MELISSA A. COLE

ad2mv5@r.postjobfree.com

910-***-**** (Home)

910-***-**** (Mobile)

WORK HISTORY

September 2010 to Present: Law Offices of Wade E. Byrd, P.A., Fayetteville, North Carolina: Litigation Paralegal, specializing in medical malpractice litigation. In addition to collecting, organizing, and summarizing voluminous medical records, as well as testimony and documents produced through the discovery process, I manage the intake of potential new cases, including securing medical records, investigating the viability of potential claims, attempting to locate experts and documenting contacts and closure of inquiries.

September 2008 to September 2010: MacRae, Perry & MacRae, Fayetteville, North Carolina: Paralegal specializing in workers compensation, personal injury claims and litigation; increased closure rate 50%.

September 2006 to September 2008: Richardson & Brittain, Fayetteville, North Carolina: Paralegal, Litigation Support (Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice) for various serious personal injury and wrongful death matters, including digesting and summarizing medical records, litigation case management and trial support.

May 2004 to September 2006: Wharton Aldhizer & Weaver, Harrisonburg, Virginia: Paralegal, Litigation Support (Personal Injury, Employer-Defense, and Workers Compensation) including Federal and multiple state courts.

May 2000 to May 2004: Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen, Richmond, Virginia: Paralegal, Litigation Support (Medical Malpractice) including summarizing medical records, scheduling physician conferences and testimony, summarizing depositions, drafting pleadings and answers to interrogatories, client contact.

September 1999 to May 2000: Joel Bieber Law Firm, Richmond, Virginia: Paralegal, Litigation Support (Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice); the only paralegal on staff with training in anatomy and medical terminology, I evaluated personal injury, wrongful death and medical malpractice intakes, in addition to providing litigation support including pleadings preparation, document management and client support.

January 1990 to September 1999: Glasser & Glasser, PLC, Norfolk, Virginia: Paralegal, Litigation Support (Personal Injury, Toxic Torts); with over 2,000 clients, I summarized medical records, evaluated cases, assisted in negotiations, and prepared correspondence and pleadings; I assisted in facilitating resolution of over 800 asbestos injury/death claims against Johns-Manville Corporation.

CLERICAL SKILLS

Type (Word Process) 140 wpm; familiarity with various legal database software (Practice Master, Needles, DataPerfect, Advanced Revelation, ProLaw, Case Notebook; Excel and PowerPoint); and various office equipment (copiers, scanners, fax machines, postage meters)

EDUCATION

Graduated from Hope Mills High School in 1971; attended Fayetteville Community Technical College from 1971 to 1972; attended University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1974 to 1975; attended Baylor University from 1988-1989; have taken various paralegal CLE courses in Virginia; and am a North Carolina Notary Public.