Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Tyson.
Hi Annie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Believe it or not, I didn’t start out in the legal field. I was an Air Force Crew Chief, born and raised in California. I worked as a lead jet mechanic on the F-16 and the F-15. While I was stationed in Idaho, I met a man who would be my 2nd husband. While we were moving in together he was telling me about how he missed his kids and couldn’t see them. So, I asked him what his divorce decree said (I had been divorce prior to meeting him), and it turns out he didn’t have one. He was still married. The process hadn’t been started yet, but they had been separated for years and the children lived with their mom, who basically told him he had no rights. Long story short, the kids were in an awful environment and CPS was involved. The children were removed from the home and we didn’t have money for a lawyer. We were able to get help from a local lawyer who hired me after my active duty shifts to learn how to be a paralegal. Then I decided to use my GI Bill to go to school and get a degree. After I separated from the Air Force, we moved to Texas because it had the best employment rate (this was 2011 after the crash). We got custody of the kids and I’ve been a paralegal ever since.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was tough. I had been an aircraft mechanic and I swore, dressed and drank like one. My professional image was nonexistent and it took a long time to get a job. Especially as someone recently separated in career field that I had very little experience in, and that experience was in a different State. It was also a challenge because I was pregnant halfway through my degree program and we had basically inherited all three of my husband’s children in one day. So, I was pregnant, going to school, working after my active duty shift and trying to raise three young children under ten all at once. Then we moved and it was basically starting over from scratch. I went on interviews but everyone wanted more experience and I was terrible at interviewing. Absolutely horrendous. I asked a business owner who was nice enough to tell me what I could improve. My husband was working for a little bit and we only had one car (an old Chevy Suburban with no AC), and a baby. It was really difficult. Really tough.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Freelance Annie Paralegal Services is more than just a drafting service. Not only do we offer drafting services for things like orders, pleadings and briefs, we also offer training for paralegals in law firms, online tool creation (like our deadline calculator), discovery packages for a flat rate fee and trial services. Freelance Annie is 100% virtual, and basically operated by email. With 17 years of experience there isn’t any hand holding or novice mistakes. What makes us proud and set us apart is that we don’t do boilerplate, especially when it comes to discovery, and we don’t gatekeep. All of the tips and trick we learned over the years, we share with other paralegals in our training programs, we program tools and tailor them to attorney preferences, one of which is free to all Texas legal professionals, and we have unique woodshedding sessions for trial preparation. We love drafting, we love protecting bar cards and we love the new technology coming out in the legal field.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I do! In fact, I wrote a book to help new paralegals get into the legal field without experience. It’s a great guide and resource for interested professionals. There are several actual links to general resources that can help new people get into the legal field. It also focuses on soft skills, networking and leveraging social media platforms. It’s entitled, “Breaking Into the Legal Field: For Paralegals with Education but No Experience” and it’s available on Amazon.
Pricing:
- Drafting is $85.00 per hour
- Discovery is a flat rate at $850.00 for responses.
- Discovery is a flat rate at $250 for requests.
- Trial prep and woodshedding are negotiable
- Firm Training is 4 hours at $1,000.00 flat
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.freelanceannieparalegal.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-geyer-5aa528281/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@paralegalannierideordie
