From the President
Finding a New Career is a book that will be published by
Ferguson Publishers, a 70-year-old New York-based publisher well
known for its books in career education.
If you are a member who changed careers to become a legal secretary
and is currently employed as such, the publisher would love
to speak to you. To assist in creating gender and geographic balance
in the book, the publisher would prefer a male candidate
from the Midwest or Southwest, if possible, but this is
not an ironclad requirement.
The interview would be conducted by email and will consist of the
interviewee’s answers to these four questions:
- What were you doing before you decided to change careers?
- Why did you change your career?
- How did you make the transition?
- What are the keys to success in your career?
There is a suggested 300-400 total word limit for the answers to
the questions. The interviewee will receive the edited version of
the interview and have an opportunity to make any additions or corrections
as necessary.
This section of the book will give publicity to NALS and offer an
opportunity to recognize one of NALS members who changed careers
and is currently employed as a legal secretary. The individual will
be named in the book, his or her general job title and home base
will be mentioned, and NALS will be recognized in the acknowledgments.
Please reply to this E-News posting by emailing Jay Moore at moore@nals.org.
NALS Education Conference & National Forum - Irvine, California
Let's give something back to the community! NALS members give something
back to the community in which our annual conference is held each year. As
we travel to Irvine, California for the 58th NALS Annual Conference, we'll
help Knots-of-Love. Knots-of-Love is dedicated to creating
hand-made knitted and knotted (crocheted) caps for people in need of some kindness
and love. All Knots-of-Love creations are given free of charge to people
who are battling cancer or other life threatening illnesses or injuries.
If you can knit or crochet, we need your help! Patterns
for these caps can be found at http://www.knots-of-love.org. There
are a variety of caps you can create, including caps for babies. Please
note that only certain types of yarn are accepted (Caron
Simply Soft, Lion Cotton Ease, Naturally Caron Spa, Knit
Picks Crayon Boucle, Plymouth Jeannee, TLC Baby Amore, TLC
Cotton Plus, Red Heart Carefree Cotton). The caps must be
new, must be hand made with love (which is a given if they come from NALS members),
must be washable, and no wool or wool blend yarns. Please attach one
of these forms to your cap(s) so they know what type of yarn was used: http://www.ondemandwebsite.com/myadmin/webpage/u/302_form_for_chemo_cap_donations.doc.
If you can't knit or crochet we still need your help! You
can donate yarn (see list above) for knitters to use. Should you wish
to make a monetary donation, make your check payable to Knots-of-Love.
Get out those knitting needles and crochet hooks and put them to good use and
make a few caps for Knots-of-Love. You can bring your donations to Irvine
or you can ship your donations to the NALS Resource Center by September 1 and
NALS will take your donations to Irvine.
back to the top
Certification
Certification’s colors are bright and beautiful like the rainbow
of persons who reach for these credentials. Since we’re
a colorful lot, NALS has designed a certification “color” to
fit everyone’s needs. Pick one that’s right for you. Whether
it’s the ALS, PLS, or PP, you’ll be the miracle of a rainbow
with certification behind you.
back to the top
Text
Development
Trying to think of a good gift for a very special coworker? Why
not get him or her their own copy of Basic Manual for the Lawyer's
Assistant or Advanced Manual for the Lawyer's Assistant? Basic is
a great reference for any legal support professional just starting
out in the profession. Advanced offers information and
perspectives on a broad variety of legal practice for more seasoned
legal support staff. Not only that, it's a great beginning on
a library that can help them attain their ALS, PLS, or PP certification. Here's
how to order them:
Contact West Publishing, 1-800-328-9352 or www.west.thomson.com
Basic Manual for the Lawyer’s Assistant, 9th Ed.
ISBN-13:9780314966476
When ordering, use title: “NALS Basic Manual for the Lawyer’s
Assistant”
Advanced Manual for the Lawyer’s Assistant, 9th Ed.
ISBN-13: 9780314975058
When ordering, use title “NALS Advanced Manual for the Lawyer’s
Assistant”
back to the top
Marketing
You asked for, you got it! Students enrolled in legal secretarial
programs and legal assistant/paralegal programs are just waiting for
our chapters and states to get them involved with NALS. On the "leadership" page
of the NALS website, you'll find a new marketing presentation as well
as the student presentation, both in PowerPoint. You'll also
find a list of schools in your area and the programs they offer. The
Marketing Commitee has provided all the tools you need to contact schools
in your area and make presentations to students and instructors. The
only thing missing is you!
back to the top
Regulation/Certification
Please let the Certification/Regulation committee know if you are
serving on your state bar association’s Paralegal Committee or
if your state has a membership for Paralegals, let us know that as
well. The Cert/Reg committee would love to get updates from those that
are either on a committee or a paralegal member of the state bars.
We will share whatever information you have on regulation/certification
updates with the rest of the committee and membership in NALS.
back to the top
Strategic
Planning
Environmental Scan #2 is now available. Please take a few minutes
and complete the survey. The information assists the NALS Strategic
Planning Committee in planning for the future.
A recap of the first Scan results is now available at http://www.nals.org/scan/SurveyResults.html. The
link appears on the sidebar on the main survey page.
And now a word about Focus Groups. Per Wikipedia, "a focus
group is a form of qualitative
research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude
towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions
are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are
free to talk with other group members."
NALS will hold two focus group sessions at the Annual Educational
Conference and National Forum in Irvine, California this October. Here
are this year's topics:
1. The Economy, the Changing Law Firm Environment, and
the Role of the Modern Legal Professional
Saturday, October 10, 2009, 10:30 am – 12 noon
The economic downturn has taken a huge toll throughout the country
contributing to a changing law firm environment. All who are
part of the legal industry are increasingly being asked to do more
with less. As small, medium, and large law firms throughout the
country are re-evaluating every nook and cranny of their firms in terms
of “value,” what is the role of the modern legal professional? What
changes are being made and how are legal professionals adapting to
increased expectations? What does the law firm of the future
look like?
2. The Lean, Mean, “Green” Machine
Saturday, October 10, 2009, 2:00-3:15 pm
Environmentalism has been around since before the Industrial Revolution. Even
Benjamin Franklin petitioned the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1739 to stop
waste dumping and remove tanneries from Philadelphia, PA. Though
the proponents of the environmental movement have often been viewed
as fanatics, “going green” has now become a fashionable
lifestyle choice which is gaining in popularity. What are you
doing or being asked to do to be more environmentally friendly? What
are modern law firms doing to go “green”?
States and chapters are encouraged to conduct focus group sessions on these
topics in their area. For more information, please email NALS President-Elect
Patricia E. Infanti, PP, PLS, at infanti@ballardspahr.com.
back to the top
Nominations
& Elections
Calling all members! The call for nominations
for NALS 2010-11 Officers and Directors has been announced. Believe
it or not, it is now time for YOU, the members of NALS, to nominate
YOUR leaders for next year. Please consider making a nomination of
one or more of your fellow NALS members for the following positions:
President-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, Certification Director, Education
Director, Marketing Director, Membership Director, and all eight Regional
Directors. The Official Call for Nominations can be found in the summer
issue of @Law or on the NALS website at www.nals.org/board/nominations/.
All nominations must be postmarked or faxed to the NALS Resource Center
or submitted online by August 1, 2009.
Think Big! Change your association by nominating your
future leaders! Change yourself by running for NALS Board!
back to the top
NALS
Foundation
Most days I absolutely love serving as a Foundation Trustee. Today,
not so much.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. I have no qualms about showing
up bald, making a monkey of myself, or appearing as Elvis to benefit
the NALS Foundation. I find it totally exhilarating working with
our members whose generosity is incomparable. Members helping
members is the cornerstone of NALS and the NALS Foundation.
So what’s the problem you ask? The Trustees concluded
their review of the June 1 grants and I found myself having to tell
some of the applicants that their grant application was not approved.
(I even offered some of the Trustees “Twenty Bucks” to
do it for me, but was turned down!)
It was announced in Tulsa and again in an earlier e-News that this
year, the focus of the Foundation grants would be Education and Certification—two
areas that will benefit members and non-members alike. Several
of the applications did not meet the criteria.
What was more disheartening was to tell an applicant that the request
was not approved because the Report of Grant Application Project was
not completed and returned. This is a short, one-page questionnaire
that provides the Foundation with some insight into the project and
also provides us with information which could be beneficial to another
Chapter/State/Region who is thinking of doing a similar project. Okay,
enough of the Pity Fiesta!
The NALS Foundation has fun things in store for you in Irvine and
it’s time to focus on the glitz and glamour of the Purple
Carpet Gala. Have you, your chapter, your state
association or your region “purchased” a Foundation Trustee,
Board member or Past President to dress as a star? Don't miss the biggest
and best event Hollywood has to offer!
EXTRA, EXTRA. The NALS Foundation is offering you
the opportunity to participate in a special drawing to be held in Norfolk
during the National Forum. The prize is $100. All
you have to do is send your silent auction item to Jennifer Reed at
the NALS Resource Center before August 1st. Your
name will automatically be entered in the drawing—winning is
just that simple.
Faynell Poe, PP, PLS
NALS Foundation Chairman
back to the top