Join the American Alliance of Paralegals, the national paralegal association that continues to set standards that others follow.  The American Alliance was the first to host the National Paralegal Summit, the first to host a webinar, and the first to set educational standards for voting membership.  The successful leadership of the American Alliance has been echoed by other paralegal organizations and proprietary educational groups, thus affirming the old adage that copying someone else is the highest form of flattery.

Be a member of the association that leads the way instead of follows; be a part of the future with the American Alliance.

IN THE NEWS!

We welcome Sandra M. Herdler, AACP, as the new Vice President and Keelie J. Fike, AACP, as Secretary.   Karen Raison, DCP, Angela Baker-Colyer, AACP, OSBA Cert. Paralegal, John C. Goudie, AACP and Jeffrey Ahonen are continuing on the Board, and are committed to working hard in 2012 to reach all the goals and objectives of the American Alliance. 

We are grateful that Bradley Fowler, CP, of Michigan has agreed to take over the duties as our new webmaster.  

A recent Email exchange on the LAT Forum led to one of the highest compliments that the American Alliance could receive.  The Emails were over the issue of certification and the person responded in their Email that even though they belonged to National Association of Legal Assistants and chose to take the CP exam, they also were a member of the American Alliance of Paralegals, Inc. as they believed "that it sets us a step toward where we will be in the future."  It is nice when members of the American Alliance are able to see that paralegals in the profession recognize that the future of the profession will require an educational and continuing CLE component and not just an exam that the other national associations promote.  


American Bar Association releases an opinion on Outsourcing Legal and NonLegal Support Services.  Click here to read the opinion.

REGULATION:

Another State Defines the Term "Paralegal":

Montana signs bill defining the term "paralegal" and further providing for the inclusion of paralegal fees as a component of attorney fees.  The bill was signed by the Governor of Montana on May 5, 2009 and became effective October 1, 2009.  The bill approved was Montana H.B. 301 which was introduced in the 2009 legislative session.

The definition of a paralegal, as set forth in the bill is as follows:  Section 2.  Paralegal defined -- use of title. (1) As used in [section 1] and this section, "paralegal" means a person qualified through education, training, or work experience who is employed or retained to perform, under supervision by a licensed attorney, substantive legal work that:

     (a) requires a substantial knowledge of legal concepts; and

     (b) in the absence of the paralegal, would be performed by an attorney.

     (2) An individual may use the title "paralegal" if the individual:

     (a) has received an associate's degree in paralegal studies from an accredited institution or a baccalaureate degree in paralegal studies from an accredited college or university;

     (b) has received a baccalaureate degree in any discipline from an accredited college or university and has completed not less than 18 semester credits of course work offered by a qualified paralegal studies program;

     (c) has received certification by the national association of legal assistants or the national federation of paralegal associations;

     (d) has received a high school diploma or its equivalent, has performed not less than 4,800 hours of substantive legal work under the supervision of a licensed attorney documented by the certification of the attorney or attorneys under whom the work was done, and has completed at least 5 hours of approved continuing legal education in the area of legal ethics and professional responsibility; or

     (e) has graduated from an accredited law school and has not been disbarred or suspended from the practice of law by any jurisdiction.

     (3) A person may not practice as a paralegal except under the supervision of a licensed attorney and is prohibited from engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.

     The Montana bill did not take in to account certification by the American Alliance of Paralegals as a qualifying factoc.

WISCONSIN UPDATE

Wisconsin has embarked, once again, on mandatory regulation and licensing of paralegals in Wisconsin via the State legislature, based on the recommendations of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in their decision of April 2008.  Currently, the bill is in its drafting phase within the Legislative Reference Bureau and the Paralegal Association of Wisconsin anticipates that they will have a draft of the bill to review after the first of the year.  The bill will provide for regulation and oversight through the Wisconsin Department of Regulation & Licensing.  More news will follow as the bill is finalized.

ARTICLES WORTH READING:

Interested in learning more about American Alliance's board members?  Read the interviews with LawCrossing.com under the Articles tab.

Position Statement on Paralegal Education Standards in New York State Adopted January 2006 by the Empire State Alliance of Paralegal Associations.

Deborah McKinney, RP, AACP, AAPI’s past Education Director and Carolyn Saenz, AACP, AAPI’s President, co-authored two articles titled "How to Hire a Quality Paralegal" and "Do Paralegals Need to be Certified?" that were recently published in the Cincinnati Bar Association Report.  Congratulations Deborah and Carolyn!