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Of course...

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:40 am
by skb12172
it's a woman professor. Of course it's fucking Family Law Practice and Procedure. Of course it is...

Some of your assignments in this class, you will prepare within groups. More law offices
are having paralegals work on “projects” or
assignments within groups or “teams”.
Often, these teams consist of attorneys, paralegals, law clerks, and legal secretaries.
Sometimes the teams have “sub-teams” that consist of several paralegals (particularly in
preparation for litigation). In any event, no matter how these “teams” are set up, the
one thing to remember is that the “team” approach to working is probably going to be
around for a long time.
Japanese corporations first popularized the “project teams” approach as part of what is
called TQM, or Total Quality Management. American
businesses soon began to realize
that the TQM concept was increasingly putting the Japanese companies at the forefront
of the business world, and many decided to implement their own TQM programs.
Eventually, law firms also began to use TQM. Without going into a lengthy discussion of
TQM, briefly TQM is a management philosophy that requires that the company be
focused on the needs of the
client, as opposed to the needs of the business or its
employees. Basic to the TQM philosophy is the importance of delivering
quality services to meet the client’s needs. You might think of it
as a contemporary expansion of the
traditional “the customer is always right” and “if
it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right”
ideas. But, TQM also means that every
person in the organization must be concerned
with the needs of the client, from the file clerks
to the senior partners in a law firm.
And, that using the “project teams” approach is an
efficient and productive way of
providing the best quality services to clients.
In this class, I will assign you to a team.
The team will receive one grade for the
assignment.
For some assignments, I will also select a Team Leader for each team. For
other assignments, I will have the team members elect a Team Leader. The Team
Leader will be responsible for: allocating the various parts of the assignment to each
member of the team; scheduling team meetings; ensuring that each member completes
his/her part of the assignment; keeping a list of the names, email addresses and phone
numbers of all team members; assisting team members
with any problems they may
encounter involving completing the assignment and/or with individual team members
completing their parts of the assignment; and ensuring that the assignment is correct,
accurate and completed prior to the due date. A student may only be a Team Leader
once during the semester, in this class.

If a Team Leader encounters a team member who is causing problems by, for example,
failing to attend team meetings, failing to produce
his/her portion of the assignment
when requested by the Team Leader, or failing to make changes, amendments,
corrections, etc., as requested by the Team Leader,
to his/her portion of the
assignment, then the Team Leader may do the following:
1. First, make every effort to contact the student and
work out the problem. If
this cannot be accomplished then,
2. Call or email me, at my office, and explain the situation and your efforts to
resolve the problem. I will then determine if you
need to make further efforts,
or if all avenues have been explored. If I determine that you have made
sufficient attempts to rectify the situation and the problem still has not been
resolved, then I will inform you that you are to contact the student
immediately, and inform him/her that he/she is no longer a member of the
team, and that he/she will be
responsible for completing the entire
assignment on his/her own, within the remaining time left before the
assignment is due. However, you must contact the student
no later than 48
hours before the assignment is due.
In conclusion, remember that teamwork can be
challenging, but it can also be very
rewarding. Say to yourself, “I’m going to do
quality work”, not simply “I’m going to do
the best I can”. Think “us”, not “me”. And, even
though you may not be the Team
Leader in a particular group, if you are aware that
some part of the assignment could be
better, THEN TELL THE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS!
Remember, that each member of the
team is responsible for the final product. So, ask
to read each member’s part of the
assignment, and do so with a critical eye! Finally,
HAVE FUN! Take time to know each
member of your team. You have a great opportunity
to develop life-long friendships!

I thought this was the study of law. Apparently, I took a wrong turn and ended up back in junior high school.

Re: Of course...

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:48 am
by Vonz90
It could be worse, the business degree program my wife was in carried the same team from class to class, so they had to vary the same dead wood through the whole program. So I ended up doing some loser's work through a bunch of classes.... still pisses me off to this day.

Re: Of course...

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:31 am
by skb12172
Oy Vey...
Yay Socialism!

Re: Of course...

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:50 am
by Netpackrat
That's a blast of management bullshit from the past... TQM was falling out of vogue even when I was working on my business degree back in the 90s.

Re: Of course...

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:15 pm
by BDK
??? Since when does a law class grade not depend completely on your final? How would she maintain blind grading? Lawyers are not supposed to be co-operative. Engineers, and researchers are to be co-operative, human beings. Lawyers are to be amoral trousered wolves, working together only under duress, and willing to tear the guts out of the weak. (I know, not really, but there needs to be a phase of bloodlust, instilled in law school, to call upon, when needed.)

Re: Of course...

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:15 pm
by blackeagle603
Turns it from a subject matter class into a Leadership & Management exercise.

Re: Of course...

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:33 pm
by Netpackrat
Vonz90 wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:48 am It could be worse, the business degree program my wife was in carried the same team from class to class, so they had to vary the same dead wood through the whole program. So I ended up doing some loser's work through a bunch of classes.... still pisses me off to this day.
Should have done what my buddy did... He married a lady from Russia, who had a bachelor's degree earned in Russia that proved to be not very useful in terms of securing better employment in the US. The solution was for her to earn a master's degree so she would have something from a US institution. My friend was at the time a successful software developer with two bachelor's degrees, and he didn't really need another degree, but his wife ran into a similar situation with her degree program where she would be with the same group of people on projects throughout the whole program. He reasoned that since he was going to be doing the work anyway to make up for the deadwood, that he might as well enroll in the program at the same time, so that he would at least earn the same degree for his trouble, and guarantee that at least one member of her group would be solid.

In the end it didn't turn out well for him though, because once she was able to get a higher level job using her new degree, she was able to present him with the ultimatum of either moving to PA with her (from AK) when she found a job there, or getting divorced. He moved. :x

Re: Of course...

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:36 am
by randy
Netpackrat wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:50 am That's a blast of management bullshit from the past... TQM was falling out of vogue even when I was working on my business degree back in the 90s.
The USAF went down this road under the "leadership" of AF Chief of Staff Merrill [SPIT] McPeak.

Spend a lot of wasted hours focusing learning and documenting "quality" that could of been used in actually producing a quality product (in my case weaponeering and intel data to help the shooters kill more enemies more effectively).

It quickly became universally known as "To Quote McPeak". It was shortly officially changed to Air Force Quality Management or AQM. Known to the troops as "Assholes Quoting McPeak"
blackeagle603 wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:15 pm Turns it from a subject matter class into a Leadership & Management exercise.
Only without the leadership and very little (as in micro) management.

Re: Of course...

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 3:52 am
by skb12172
Yeah, this bitch is a micromanager. It's already obvious. I'll just play the game, get my A, and move on. I have no interest in Family Law, anyway.

Re: Of course...

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:03 am
by randy
Those that can, lead.

Those that can't, manage.

Those that can't do either, micromanage.