Are You an Outlaw? Meet Camille Stell

Who has redefined what it means to think outside the law (aka OUTLAW) and is helping each of us in the process?

Meet Camille Stell, the Vice President of Client Services at Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of N.C., an insurance company that provides coverage to more than 7500 lawyers throughout the North Carolina. Camille has thirty years of experience in the legal industry including law firm experience as a paralegal and as a recruiting and marketing professional. We asked her a few questions and her answers can be found below. Enjoy getting to know this Outlaw!

Q: What got you into working in the legal industry?
A: My interest in law started as an interest in politics. Watergate unfolded while I was in school and there were lots of lawyers involved. When I headed to college, I knew I would major in political science, but wasn’t sure what my career would be. I went to Meredith College, and decided to attend the Meredith Paralegal Program. Once I started working, I began to see so many difference career paths in the law. I’ve been a litigation paralegal, risk management paralegal, government relations paralegal, paralegal instructor, recruiter, business developer, legal writer and editor and now serve as Vice President of Client Services for a professional liability insurance company.

Q: What is your current state of mind?
A: Efficient. I am working with an organizational coach to better manage my work life. I’m very excited about the prospect of getting my email in-box in shape and becoming a more effective delegator. Also, I am often the bottleneck on the projects my team is handling. The “new” me is going to better prioritize time and keep work flowing. I’m documenting my progress on the Lawyers Mutual blog, A Byte of Prevention – read about my evolution.

Q: Your favorite virtue?
A: Hard work. I always say I may not be the smartest person in the room, but you’ll have a hard time outworking me.

Q: Who are your favorite authors and/or favorite books?
A: A Prayer for Own Meany by John Irving is my favorite novel. Everything Pat Conroy has written from book to memoir to cookbook is my favorite. Anne Lamott (author of fiction and non-fiction) and Nora Ephron (journalist, playwright, screenwriter and author) are my favorite authors of essays. I also read lots of business and self-help books, as well as biographies. My only New Year’s resolution for 2016 was to read 52 books. I’m using the mobile app Goodreads to monitor my reading challenge. I’m on track with 25 books completed at week 28 of the year.

Q: What would you consider your greatest professional achievement?
A: This year I was honored by the Triangle Business Journal with a Women in Business award. It’s not the fact that it was an award that I’m proud of – it’s the category in which I was nominated – mentoring. To know that my peers, people I admire and respect, spent time writing nominations to describe the impact of my mentoring, was humbling and greatly rewarding. To top it off, I was able to include my mom, my sister and my niece at the event. It was a very special occasion.