IME doc- tor. With these doctors where their invoice starts at about $2,500 and can go two or three times that amount, the first question is how much financial gain plays into the evaluation. While an attorney can always raise doubt with that question, especially when coupled with AMA Ethics Rules, there are better ways to dis- qualify even the most qualified doc- tor. Having observed about 100 of these “depositions” two things stand out. First, and for the most part, these doc- tors are respectful of and attentive to the patient. I recently reviewed a video of an IME that I had not attended, on a case that was going nowhere. The defense denied liability and even the patient’s injuries. By the time I was brought in the offer was still $0.00. I watched the video and made note of the timing of every questionable test performed in the exam. As is usually the case, there were numerous instances where the examining doctor performed ortho- pedic and neurologic testing incor- rectly. Keep in mind that an opinion based on invalid testing must also be an in- valid opinion. Among other testing, the way that the doctor performed Range of Mo- tion testing would have earned fur- ther instructions on how to properly perform this testing had the doctor been doing the same thing in one of our classes. What was most troubling was the IME doctor’s conclusion that there were no objective findings to justify the treatment or verify the injuries. What made this comment so trou- bling was that in my report I listed seven positive findings that the doc- tor had in his written report. After the IME the offer from the insurance company was ZERO. Af- ter my rebuttal report the offer was $83,000. Another case where I was able to review the IME doctor’s report and the plaintiff attorney’s demand. The demand package was over 150 pages with every neurological test and every specialist pointing to a brain injury. The IME doctor who was a neurology professor at a medical school had a one-line conclusion, “The patient suf- fered a head injury, but did not suffer a brain injury.” On short notice I gave the attorney a list of questions. The day after the deposition he called to thank me as he had never gone into a deposition with so much ammunition and he had never seen an MD so embarrassed in his life. Needless to say, the neurologist gave a poor performance in his depo- sition. He was stumped when it came to answering questions that an attor- ney might not be expected to ask. The subsequent offer was $750,000. Bottom line, if you went to law school you studied law. Unless you are extremely zealous the odds are that you do not know enough medical language to know what to look for in records or what questions to ask doc- tors. An IME is a deposition and send- ing your client to one unaccompa- nied could be malpractice. Likewise, a review of a client’s records by an attorney who has not been trained to diagnose injuries is another reason to check your own malpractice cover- age. BILL GALLAGHER, DC, CMVI | Chiropractor Scottsdale chiropractor, Bill Gallagher has taught personal injury seminars across the United States and in Europe through the American Academy of Motor Vehicle Injuries. He also offers support to attorneys with Phoenix Medi- cal Legal Services and the Concussion Recovery Center. He can be reached at drbillgallagher@yahoo.com or (480) 664-6644. $0 to $83,000 in No Time Flat “ The problem is that no matter how much you put into a patient’s file, there could always be more. An uncrossed t or an undotted i is enough to raise questions.” 19Next >