Paralegal Profile: Jennifer Guppy, Special Investigation Unit Director

Job Title: Senior Paralegal / Director, Special Investigation Unit

Employer: RLI Corp., Peoria, Illinois

Years of Paralegal Experience: 15

Education/Degrees: Associate in Paralegal Studies, Bachelors of Arts, Masters in Legal Studies

Specialty Areas: Insurance Regulatory, Insurance Fraud Investigations

Career Highlight: Uncovering a major insurance premium fraud scheme that affected numerous companies and now has the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspector involved. It was shortly after I was named Director of the Special Investigation Unit and made me realize just how important this role is to my company.

Paralegal Practice Tip: Take a step back and breathe. Don’t send that email. Wait a day and see if you feel the same way.

Favorite Internet Resource: It sounds simple, but I love Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/). When I conduct insurance fraud investigations, this resource is invaluable when I am trying to locate “impartial” witnesses and their proximity to claimants as well as auto repair shops, medical providers and so on.

Favorite Legal Software: Workshare (http://www.workshare.com/). It is document comparison software and helps avoid metadata issues.

Do you use social media resources, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or blogs, for career and/or case development?
I use any social media although Facebook and YouTube are my favorites for investigations. When conducting insurance fraud investigations, I LOVE looking at these sources because people put so much information out there and don’t realize who is looking at it and how it can affect their claims.

Fun Fact: I have 51 first cousins and grew up in the same neighborhood as most of them. And we still all get together twice a year.

One Gadget You Can’t Live Without: My Sync in my Ford Escape. Hands free everything! How did I ever drive without this?

Favorite Quote: “If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.” Jimmy Buffett

Professional Links: http://www.rlicorp.com/
__________________
Jennifer sent me a nice email when my daughter was hospitalized. She made my day, because I love hearing from readers. When I asked her if she'd be willing to do a profile, she said she wasn't that exciting, but I think the kind of work she does sounds extremely interesting. She sounds like a resourceful and thorough paralegal detective.