The Chinese-Filipino Business Club Inc. has planned a very relevant and 21st century-related Life, Skills, and Motivational Seminar (LSMS) for the month of March 2023 that discusses having flexible and convenient job for our dearest CFBCI Scholars. The lecture titled “Digital Nomad as Legal Assistant" is a fantastic method to broaden students' understanding of current remote employment opportunities and help them understand that not everyone will choose you in life after college, therefore failing a few times is okay.
The conference led by Mr. Kent Tyler Castillo – a Digital Nomad and Legal Assistant himself set the ground for the CFBCI Scholars to develop and hone their flexible legal assistant skills. Everyone can aid in legal matters, as Kuya Tyler showed, but keep in mind the first rule: “Never outshine the master." The scholars' current academic route is their “master," and Kuya Tyler emphasized that while it's okay to explore other things, like working as a legal assistant, you should always turn to your master first.
A legal assistant is essentially a legal professional who completes tasks for a lawyer, usually administrative ones. Being a legal assistant, according to Kuya Tyler, is an intriguing job since you may learn about many types of situations. Legal assistants perform administrative tasks like filing, emailing, navigating, making outgoing calls, paying bills, and maintaining records. They also perform secretarial duties like setting up meetings, scheduling them, and taking minutes. Finally, they perform research on the facts of the case, witnesses, solutions, related cases, and other matters.
Kuya Tyler participated in a fun investigative activity called “Who is Liable?" with the “Detective Conan" CFBCI Scholars. The students had the opportunity to guess who was truly at fault in several scenarios after being presented with them. The wise students had pleasure in the activity as they responded to the situations presented with ease and later received awards from Kuya Tyler.
The scholars were asked by Kuya Tyler to explain the distinction between a paralegal and a legal assistant. Legal professionals who support attorneys' work include paralegals and legal assistants; both of these individuals are valuable to a law business. They are not, however, the same. According to Kuya Tyler, legal assistants concentrate on administrative duties. They perform clerical duties for attorneys. Hiring a legal assistant can increase law firm productivity because they work in the back office, where lawyers often spend a lot of their time. Only a certificate, training, or degree will do to become a legal assistant. On the other hand, paralegals carry out important legal work on an attorney's behalf. Although paralegals are not allowed to practice law or give legal advice, they can help lawyers with more specialized legal work. Examples include dealing with clients in the legal profession, creating legal paperwork, conducting interviews, supporting juries, and more. They are the ones who are in the field, to put it more precisely. Higher education and formal training are prerequisites for becoming a paralegal, in addition to certification.
For those who are considering a profession in law, Kuya Tyler also disclosed the typical pay for a legal assistant.
“Always pick the industry you want to work in." As a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science graduate working as a legal assistant, Kuya Tyler asserted that everything will be simple if you genuinely enjoy what you do. if you're satisfied with it.
Since there is still an ample time to have an open forum, scholars asked several questions to Kuya Tyler to which he answered. Kuya Tyler convinced every scholars that being a legal assistant in this modern era is an okay fall back job if you are still on process of aiming your “master" — your preferred and dream job.
The lecture ended with further motivational words from the bosses, giving the students a productive day. The CFBC Chorale held its first practice of the year in order to get ready for their upcoming performance as well as to pave the path for expanding their membership as they also welcomed the new and returning chorale members. Everyone received lunch and snacks, and they all ate their meals before departing the site.
菲華工商總會訊：本會於三月十九日（星期日）上午，假八樓禮堂為「點亮未來」助學方案的受助生，定期舉辦每月的生活、技能和激勵研討會。當天出席的本會領導有：執行副理事長黃書瑋，常務顧問曾煥眉，理事張其安、留牡丹、楊錦程、楊佳玲。出席的學員共八十二名。
本月的主講人是二零一九年畢業於馬尼拉大學（UDM）主修AB政治學系的受助生Kent Tyler Castillo，他現在一家澳大利亞律師事務所擔任法律行政助理。本次講題為：「從事法律助理的數位自由人」。
畢業季即將到來，部份受助生正為投入職場做準備，這次主題內容開拓了學員們對當前尋找就業機會的理解，並讓他們瞭解到並非每個大學畢業生都能順利投入職場，可能會遭遇失敗和挫折，但是不要氣餒，有時拐個彎，機會就在角落裡等著你。
Tyler就自己的職業解釋了「律師助理」和「法律助理」之間的區別。這兩種都是支援律師工作的法律專業人士，對法律業務都是很重要的職務。然而，它們是不一樣的。根據Tyler的說法，法律助理專注於行政職責，他們為律師履行文書職責。聘請法律助理可以提高律師事務所的生產力，他們是負責幕後工作者，幫助律師節省更多時間。只有獲得證書、受過培訓或有學位的人才都能成為法律助理。另一方面，律師助理是代表律師進行重要的法律工作。雖然律師助理不允許從事法律工作或提供法律諮詢，但可以幫助律師進行更專業的法律工作。例如，與法律界的客戶打交道，製作法律文書，進行採訪，支持陪審團等等。相對來說，律師助理必須是專業人士，除了專業認證之外，還需受高等教育和有正規培訓才是成為律師助理的先決條件。
主講人以身為一名從事網上法律行政助理的身份，分享這項網上新興行業的性質，並做出充分介紹。他表示，法律助理本質上是一個法律專業人士，為律師完成行政任務，執行行政任務，如歸檔、發電子郵件、導航、打聯絡電話、支付帳單和收集記錄等。還需履行秘書職責，如組織會議，安排會議，並做會議記錄。最後，對案件的事實、證人、解決方案、相關案件和其他事項進行研究，並歸納存檔。這是一份很有趣的工作，因為你能從中接觸到各式各樣的案件，讓人大開眼界。
接著講員為學員們取名「CFBCI名偵探柯南」，邀請學員們一起參加名為「誰的責任」趣味調查活動。學員們有機會在幾個場景中進行猜測誰是有過錯的一方。聰明的學員們透過提供的種種線索，剝繭抽絲，最終找到正確答案，獲得講員特別準備的獎勵品。
活動結束後，Tyler說到：「一定要選擇你想從事的行業」。作為一名擔任法律助理的政治學學士學位畢業生，Tyler直言，如果你真正喜歡你的工作，再困難的工作也會變得很簡單。因為它是你所喜歡的。
講座結束後仍有充足的時間進行問答環節，學員們向講員提出了幾個問題，都得到詳盡的解答。主講人Tyler對學員們的結語：不管你學的是什麼專業，如果你懂得使用電腦、做事情有規劃、喜歡探索真相，成為一名法律助理會是一個不錯的選擇。最後本會出席領導紛紛上台致詞勉勵，並頒贈感謝狀予主講人。講座會歷時三小時，於中午前圓滿結束。
