Legal team's work ever-changing

For two members of Cannon Air Force Base’s legal group, the vast quantity of information flowing through their days is both the best and worst part of the job.

Chief of Operations Law Capt. Aaron Kirk and civil law paralegal Staff Sgt. Fabiola Brown work with a wide variety of legal issues brought to the Judge Advocate General Corps.

“The ever-changing nature of the job — it is wonderful and it is stressful,” Kirk, an attorney, said.

With new issues coming up every day, he said, a lawyer becomes “the proverbial jack of all trades.” While they may get gray hair, the attorneys, or JAGs, know the base inside out, and the breadth of experience develops valuable skills, Kirk said.

Brown said civil law is different every day.

“No amount of research can really give you an answer at something so new,” she said.

Still, she likes getting the experience from attorneys and other paralegals, whether they’re right out of school or seasoned.

Brown’s job involves doing legal research for lawyers, checking bylaws of private organizations forming on base, making sure discharges are in order and more. She said paralegals produce much of the finished work and then attorneys tweak it and concur.

The only things attorneys can do and paralegals can’t are giving legal advice and trying court martials.

Brown said attorneys provide legal information in cases and paralegals add experiential knowledge. They are “each other’s lifeline,” she said.

Air Force paralegals come much closer to practicing law than their civilian counterparts, Kirk said.

The JAG said he has a diverse practice including reviewing base contracts, giving legal advice to airmen on subjects such as divorce, wills and deployment-related issues, and gathering information for court martial trials. Preparing for trials involves getting information from places that have it already.

“We’re not out there taking finger prints or anything you might have seen on the “JAG” TV show,” Kirk said.

JAGs act as the prosecuting attorney in court martials, with lawyers from a separate office defending.

Kirk has served as chief of operations law for a month. He graduated from law school in May 2008, already practicing with a plaintiffs lawyer, and received his commission in 2009.

Kirk’s path to practicing law began when he took an interest in how law affects society as an undergraduate student in economics. After law school, the desire to serve his country and the ability to practice law right away helped attract him to the Air Force again.

Brown, who’s served as a paralegal for a little more than two years, became interested in the work while serving in financial management before she came to Cannon. A paralegal would come into Brown’s office with a lot of paperwork and the look of someone under stress, and Brown asked about her work.

Brown liked how the paralegal knew the happenings on base and admired her professionalism and close relationship with first sergeants and commanders. She cross trained to take on the job herself.

Brown said she finds it fascinating that legal personnel can advise a commander and then take the other side to let an airman in trouble know what to do.

“So not only are we prosecuting these cases, but we’re also protecting our people,” she said.

Kirk said the JAG Corps keeps things going.

“We keep everybody on the up and up,” he said. “We keep it functioning well by getting rid of the bad apples.”