NALS Mid-Year Recap 2006
@LAW - Caryn F. Kelly, Certified PLS, Chair
The @Law Committee has been working diligently these past
several months to continue to offer NALS members and outside
subscribers a cutting-edge publication, chock full of legal
education and technology, professional development and
ethics-related articles authored by experts in their field
to meet the diverse needs and interests of our readership. The
Committee, together with Jay Moore, has completed the Summer
and Fall issues, and publication of the Winter issue is
just around the corner. With themes such as Education
Law, Military Law, Legislative Law, and —for the Spring
2007 issue— Intellectual Property Law, we hope that the
readership has enjoyed these issues and have found them
informative.
Authors of @Law articles have been gracious to offer their
talents and expertise by submitting articles, and have
been forwarded complimentary copies of the @Law magazine
in which their articles appear, with thanks.
Additionally, with the support and talents of the Committee
members (and in some cases, other NALS members), E-Learn
articles have been written and submitted, covering topics
such as the New Tax Laws, the Deficit Reduction Act of
2005, Travel Tips for Busy Professionals, Pensions – R.I.P.?,
Social Security, and Phishing, and have been emailed to
all members monthly. We hope that these articles
have been of interest and that we can continue with this
tradition in the months to come.
CERTIFYING BOARD - Helene Wood, Certified PP, PLS, Chair
The Certifying Board continues its work of developing,
promoting, and administering the NALS certification programs
and certifying exam results. Through the Education
and Certification Manager, the CB continues to send the
examinees an e-card with best wishes for their exam results
before they sit for their exams. From the March 2006
exams through the June exams, 40 new ALSs, 37 New PLSs,
and 24 new PPs were added to the certification rolls, for
a total of 2,413 ALSs, 5,355 PLSs, and 339 PPs. The
application deadline for the September 23 exams was
extended to August 11. The new edition of the
Advanced Manual for the Lawyer’s Assistant (8th) will be
used for the March 2007 exams. A new edition of West’s
Paralegal Today is expected out in the near future and
will be used for the March 2007 exams.
EDUCATION - Karen McElroy,
Certified PP, PLS, Chair
The Education Committee’s theme this year is Destination:
Education! The sub-committees, Education Seminars
and Education Products, are steadily making progress on
seminar projects and updating annotations to the NALS educational
products (especially since the release of the Advance Manual,
8th Edition). The On-Line Study Group (OLSG) and
On-Line Learning Center (OLC) is underway and providing
excellent education. The chat room format has changed,
along with the new format for the OLSG, which prepares
students for the ALS, PLS and PP certification exams.
The Task Force Committees for conferences in Reno (October
26-29, 2006), Tulsa (March 8-10, 2007), and St. Louis (October
11-14, 2007) are moving along very well. Everyone
is on schedule and is diligently working to provide exceptional
education and professional development programs. The
Education Committee has also submitted the Court Observance
Week 2007 theme: The Courthouse, Our House. The committee
arrived at this theme after discussing the history and
continuing efforts of Citizen Court Monitoring. The
Committee has reviewed the Operational Plan and submitted
comments to the Resource Center and the NALS Strategic
Planning Committee.
FOUNDATION - Gail Wolfe,
Chair
Grants have been reviewed and awarded, a letter was prepared
and sent to all past NALS presidents inviting them to be
a Circle donor, renewal letters were sent to all previous
donors, and we have been working on promoting the Leadership
Recognition and Scales of Justice awards, awarding two
Scales of Justice awards to two firms in the Forbes top
100.
Plans are proceeding for the Foundation gala event in
Reno.
MARKETING - Kathleen
Amirante, Certified PP, PLS, Chair
The 2006-07 marketing committee members are focusing on
the Marketing Tool Kit this year. We will use E-News
over the course of the next few months to highlight different
aspects of the Tool Kit and our six Online Learning Sessions
will be open discussions on different chapters in the Tool
Kit. We will continue to add new information
to the Tool Kit to keep it fresh and up-to-date with helpful,
innovative material ready for use by local chapters to
market NALS.
In addition, the committee is concentrating on bringing
marketing ideas and information to the local chapters. We
believe that marketing NALS begins at home. Each
member of the committee is assigned to a Region and will
be making contact with local chapter presidents in that
region to introduce herself, discuss the Tool Kit, Project
Easy Ads, Book 10 of NALS.org, and answer questions and
offer assistance wherever needed.
The committee will also continue to supervise E-News under
the capable hands of Lori Stewart, PP, PLS. Leading
the Way is published every other month and MarVella Playle,
CPS is organizing the submissions from all committees and
submitting them to Jay Moore’s capable hands.
We have a lot planned for the remainder of the year, but
we also want everyone to know that we are ready, willing,
and able to help each committee with its marketing needs.
MEMBERSHIP - Bette J. Buss, Chair
The 2006-2007 NALS Membership Committee have been working
hard and the following is a mid-year recap of what we have
been doing:
At our conference in Tulsa, we began our new campaign,
“Let the Journey Begin.” We are continuing to focus
on retention and recognition and especially on the students,
which we believe will be a great part of our future at
NALS. Each and every one of our committee is appreciated
and has worked hard to continue the success of NALS
The Membership Committee meets once a month via teleconference. During
that conference call we update the members of the committee
on any items that have arisen since the last conference
call as well as new projects. In addition to sending
monthly letters to all new members and potential members,
we have also contacted each SMC and LMC. The committee
continues to research new classifications. We have
completed the review and update of the Chapter Start-Up
Kit, Student Manual, Books 5 and 6 of nals.org and the
Membership OP plan of the NALS Strategic Plan. Our
committee has hosted three online Learning Center chats. We
conducted a membership presentation in Tulsa in March and
the feedback was positive. We listened to the members
and have made a concentrated effort to address the needs
of our members.
NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS - MaryJo Denman, Certified PP,
PLS, Chair
A call for nominations was issued in a timely manner and
published in @Law, on the NALS website, and in E-News by
the NALS Nominations and Elections Committee. A total of
23 nominations were accepted for the NALS 2007-2008 Board
of Directors elections. Ballots will be mailed from
the Resource Center on September 11, 2006, and all voted
ballots must be received at the NALS Resource Center by
October 30, 2006.
REGULATION/CERTIFICATION - September Holmblad, Certified
PP, PLS, Co-chair
The Regulation/Certification Committee continues to research
paralegal regulation and licensure and other issues affecting
legal professionals via Netscan, a research service; Internet
research; trade magazines, etc. Research shows that
regulation of paralegals is being introduced, enforced,
and/or overseen by different entities, i.e., supreme courts
and/or bar associations (often times through paralegal
committees/divisions). It has also become apparent
that we are now dealing with two components regarding regulation. First,
there’s “regulation” which is voluntary in some areas and
mandatory in others; and second, as bar associations continue
to establish paralegal divisions within the bar and allow
paralegals to join bar associations, the various association
exams are being used as criteria or qualifiers for this
purpose. The NALS Regulation/Certification Committee
is using its best efforts to make sure that NALS' exams
are included; fortunately, some doors are being opened
and others are being closed. NALS members have been
appointed to task forces in Alabama, Mississippi, and South
Dakota. We need the members' help to keep us apprised
when they hear about these issues within their states.
Our research has resulted in the following findings: (1)
the Ohio State Bar Association Board of Governors has recently
announced that they have established a credentialing program
for paralegals; qualified applicants who pass a written
examination will be designated as an “OSBA Certified Paralegal.";
(2) legislation was reintroduced in Florida titled "the
Florida Paralegal Act", and has died in committee;
however, a special committee of the Florida State Bar Association
continues to work on this issue; (3) the Arizona Supreme
Court administers a Legal Document Preparers Program which
certifies legal document preparers in Arizona.
STRATEGIC PLANNING - Kathy J.
Siroky, Certified PP, PLS, Chair
The work of the Strategic Planning Committee is to focus
on the future of NALS rather than the day-to-day workings
of each NALS committee. The Strategic Plan continues
to be a flexible "work in progress" to meet the
needs of NALS and our members.
The Committee has followed an aggressive Calendar of Assignments
and has hit every deadline. The Committee reviewed
and revised all the NALS governing documents, as well as
the NALS Strategic Plan. To date, two online surveys
have been posted to the NALS website (April and July) to
gather feedback from our members on changing trends and
practices in the legal profession, marketplace developments,
educational barriers, and other matters that they face
on a daily basis. This has proven to be a popular
vehicle for gathering information. These surveys
assist the Committee in developing the visionary focus
that drives the path that NALS and our committees need
to take. We learned a great deal from our members
on the issues of educational conferences, services that
NALS provides, and generational issues that affect our
members. Results have been analyzed and will be presented
to the NALS Board along with other Committee research as
part of the background information to fuel the MEGA issue
discussions in Reno and Tulsa as well as the focus forums.
TEXT DEVELOPMENT - Karen Kuhn, Certified PP, PLS
Work on revisions to the 8th Edition of NALS Basic Manual
is in full swing and we anticipate getting the revised
manual to the publisher by December 1. The Text Development
Committee has been continually receiving corrections from
members across the United States. If you are working
on the Basic Course or if you are reviewing the textbook
for any reason and see something that needs to be corrected,
please notify Karen Kuhn, PP, PLS, at Karosel15@aol.com. Our
committee members are excited about their assignments and
have been very diligent in their work.
