Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
August 2014 Edition of The Paralegal Pipeline
Citation preview
Brevard Paralegal Association Chapter
Paralegal Association of Florida, Inc.
The Paralegal Pipeline
Inspiring professional growth...one paralegal at a time™
August 2014
IN THIS ISSUE State & PAF News 2
Chapter News 3
BPA Donates to 4
Brevard Schools
August General 5
Meeting
BPA Graduates 6
FRP Program 7
Changes
Fall Conference 8 Community Service 9,10,11
2013-14 Board Listing 12 Sponsors 13,14,15
Follow us! Search
“Brevard Paralegal As-
sociation” and join! We
list useful links, informa-
tion regarding upcom-
ing meetings and
events!
I can't believe
this is the Au-
gust newsletter
already. Even
though we are
still enjoying
those "warm"
summer days, it
is time for chil-
dren to get ready for school, paralegal
students to start the fall semester and of
course our Chapter membership meet-
ings to resume.
Even though we have taken a break from
our monthly meetings your Board has
been working diligently to plan for this
upcoming year and to help the PAF Con-
ference Committee plan for the fall con-
ference our Chapter is hosting October
24th and 25th at the Hilton in Cocoa
Beach. The conference is titled, "Life, Lib-
erty and the Pursuit of Happiness – Con-
stitutional Law and Amendment Rights".
Under the leadership of Tracy King a
magnificent slate of speakers and topics
has been arranged. Regardless of the type
of law you practice, this is not a confer-
ence you want to miss. Please see addi-
tional information about the conference in
this newsletter. We need your help in
getting the information out to all parale-
gals and legal assistants you may know
who may or may not be members of PAF.
It is our goal to have a VERY LARGE
number of professionals attending from
the legal community in our county.
I want to take this opportunity to thank
those members who have stepped up and
volunteered to help chair committees.
An updated list of Committee Chairs and
their contact information is in this news-
letter. Please take a few minutes to re-
view the list. I know they would welcome
volunteers to join their committees.
I especially want to thank Caprice Stanley
who answered my desperate call to take
over the newsletter. I know Caprice
would appreciate whatever support you
can offer her. One way of helping out is
by finding articles related to law that
maybe interesting to all for publication in
the newsletter.
I look forward to seeing you all at our
August meeting. We have a great
speaker, Eric Enrique who will be speaking
on Immigration Law. Eric is not only very
knowledgeable and experienced in his
field but equally entertaining. It is my
hope that we will have a room full of
members since it is our first meeting after
the summer recess.
Best Regards,
Anne
Anne Cope
BPA President
Monthly Message
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 2
PAF
MEMBERSHIP
INFORMATION If you have recently attended one
of our Chapter’s Membership Din-
ner Meetings, we hope you will
consider joining our professional
organization.
The benefits to name a few
include: networking, job bank, training, CLE’s, and scholarships.
Applications can be obtained
through the PAF Website or con-
tacting PAF Headquarters. Con-
tact information and web site are listed below.
All applications and membership
fees are submitted directly to PAF.
PORTAL AUTHORITY WORKS TO ADDRESS E-SERVICE
ISSUES -- The Florida Bar News, May 15, 2014.
Lawyers have been reporting problems both sending and receiving files
when they e-serve documents though the Internet portal that provides
electronic filing and electronic service for Florida courts. The portal’s
latest upgrade, installed at the end of March, automatically places an
alert beside any email address on a service list if the portal attempted
to serve a document at that address and it bounced back, or failed at
least once. The article includes recommendations for filers having trou-
ble sending or receiving e-service documents.
FSU LAW STUDENTS NO. 2 IN STATE TAKING BAR
EXAM - Tallahassee Democrat, April 16, 2014.
Florida State University law school students taking The Florida Bar Ex-
amination for the first time in February fared well above the state aver-
age. Twenty-four of 29 FSU students passed the exam, giving FSU an
82.8 percent passage rate, well above the 72.9 percent state average.
First place Stetson University had 51 of its 60 students pass the exam,
or 85 percent. Students from 11 Florida law schools sat for the two-
day exam Feb. 25-26 in Tampa.
PAF Membership Renewal Notices:
Everyone should have received their notification that it is time to re-new your PAF membership. Remember a portion of your membership
fee comes back to the Chapter. If your renewal is not received by Oc-
tober 1st, 2014, you will be dropped as a member.
Orientation for Presidents/Treasurers:
PAF provided a day of orientation training for all Chapter Presidents
and Treasurers on June 28, 2014 in Orlando. The training provided an
opportunity for both seasoned Chapter Presidents and Treasurers to
meet with newly elected board members in the same positions. PAF
Board Members and Headquarters staff reviewed the roles & responsi-
bilities of each position and reporting requirements. There was an op-
portunity for Chapters to share their best practices and lessons
learned.
Notable News from Around the State
Paralegal Association of
Florida, Inc.
466 94th Avenue North
St. Petersburg, FL 33702
Tel. 727-258-0460
www.pafinc.org
Notable News from PAF
Treasurer’s Report
Linda Goettsche, CP, FRP
As of July 31st, 2014
Checking $ 4,983.12
Savings $ 4,154.86
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 3
With the election and installation of Officers occurring at our last meet-
ing, your Board has been very busy orientating new Board Members,
attending PAF Board and Orientation meetings, soliciting new commit-
tee chairs where needed and continuing to plan for the upcoming PAF
Fall conference. A brief summary of the activity is below, however,
please see on page 8 of this newsletter for a full briefing on the confer-
ence.
Standing Rules: As you remember, the Board of Directors and the
Bylaws Committee have been working for sometime to revise our cur-rent Chapter Standing Rules. This process was completed and the
draft was submitted to PAF in June for their review and input. As a re-
fresher this revision was necessary because Chapters were required to
adopt the PAF Amended and Restated Bylaws that were approved in
October, 2013. Brevard was the first Chapter to submit revisions.
Committee Chairs: There are some changes in Committee Chairs
as a result of the elections, changes in positions and membership. All
Board Members and Committee Chairs are listed on page 12 of this
newsletter along with their contact information. Please take a few min-
utes to review the information. While we may have Chairs for each
committee, we are in need of members to serve on each. We espe-
cially need volunteers for the Membership, Fund Raising and Bar Liaison
Committees. If you are interested in helping with anyone of these com-
mittees, please contact the Chair directly. They can answer any ques-
tions you might have and let you know what is entailed as a volunteer.
Community Service Projects: The Board has elected to participate
in two community projects this fall. The first, is the Children’s Hunger
Project. This Project helps to ensure that school children who may not
have enough to eat on weekends when not in school to have breakfast
and lunch provided, will not go hungry. Did you know that 50% of Bre-
vard County students participate in the free and reduced lunch program
at school. The national average is 17%. Please read in the Community
Service Section of this newsletter how BPA can help out this worth
while project.
The 2nd project provides a great opportunity for us all to get out there
and have some fun together. We are forming a team to participate in
the “Precious Mammaries 5K” on Saturday, October 4th. All the details are in this newsletter on page 11. Please join the team now!!! This is a
wonderful opportunity to help support cancer patients and their fami-
lies.
Notable News from Your Chapter Board
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 4
BPA DONATES TO BREVARD SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
"Back to School Campaign"
Tracy King, BPA 1st Vice-President, Chair of the Community Service
Committee presented a check to a representative of Brevard's School
Foundation for $250.00 to help with the "Back to School Campaign". If
you remember members of BPA participated in the Community Ga-
rage Sale sponsored by the Parks & Recreation Department at Viera to
help raise funds for the Campaign. A total of $150.00 was received
from the garage sale. Our donation was boosted by a generous dona-
tion from Geoffrey P. Golub, Esq. in the amount of $100.00.
A big thank you to Mr. Golub for his donation and all the members of
BPA who contributed to the garage sale, organized the donations and/
or worked the day of the event.
MEMBERSHIP COUNT
59 Active 1 Associate
13 Students 2 Honorary
Total 75
BPA AUGUST MEMBERSHIP MEETING
AUGUST 14, 2014
SUNTREE COUNTRY CLUB
6:00 P.M.
PRESENTATION BY
ERIC ENRIQUE, ESQUIRE
ENRIQUE LAW FIRM
TOPIC
“IMMIGRATION LAW”
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 5
For Reservations Please E-mail
Hope Lutz @ [email protected]
Dinners: $18.50 Members or
$19.50 Non-Members
Meeting Only: $7.00
LEARN ABOUT
Brief history of U.S. Immigration
Laws
How to get in.
How to get kicked out.
The Practice of Immigration Law
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 6
Karen Steele-Householder, Katie O’Rourke, and
Michelle Platt
You Just Graduated from the Paralegal Studies Program at
Eastern Florida State College
NOW WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO GO?
Karen (BPA Photographer) works for The Loris Law Group.
Katie (Formerly BPA Student Liaison, now Chair, Fund Raising
Committee) clocks in at Shuster & Saben, LLC in Satellite Beach.
Michelle (BPA Conference Committee Member) assists Joel Wil-
son, Esq. at Wilson Family Law, P.A.
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 7
CHANGES TO THE FLORIDA
REGISTERED PARALEGAL PROGRAM
EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2014
Rule 20-3.1(c), Grandfathering Reapplication.
A paralegal who was registered under the grandfathering provision on or prior to March 1, 2011, who
resigns or whose registration is revoked may reapply based on work experience alone.
Rule 20-4.1(f), Installment Payment of Renewal Fee.
If an FRP is employed by a federal, state or local government, the FRP may elect to pay their annual
renewal fee in 3 equal installments. The FRP's notice of election to pay the renewal fee in installments
and the first installment payment must be postmarked no later than August 15th. The second and third
installment payments must be postmarked no later than November 1st and February 1st, respectively.
Second and third installment payments postmarked after their respective due date(s) are subject to a
one-time late fee of $50.00 per fiscal year, which shall accompany the final payment. Failure to pay
renewal fees and any late charges will result in the FRP's status being revoked.
Rule 20-4.1(g), Renewal Fee Exemption for Activated Reserve Members of the Armed
Services.
FRP's engaged in reserve military service in the Armed Forces of the United States who are called to
active duty for 30 days or more during the Bar's fiscal year are exempt from the payment of the annual
renewal fee required under this rule. Armed Forces of the United States include the U.S. Army, Air
Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, as well as Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve,
Marine Corps Reserve, the Air National Guard, the Air Force Reserve, and the Coast Guard Reserve.
Requests for an exemption must be made within 15 days before the date renewal fees are due each year
or within 15 days of activation of duty of a reserve member. To the extent the renewal fee was paid
despite qualifying for this exemption, such renewal fee will be reimbursed by The Florida Bar within 30
days of receipt of a FRP's request for exemption. Within 30 days of leaving active duty status, the FRP
must report to The Florida Bar that he or she is no longer on active duty status in the United States
Armed Forces.
Rule 20-6.1, Continuing Education-Generally.
If an FRP resigns or has had his or her status revoked, to be eligible for re-registration, the FRP must
complete at least 10 hours of CE for each year the FRP was previously registered. The CE hours must
be completed prior to the re-registration application and be posted on The Florida Bar's website within
30 days of the effective date of the re-registration, otherwise the new registration will be revoked and
ineffective. Upon re-registration, the FRP will be given a new 3 year continuing education cycle.
REMEMBER…
It is your obligation to keep your address up to date. Please make sure you keep your record address
updated with any changes as this is the address that all communications from the Bar are mailed to. You
can change your address by logging on to the Bar's website, www.floridabar.org. Click on Member
Services on the left. Then click on Update Contact Information. You must have a password to log on.
Click on link for instructions on obtaining a password. Annual renewal payment can either be mailed or
paid online.
The Florida Bar is dedicated to making the FRP program a success. If you have any questions or
comments, please feel free to contact [email protected].
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 8
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 9
COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS
CHAIR, TRACY KING
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 10
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 11
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 12
Newsletter Advertising
Full Side Bar $200/Year
Or $100/6 months
Half Side Bar $100/Year
Or $50/6 months
Full Page $175/Year
Or $88/6 months
Half Page $100/Year
Or $55/6 months
Business Card $50/Year
Or $30/6 months
Special rates available for one-
time ads
Submit business card or ad artwork,
preferably in .jpg or .bmp format to Kim-
berly.Nowakowski@ Health-First.Org or
send it to:
Kim Nowakowski
c/o Health First, Inc.
6540 US Hwy 1
Rockledge FL 32955
The Paralegal Pipeline advertising
reaches people throughout Florida. The
publication’s revenue supports scholar-
ships and various community service
projects, which enables your costs associ-
ated to advertising here to be tax de-
ductible.
Please make your check payable to
Brevard Paralegal Association. Thank
you.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS President
Anne Cope
acope@annecopeconsulting,com
1st Vice President
Tracy King, FRP
2nd Vice President
Jeremie Ayala
Treasurer
Linda Goettsche, CP, FRP
Secretary
Eileen Hillmann
Immediate Past President Silvia Cowan [email protected]
Parliamentarian
Debbie Gapsch
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Budget
Linda Goettsche, CP, FRP
Bylaws and Standing Rules Maureen “Mo” Martens, CP, FRP
Community Service
Tracy King, FRP
Education/Scholarship
Roma Molinaro, CP, FCP, FRP, MLA
Student Liaison Erin Knott
Job Bank Coordinator
Kim M. Dexter, ACP, FCP
Bar Liaison Committee Hope Lutz, CP
Meetings Hope Lutz, CP
for dinner reservations e-mail [email protected]
Membership
Jeremie Ayala
Newsletter Editor
Caprice Stanley
Publicity
Eileen Hillmann
Fund Raising
Katie O’Rourke
OTHER POSITIONS
Karen Steele-Householder
and
David Wills
[email protected] Historian/Photographer
PAF Website
Kim Nowakowski, RP, FRP [email protected]
2013-14 BPA Board of Directors & Committee
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 13
Order Flowers Online www.BudsEtc.net "Big Flowers From a Little Shop"
Buds Etc... A Unique Floral Studio
Buds Etc... Owners Patti and Doug have opened their dream shop in Melbourne Florida!
A country cottage style setting under a huge Florida Oak tree is where this quaint shop brings a Fresh Idea to the floral industry. Patti, with 30 +years experience in the flower business brings Value and Quality to each Unique
Design using your choice of fresh or silk flowers.
Specializing in Wedding and Parties! Bring in your ideas and have them become a reality!
Make an appointment to see our many photo albums. Patti has created wedding flowers for thousands of brides!
She has first-hand knowledge of all the latest trends and fantastic items available for the modern or traditional bride.
Rentals also available: archways, pillars with huge arrangements, centerpiece stands and much more...
Silk designs and interior decorations for your home and office are always available!
Our owner/designer will create individual designs for
All occasions with Style and Class.
Come in and browse our large selection of affordable flowers. "Big Flowers from a Little Shop” We are committed to bring you the finest, freshest, highest quality flowers from
our shop to your home and office.
Buds Etc... Has a Home Staging Department! With so many homes on the market; we give sellers helpful advice and an affordable plan to get their home ready.
We’ll have your home Packed, Cleaned and Staged. So you can put your "Best foot forward" in this busy real estate market. Have your home ready for the potential Buyers, Be Clean, Organized and Uncluttered. Let the experts at
Buds Etc... Do it all.
Call in your order today (321) 254-0551
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 14
LAW OFFICES
MICHAEL KAHN, P.A.
Office: (321) 242-2564 482 North Harbor City Boulevard
Fax: (321) 254-2127 Melbourne, Florida 32935
Email: [email protected]
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 15
THIS SPACE NEEDS AN AD! THIS SPACE NDS AN AD!
THIS SPACE NEEDS AN AD!
The Paralegal Pipeline Page 16
THIS SPACE NEEDS AN AD!
