Legal Grounds | Shelly A. Walker on Listening as Collaboration, the Power of Being Present, & the Importance of Intentionality on Both Sides of Mentorship

2025-03-26

It's no secret in the legal community that a seasoned paralegal can outmatch most first-year lawyers.And probably second-year.And sometimes even... well, you get the point. Climbing the career ladder is far from uncommon in the Legal Profession, and when I think back on it, nearly every paralegal we've hired has had some prior job that was at least somewhat legally-adjacent. But what IS rare is for someone to do it all in one place. And when it does happen, you're almost certain to find that me...

It's no secret in the legal community that a seasoned paralegal can outmatch most first-year lawyers.

And probably second-year.

And sometimes even... well, you get the point.

Climbing the career ladder is far from uncommon in the Legal Profession, and when I think back on it, nearly every paralegal we've hired has had some prior job that was at least somewhat legally-adjacent.

But what IS rare is for someone to do it all in one place.

And when it does happen, you're almost certain to find that mentorship played the deciding factor.

My guest this week is Shelly A. Walker, Director of Legal Administration at Posinelli.

Prior to joining the management team, Shelly was a paralegal who specialized in Products Liability and Toxic Torts, but her journey began as docket-clerk who - as she puts it - found the right mentor at the right time.

This is most certainly a conversation for the Leaders listening in this week, and my hope is that Shelly’s story can serve as a reminder why making the time to teach others is a heck of a way to learn about ourselves.

Enjoy the show.

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