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
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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 24 th and 25 th 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
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PAF MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
If you have recently attended one of our Chapters Membership Din- ner Meetings, we hope you will consider joining our professional organization.
The benefits to name a few include: networking, job bank, training, CLEs, 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 portals 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
Treasurers 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 Childrens 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
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BPA DONATES TO BREVARD SCHOOLS FOUNDATION "Back to School Campaign"
Tracy King, BPA 1 st 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 @ BPAEvite@gmail.com
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
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Karen Steele-Householder, Katie ORourke, 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 frp@flabar.org.
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COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS CHAIR, TRACY KING
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Newsletter Advertising
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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 tracyking@cfl.rr.com
2nd Vice President Jeremie Ayala jeremie@moserpa.com
Treasurer Linda Goettsche, CP, FRP lgoettsche@cfl.rr.com
Secretary Eileen Hillmann eihill@earthlink.net
Immediate Past President Silvia Cowan silviacwn@gmail.com
Parliamentarian Debbie Gapsch dgapsch@cfl.rr.com
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Budget Linda Goettsche, CP, FRP lgoettsche@cfl.rr.com
Bylaws and Standing Rules Maureen Mo Martens, CP, FRP momartens@cfl.rr.com
Community Service Tracy King, FRP tracyking@cfl.rr.com
Education/Scholarship Roma Molinaro, CP, FCP, FRP, MLA rmolinaro@cfl.rr.com
Student Liaison Erin Knott rjpsmom@hotmail.com
Job Bank Coordinator Kim M. Dexter, ACP, FCP kdexter@gray-robinson.com
Bar Liaison Committee Hope Lutz, CP hope.lutz@yahoo.com
Meetings Hope Lutz, CP for dinner reservations e-mail bpa@gmail.com
Membership Jeremie Ayala jeremie@moserpa.com
Newsletter Editor Caprice Stanley capricestanley@earthlink.net
Publicity Eileen Hillmann eihill@earthlink.net
Fund Raising Katie ORourke emilykate.orourke@gmail.com
OTHER POSITIONS
Karen Steele-Householder karensteelehouseholder@yahoo.com and David Wills wills-d@att.net Historian/Photographer
PAF Website Kim Nowakowski, RP, FRP kimberly.nowakowski@health-first.org
2013-14 BPA Board of Directors & Committee
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