NCPA AMICUS
To: Members of NCPA
From: Belinda Ann Thomas, CLAS
Chairman of the Board
Date: April 8, 2005
Hello to everyone and happy spring!
First, of all thanks to you all for the cards, emails, thoughts and prayers during my grandson’s illness. His appendix ruptured on Easter Sunday and he has been in the Children’s Hospital in Chapel Hill for 2 weeks. He is improving but still has ways to go.
The new officers elected for 2005-2006 are:
President: Erin N. Burris, CLA
First Vice President: Melissa Stockley Jones, CLA
Second Vice President: Brenda Mareski, CP
Secretary: Yolanda N. Smith, CP
Treasurer: April Ritter, CLA
Parliamentarian: Beverly S. Jones, CLA
NALA Liaison: Darlene Patz, CP
Directors for 2005-2006 are Beverly King (District I), Patricia Clapper, CLAS (District II), Trudy Rutherford (District III), Teresa A. Stacey (District IV), Alison Reynolds Van Dyke (District V), and Michele A. Tuttle, CLA (District VI). Affiliates Director for 2005-2006 is Ruth H. Goodman, CLA. Director at Large: Belinda Ann Thomas, CLAS
Mark your calendars!! The Mid Year Seminar and CLA Review Course is coming up September 16th & 17th at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Greensboro. We have speakers lined up for Video Taped Discovery, Mediation, Administrative Law, Real Estate, Personal Injury, Ethics & Paralegal Certification. Watch for the brochure that will be coming shortly and plan to attend!
The NALA Convention in Kansas City, Missouri is right around the corner. The dates are July 13th through the 16th. Our own Terry Irvin, CLA is the Annual Meeting chair. We are so very proud of you, Terry!
The first EC/Board meeting of the new year will be held at 10:00 a.m., April 23, 2005, at the Wishart Firm in Burlington. A notice will be coming from Yolanda Smith, CP, Secretary, to each of you involved.
CERTIFICATION UPDATE: The North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification (the "Board") has targeted July 1, 2005, for the first acceptance of applications for paralegal certification. The Board has established an initial application fee of $125.00 and an annual renewal fee of $50.00. Applicants receiving their certification during the first 5 months of the certification will have a renewal date of January 1, 2007. Paralegals who are granted certification by the certification committee will be permitted to use such titles as "North Carolina Certified Paralegal,. "North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal " and "Paralegal Certified by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification." Participation in the certification procedure is strictly voluntary. The paralegals who opt against certification may still use the titles "paralegal" and "legal assistant" and may continue to work as paralegals and legal assistants in law offices and other legal settings.
Laura Braswell and Alison Foster are asking for articles from our members. Please see the next page for their Request for Submissions. I hope you will all consider writing for the FORUM. This is YOUR magazine. Please share with others!
Last, but not least, please contact me with news information to share in the monthly newsletter. I would like to hear about weddings, births and special events in your lives.
Have a great spring!
Request for Submissions The Forum
North Carolina Paralegal Association
To: All NCPA Members
From: Alison Foster, Articles and Assn News Editor
Re: Summer 2005 Issue – The Forum – Request for Submissions
Date: April 5, 2005
Theme: Discovery
Calling all members! Do you have a proven method of discovery? How does discovery vary from case to case? How do you go about deciphering the different discovery techniques between the small, medium and large cases? Have the answers? Want to share some tips? Well, here is The Forum to share those ideas in. Please consider contributing to the next edition of The Forum. Not only do we want our Association’s publication to be informative and innovative for each and every member, we also want it to include helpful hints from our main resources, our members.
In addition to discovery, we are looking for all types of articles that relate to the paralegal community. Anything of interest to you will most likely be of interest to other paralegals across the state. If you feel you haven’t been heard, let your voice be heard in The Forum.
Please submit articles single-spaced and with no formatting/enhancements (i.e. underline, tabs, bold print, etc.). The only enhancements should be hard page breaks and hard returns.
Due Date for Summer Issue Article Submissions: 04/26/2005
Please submit all articles in Word format to: