Sheila Lazzara founded the firm in 1995 and has seen her organization grow to 50 employees. The firm offers customized, record retrieval throughout the United States, online ordering and tracking, secure retention of documents, and a state-of-the-art calendaring system designed by Written Deposition Service to ensure all deadlines are met.
One of her major advantages is her years of experience as a paralegal ordering records and subsequently working in a company similar to her present firm.
“What attracted me to form my own firm was the realization that I could do this job faster, more efficiently and better than other companies in the business,” she says. Her firm makes a priority of meeting or beating deadlines with depositions, mediations, trials and other legal matters.
Lazzara says she is not a micro-manager. “My company offers a comprehensive training program that enables the employees to become fully competent in the legal process and details involved in obtaining the records in this very complex industry. I have a great management team; all of my managers are women and they are a huge support to me. They all have the same philosophy I have. We all work very hard. We understand the sense of urgency in this business,” she says.
Electronics, computerization and the internet have and will continue to make dramatic changes in the legal industry. Lazzara says, “I think there will be a lot of changes. I believe that everybody in this profession will be paperless within the next ten years. You still have attorneys who want paper records, but I think that within the next 10 years paper is not going to exist. It’s coming faster than I ever anticipated.”
Every record obtained by Written Deposition Service is placed online. Everything is paperless. The firm does provide paper documentation to those clients who require that service. “Basically, we cater our service to meet the individual needs of each and every client,” Lazzara says. “We have an extremely knowledgeable staff. I and another former paralegal market our service; but we also believe that our service speaks for itself. We care about what we do. We’re not out there just trying to raise our numbers. We’re out there to get the records the clients need in a timely manner.”
Lazzara and her husband have been married for 29 years and are partners in this business. Her husband handles the information technology side of the business. They have a daughter age 24 and a son age 22. “The business was formed in April 1995 and I had my son May 17. He came to work with me two weeks later and has been with the business ever since.”
In her limited spare time Lazzara maintains an active lifestyle. “I love to work out. Staying active is very important to me. It keeps me mentally sane by working out and keeping fit. Mentally it helps me focus and to have a clearer mind,” she says.
That clearer mind is put to good use serving a variety of clients and facing an ongoing series of business challenges. Through it all, she finds her work and her growing business an equally ongoing source of personal and professional satisfaction.
“I love working with the clients and obtaining the records for their cases. I have always said that the records we obtain make or break their case! I love to come to work every day and I love what I do!”
