Welcome to The American Alliance of Paralegals, Inc.

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.

Mark your calendars for October 19, 2010 as the American Alliance of Paralegals once again holds its National Paralegal Summit. The Summit will be held via AT&T webinar and teleconferencing, which can be accessed directly from your desk or any convenient remote location. A summary of the program:

Ethics - This session will address ethical issues commonly presented to lawyers, and make recommendations as to how paralegals can enhance the professionalism within their firms and corporations. Presenter: Keith L. Sellen, Director, Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation.

Bankruptcy/Foreclosure - The preparation of bankruptcy and foreclosure documents is information that can be beneficial to all paralegals, including anyone who may be new to this subject. Presenter: Carol M. Katzer, Attorney-at-Law, Krigel & Krigel, PC.

Legal Research and Social Networking - How do you locate people, access certain cases and conduct legal research utilizing social net-working and unusual approaches? To "Tweet or not to Tweet?" Presenter: Mary Jenkins, Director and Law Librarian.

Registration - Click on Registration tab at left, or call 513-629-1465 and request a brochure. $30 for AAPI members; $55 for non-members. Approvals for CLE credit pending.

American Alliance Vice President Laura Ahtes, AACP, RP, DCP, was just named one of ParalegalGateway's 2010 Paralegal Superstars. Congratulations Laura! Click here to see the article.

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.

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!

CERTIFICATION:

AACP RENEWAL GUIDELINES ARE ON THE WEBSITE UNDER THE CERTIFICATION TAB.

Below is an excerpt from an interview with one of the American Alliance's newest AACPs, Renée Cipriani. The complete interview is in The Alliance Echo, a quarterly publication of the American Alliance.

Renee earned an Associate Degree in Applied Business/Legal Assistant Program from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Paralegal Studies from the College of Mount St. Joseph. She is an American Alliance Certified Paralegal, OSBA Certified Paralegal, and Pace Registered Paralegal.

As you can see, Renée is no stranger to education in fact she has a strong belief in paralegal education. She endorses regulation and believes it will provide standards for ethics, discipline, education, and competency by which paralegals can validate their value to the legal industry. She believes that regulation will provide a standard by which clients can evaluate a paralegal’s competency and allow for the expansion of paralegal roles. She believes that some form of regulation is inevitable and hopes that paralegals are able to maintain a proactive role in influencing the direction of regulation.

In Renée’s opinion, the most valuable skill for a paralegal is resourcefulness.

Interested in knowing the latest certification statistics? Check out the Certification Page for information and an application.

If you are interested in joining AAPI, Inc., please fill out a membership application.