Introduction

Hey, everybody! My name is Kate Stuart. I’m going to be taking over the HPA blog, and I thought I would start off with an introduction before we jump into the interesting stuff. I got my B.A. in English from UMKC in 2004, and I graduated from JCCC’s Paralegal Program in 2012. For about 12 years, I was self-employed, but with the 2008 downturn in the economy, I found myself in dire need of a career change. And the thing is, I had been trying to change careers for years by that point. The list of careers I had contemplated and discarded is endless. But now it was crunch time and I really needed to decide. I’m in my car one sunny afternoon, and it comes to me, out of the blue, I should be a paralegal.

Finally! A career choice I could get behind. I was so excited. I did some research and in the fall of 2010, I entered JCCC’s Paralegal Program. About a month later, I had a job at the Hollis Law Firm in Prairie Village working on medical products liability claims. In the summer of 2011, I was offered a job at Horn Aylward and Bandy (HAB) and I have been there ever since.
HAB is a civil litigation firm mainly focusing on medical malpractice defense work. My team however works in class action and complex litigation. We also have a strong construction law team. Most of my posts will be about civil litigation paralegals and tips and tricks for the work we do, but if there’s a particular topic you would like me to discussed, let me know and I will do my best to accommodate.
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I’m excited to be here and I look forward to any feedback you care to send my way.