Student Experience: S. Kristine Farmer

“I’m really a product of Dallas College — I started college at Richland when I was right out of high school. I went there for my first two years before I transferred to UNT to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in labor employment management. When I first transferred, I was an accounting major, but I began working as a legal assistant for an attorney while I was attending UNT and after six months changed my major to labor employment management so I could know more about the specialty area where I worked. 

“My dad was a collective bargaining representative for a labor union and I always heard about labor issues around the house. Then I became interested in the legal side of labor — and once the legal research and writing were added in, I was hooked. 

“I have an innate passion for the law, especially labor law. I also really enjoy writing — both the factual and legal research. I was working as a paralegal — first part-time and then full-time — and I entered the Paralegal Studies program at El Centro to learn more about being a paralegal professional. I already had a bachelor’s degree, so I wasn’t looking for another degree — I just wanted the knowledge.

“My paralegal classes really gave me the fundamental foundation of what it means to be a paralegal. I had always been the only paralegal in a small law firm and I got a much better understanding of how paralegals are utilized in much larger firms. I got a lot of practical information, particularly in legal research and writing, on how to write persuasively. The overall quality of instruction was really just exceptional. 

“I now teach the Introduction to Paralegal Studies course at El Centro as an adjunct instructor, a course that I took under my favorite professor, Dudley Knox. So now I tell my classes, ‘I’ve been in your chair — both literally and figuratively.’” 

An employment litigation case manager for Fish and Richardson, PC, Kristine Farmer took most of the courses in El Centro’s Paralegal program for her own educational benefit. An adjunct faculty member for the program, she is also a board-certified paralegal in civil trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

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