- April 19, 2022
- Gulfstream Legal
As a senior account manager in our Records Retrieval services with more than 15 years of tenure at Gulfstream, Valerie Angel has helped hundreds of law firm clients find and manage the records they need to support their cases. We recently chatted with Valerie about her past experiences in the legal industry and at Gulfstream and how they have formed her records retrieval expertise over the years.
Tell us briefly about your background, Valerie.
I started in the legal industry straight out of high school in June of 1989 in the research department of a records retrieval company, so that makes it about 33 years in the industry. I started with Gulfstream in September of 2006, so as of today I’ve been with the team for 15 years and 7 months.
How does your background and experience impact Gulfstream’s records retrieval projects/clients?
After starting in research at my first records retrieval employer, I worked my way up through positions in production, billing, quality manager, office manager and sales. I also helped start up a new court reporting service at a previous employer. Those experiences have helped me understand the importance of communicating the ins and outs of ordering records. I understand the terminology, so it makes my conversations with clients easy. I can put them at ease and feeling confident the records team at Gulfstream is competent to handle their request.
How many records retrieval projects do you think you’ve worked on at Gulfstream?
Thousands of projects with Gulfstream alone!
What are your tips to paralegals to make the records retrieval process faster and/or easier?
My best advice is to make sure you are providing deadlines, full information about the person you are looking to obtain records on, authorizations, and full information on the custodian you need records from.
Why do you think paralegals should choose Gulfstream Legal for help with their records retrieval?
I have worked with several firms in my 30+ years, and by far, Gulfstream is the one firm that I most enjoy working with and bragging about our team! We have experienced employees that we can retain, and you will be working with educated, experienced employees. Most of the Gulfstream employees have worked here for 10+ years.
Our managers are proactive on each records request. They let you know up front what is needed from custodians ahead of time. We still issue the request, but this helps our client start working on what they need. Because of this, we consistently provide records in a 23-day turnaround time. Also, Gulfstream rates are straight forward with no hidden fees.
Tell us a little about your family and what you like to do in your free time.
I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. I have three wonderful daughters: Kriselyn, Sunny and Jordan. Two have graduated college and are currently working in the legal field and one is a senior in college.
In my free time, I like spending time with my family and friends, going to wineries, spending time at my property in Fredericksburg, Texas, and doing just about anything that involves outdoor music.