When Julie was 19 years old and was looking for a job, she came to my office and asked me how she could go about finding a job she would enjoy. Julie was the Bountiful High School Sterling Scholar in Business and had been attending BYU. We both knew she could be an excellent secretary if someone would hire her. I asked her where she would like to work and who she would like to work for. She told me, so I told her that she should start there. Go ask people in that office if there were any openings and that she wanted a job. She did. And lo and behold, Stan Neeleman, a well-respected, senior attorney hired her and said he would hold the job open until she was available. A true miracle. Mr. Neeleman taught her everything she needed to know, she was a quick study and a valuable employee until she moved to Virginia. Julie, Stan and Melissa later moved to San Antonio, Texas.
In 1991, Julie moved back to Utah and needed a job. By this time Doug Parry had started his own law firm with Kevin Murray so we hired her. She worked part time. Julie worked for various other firms over the years. But she has worked for Kevin R. Murray for 27 years, moving with him from law firm to law firm getting good raises along the way.
I don't know how she has done it, but she has always had her Fridays off so she could spend more time with her children - even after her children were raised and out of the home.
So much has changed from the time she first started and definitely from the time I worked as a legal secretary and as an office manager. Certainly technology has changed and the attorneys have changed. When I started I used my shorthand all the time, then we moved to dictation equipment, then we did a lot of revisions when the attorneys would draft their own briefs on computer. Now the attorneys are so adept at computers, they do it all themselves. I had a tremendous amount of client contact and was deeply involved in every case, learning something new every day. It was interesting, challenging and exciting. All that has changed. Julie is truly bored and does not feel fulfilled. It is a blessing that she can now retire.
She now leaves Holland & Hart with its amazing views and modern offices.
I know she loves Salt Lake City as much as I do and will miss being downtown, but she has great plans for the future. She has been approved by the Davis County School District to be a substitute teacher, she will have time to do her cycling, etc., but most of all she is looking forward to spending time with her eleven adorable grandchildren, perhaps even helping in their schools.
