To support this effort, NALA offers a 10% discount off membership dues to employers with at least 5 members; 20% discount to employers with 6-10 members; and 25% discount for those with 11 plus more members.  An additional 2% is available to government and non-profit (501-c-3) employers.  Details may be found on the web, under “About NALA & Join.”

http://www.nala.org/employers.aspx

• Date:     August 18, 2010
• Time:     6:00 -7:00 pm
• Place:    ThompsonMcMullan Law Office
  100 Shockoe Slip
  Richmond, VA 23219

Parking instructions:

Drive down Cary Street past 13^th street (Peking Chinese Restaurant on your left), turn right onto Virginia Street, take immediate right into Colonial Parking deck.

You pay $5.00 and take a ticket for parking.  (I will validate your ticket)

Take the elevator to the “Plaza” turn left as you exit the elevator and walk out the double glass doors.

Turn to your right toward Cary Street and find the water fountain in the plaza then cross the plaza to the building with two large iron gates on the entry.  (alley is to the left of our building).

Enter the building and take the elevator to the 3^rd floor.

I will greet you in the lobby.

Michael Yager

e-Discovery: Slowing Down the Train

Friday, August 20, 2010

Noon – 1:30 pm Central Time

Conference ID – 3097

The growth of ESI and the changing Federal Rules to manage electronically stored information in litigation has encumbered law firms.  An exponential growth in the numbers of eDiscovery cases has prompted vendors to enter this market and therefore adverse to law firms.

Our very own Michael Yager will discuss the revolutionary concept of “slowing down the train” of eDiscovery while at the same time paying homage to, and complying with, the Federal Rules which govern what the courts expect from law firms in this complex area.  The theme of the presentation is how paralegals can take back control of this seemingly run-away eDiscovery.

With the realization that no one can relieve the attorney, the firm, and the paralegal of the ultimate responsibility of managing their cases, this presentation offers the tools with which paralegals can confidently take their place back in the main engine of the eDiscovery train, control the pace and speed down the tracks, and once again manage the process.

Michael Yager is a litigation paralegal at the law firm of Spotts Fain.  He has been involved in eDiscovery for nearly a decade, most recently designing and managing an ESI collection in China.  After graduating from the College of William and Mary in Virginia with an M.A. degree, he served several years with the Department of Defense.

     The third day of NALA’s 35th Annual Convention in Jacksonville, FL, began Friday, July 16, with the opening of the Affiliated Associations Exhibits and closed with a reception and installation of new officers announced at the afternoon annual meeting.
    The onsite computer polls that opened Thursday morning, closed 30 minutes after the end of morning educational sessions Friday, and results were announced at the 35th Annual Meeting Friday afternoon.
    In the contested offices, Kelly A. LaGrave, ACP, was elected Second Vice President, and Jill I. Francisco, ACP was elected Treasurer. Other new officers are Ann L. Atkinson, ACP, First Vice President; and Cassandra Oliver, ACP, Secretary.
    Region Directors elected for the next year are: Janet L. Holmgren, CP, Region I; Julie D. Hunt, CP, Region V; Melissa Hamilton, ACP, Region VI; Karin M. Scheehle, ACP, Region VII; and Joan Wiley, ACP, Region IX.
    Approved amendments to the NALA Bylaws Article III included a new definition for “Quorum,” and a new dues refund policy for membership resignations.
    Mr. Bob Ross, Chief Development Director, representing the Greater Jacksonville Area USO made a moving address accepting donations of money and items for service men. He stated his USO is working with 4 MASH units in Afganistan who will greatly appreciate the NALA contributions.
    The annual awards presentations were headlined by the Founders Award, NALA’s highest honor, which went to Patricia G. Elliott, ACP, in recognition of a career-long record of service to the paralegal profession. Pat was NALA President from 2000 to 2002 and has served in numerous leadership roles for the association.
    The 2010 Affiliated Associations Outstanding Contribution Award for exceptional achievement in leadership and service to his local affiliated association was made to Lee A. Paige, CLA, of the Los Angeles Paralegal Association.
    There was also a “Special Award” from President Linda J. Wolf, ACP, made to the Arkansas Paralegal Alliance, Inc., for their extraordinary help and compassion shown for an out-of-state paralegal who travelled to Little Rock for life-saving surgery in 2008. The award was in the form of a presidential letter and a cash contribution in APA’s name to the Greater Jacksonville Area USO.
     Karen Greer McGee, ACP, elected NALA President by the Board of Directors last March, officially took office along with the rest of the new officers and directors at the installation ceremonies Friday evening. The new Board of Directors will have their first meeting of 2010 before the beginning of the educational programs on Saturday, July 17.
    The convention educational program of institutes in “Bankruptcy,” “Elder Law,” and “Veterans Law,” and the tracks in “Corporate Law,” “Litigation,” and “Hot Topics” drew to a close Friday morning. The final session of “Essential Skills” will be Saturday morning, along with the prestigious Member Exchange presentations.
    Adjournment of the 2010 convention came at the conclusion of the closing presentation on “Ethics” by Petra H. Mandigo Hulm, an Associate at the firm of Crowley Fleck PLLP, in Bismarck, ND. 

NALA Headquarters

COMPUTER BASED TESTING FALL 2010

Beginning in the fall of 2010, the CP examination will be delivered via computer based testing throughout the United States. The Certified Paralegal examination will continue to be provided in a proctored environment. NALA will be utilizing testing centers and proctors through the nationwide ACT testing network.  Visit NALA website for details.

The Executive Board has reviewed the Third Amended Bylaws and is proposing that the Membership approve and adopt the Fourth Amended Bylaws. 

The Third Amended Bylaws were approved and adopted at the 2009 Annual Meeting.  The major change at that time was to include Lifetime members; however, the Third Amended Bylaws failed to provide Lifetime members the ability to serve on the Executive  Board or vote. 

A clean version of the proposed Fourth Amended Bylaws and a compare version of the Third and Fourth Amended Bylaws are included as links below for members review.  The necessary amendments in the proposed Fourth Amended Bylaws are to provide for Lifetime members the ability to serve on the Executive Board and voting privileges, to define the duties of various committees, to pull the officer information together in one section, and general grammatical changes for consistency. 

The Executive Board asks that each member review the proposed Fourth Amended Bylaws and provide his or her comments to Shirley Barwick, Bylaws Committee Chairperson at shirley.barwick@richmondparalegals.org  no later than August 1, 2010.  This will allow the Executive Board to review all comments and incorporate any additional revisions into the proposed Fourth Amended Bylaws and post a final version that will be presented at the annual meeting for approval and adoption.

Sincerely,

Amy C. Vaughan, President

Proposed Fourth Amended Bylaws –  Proposed Fourth Amended Bylaws

Compared Documents – Compare Third and Fourth Amended Bylaws

If you are NOT attending the NALA conference and wish for your voice to be heard, please complete page 32 (or download the form from the NALA website) “Instructions to Proxy and Alternate Proxy” and David will be glad to cast your vote at the conference.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please let David or I know.

Thanks, Amy C. Vaughan, President, Richmond Paralegal Association

david.richardson@richmondparalegals.org or amy.vaughan@richmondparalegals.org

 The following 10 Questions are True or False

 1.  Representatives from the States met to write a new Constitution in 1776.

2.  Thomas Jefferson’s election as the third President depended upon the vote of the House of Representatives.

3.  The man who did the final writing of the Constitution was Alexander Hamilton.

4.  The Constitution forbids States to coin money.

5. John Adams, our first Vice-President, was chosen by George Washington to be his running mate.

6.  In order to become a part of the Constitution, amendments now usually have to be ratified by the State Legislatures within seven years.

7.  The Constitutional Convention held its meetings in the Capitol building.

8.  The United States can punish a State which denies the right of citizens to vote by reducing the number of its Representatives.

9.  The President’s term of office has always ended at noon on January 20.

10.  The Nineteenth Amendment protects the voting rights of women.

 ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************

1.  Representatives from the States met to write a new Constitution in 1776. False.  Alexander Hamilton was responsible for the Annapolis Convention that met in Maryland in 1786 to discuss the economically unstable situation of the thirteen states. Due to poor attendance (only five of the thirteen states were represented), Hamilton asked the Congress of the Confederation to send formal invitations to all thirteen states to meet in Philadelphia in May 1787. The express purpose of this meeting was to amend or change the Articles of Confederation.  Behind closed doors and in secret the delegates agreed to write an entirely new Constitution. All States sent representatives except for Rhode Island.

2.  Thomas Jefferson’s election as the third President depended upon the vote of the House of Representatives. True.  The election of 1800 between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr ended in a tie in the Electoral College. Because neither candidate received a majority of the electoral vote, the election was decided by the House of Representatives after 36 ballots. Thomas Jefferson eventually received the majority of the electoral vote and became President. Aaron Burr who finished second in the vote count became Vice-President. The process was changed in 1804 with the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment.

3.  The man who did the final writing of the Constitution was Alexander Hamilton.False.  Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816) was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Committee on Style and Arrangement and was responsible for the preparation of the final draft of the Constitution.

4.  The Constitution forbids States to coin money. True.  This is a power forbidden to the States as indicated in Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1.  This is based on the difficulty that the country was going through economically during the timeframe that the Articles of Confederation was in effect. Under the Articles each state could print its own money. This caused a tremendous amount of economic instability.  One of the main reasons the Constitutional Convention convened in 1787 was to correct the economic problems of the country.

5. John Adams, our first Vice-President, was chosen by George Washington to be his running mate. False.  The elections of 1789, 1792, 1796 and 1800 were based on the constitutional provision that the individual with the most electoral votes became president and the one with the second highest became Vice-President.  John Adams received the second highest vote count in the election of 1789 and became President George Washington’s vice-President. The process was changed in 1804 with the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment.

6.  In order to become a part of the Constitution, amendments now usually have to be ratified by the State Legislatures within seven years.True. The time limit for 3/4 of the state legislatures to approve a new amendment to the Constitution has been in some cases seven years. In the 1921 decision Dillon v. Gloss, the Supreme Court concluded that Congress had the power to determine a time limit for ratification. The first time that the seven year time limit was imposed was for the Eighteenth Amendment that dealt with prohibition. The seven year time limit was actually a part of the text of the Twentieth, Twenty-First and Twenty-Second Amendments, but was not of the test of the Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth, Twenty-Fifth and Twenty-Sixth Amendments. The Twenty-Seventh Amendment had no time limit when it was adopted in 1992.

7.  The Constitutional Convention held its meetings in the Capitol building.False.  The Convention was held in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. This was actually the State House of the Province of Pennsylvania built between 1732 and 1756. It was called Independence Hall because it is where the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776.  It also was the location where George Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army in 1775 and where the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781.

8.  The United States can punish a State which denies the right of citizens to vote by reducing the number of its Representatives. True.  This part of the Constitution was passed after the Civil War during the Reconstruction period of American history. Its main intent was to protect the right to vote for the free African American slaves. It is found in Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution: “But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.”

9.  The President’s term of office has always ended at noon on January 20. False.  The Twentieth Amendment (1933) changed Inauguration Day for the President from March 3 to January 20. It was thought that there was too much time from the time of the election in November of the previous year to Inauguration Day, especially if the incumbent President lost the election. Franklin Roosevelt was the first President to be sworn in on January 20th (for his second term). The Twentieth Amendment has been called the “lame duck amendment.”

10.  The Nineteenth Amendment protects the voting rights of women. True.  This Amendment was the result of a historic struggle for women’s voting rights that became a major reform movement in the mid to late nineteenth century. The Amendment was adopted in 1920 and the election between Warren Harding and James Cox was the first election in which women could vote for President. The Amendment states: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

When:  April 24, 2010 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Where: Bryant & Stratton College, 8141 Hull Street Road, Richmond, VA 23235

What:  This is an exciting day for legal studies students at Bryant & Stratton College.  There will be many vendors and speakers in connection with criminal law present and RPA is honored to have been invited. 

Please RSVP to teresa.clark@richmondparalegals.org if you can represent RPA at this event.

Where:    ThompsonMcMullan, P.C., 100 Shockoe Slip, Richmond, Virginia  23219

If you are interested in VAPA and want to learn more about the organization, you are welcome to attend the VAPA Board meeting which will be hosted in Richmond this month.  For more information, please contact David Richardson, RPA VAPA Delegate for more information david.richardson@richmondparalegals.org.

Refreshments will be provided by RPA.