Chapter 10

 Susan M. Custer
Commercial Real Estate Paralegal
Glast, Phillips & Murray, PC
2200 One Galleria Tower
13355 Noel Road, L.B. 48
Dallas, Texas 75240-1518
PH:   972.419.8300

I started working in the legal profession when I was nineteen years old. I had just gotten married with a baby on the way. My mother-in-law was a legal secretary working for a circuit judge in Dallas. She took me to work with her one morning, showed me how to use a Dictaphone and type pleadings, then that afternoon she took me to my first job interview, where I was hired to work as a receptionist for a legal placement agency.

"After my daughter was born, I worked as a legal secretary for about seven years, then my primary attorney, who specialized in commercial real estate, decided to go out on his own and asked if I would go with him. He offered to send me to paralegal school if I accepted. I did! We eventually joined a downtown firm and practiced there for about thirteen years. During that time, I was exposed to many different practice areas: bankruptcy, intellectual property, business and corporate law, all the while keeping up with real estate. This diversity kept me employed during a time when real estate was slow, and most real estate paralegals were, out of necessity, changing practice areas.

"We joined my current firm, Glast, Phillips & Murray, P.C., in July of 2000, where I am working in the real estate section. Although there were many people who trained me and showed me the ropes, my mother-in-law never lets me forget that she's the one who got me started!"

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS

I served on the Dallas Area Paralegal Association ("DAPA") Board of Directors for six years, during which time we:

• Hosted DAPA's Annual Holiday Luncheon acknowledging our scholarship recipients and their schools, presenting an award to DAPA's Paralegal of the Year, and raising between $2000 to $3000 for charity on raffle ticket sales for door prizes donated by our local vendors
  
  
• Awarded annual scholarships to students in paralegal programs
  
  
• Represented DAPA at annual NFPA conventions and state paralegal conventions
  
  
• Offered continuing education through section meetings for corporate, real estate, litigation, and other section members of DAPA as well as through seminars
  
  
• Conducted salary surveys and published same for DAPA members Published a monthly newsletter and an annual membership directory
  
  
• Maintained a job bank for DAPA members If you are familiar with DAPA, you know that this is hardly a comprehensive list of accomplishments.

This was a fabulous experience for me, and I was able to meet and work with a lot of terrific paralegals! DAPA President 1999 President-Elect 1998-1999 Programs Vice President 1996-1998 Director at Large 1994-1996 Scholarship Committee Chairman 1993 El Centro Paralegal Committee 1998-1999 Southeastern Paralegal Institute Committee 1998-1999