In This Issue

Page 1

2008 Board of DirectorsInstallation

Page 2

From the President

Page 3

GAP Members Make Strides forBreast Cancer

Page 4

Welcome New GAP Members

GAP Boss of the Year Winner

GAP PACE Scholarship Winner

Page 6

Starting a Student Organization

Page 7

2008 GAP Calendar of Events

Page 8

GAP Corporate Sponsors

Page 9

2007 AVLF Wine Tasting

Page 10

Soakin’ It Up in Tampa Bay:2007 Convention Report

The ParagraphGeorgia Association of Paralegals Quarterly Newsletter

Charter Member of theNational Federation of Paralegal Associations

GAPVolume VII, Edition IV December 2007

2008 BOARD INSTALLATIONWe had a great time at the GAP Holiday Party on December 4, 2007. We

hope that you did too. The picture below includes the new and returning Boardmembers who were installed. The purpose of the installation ceremony is forthe entire GAP membership to get a chance to see who their Board membersare and to hear them make their commitment to the Board.

Your Board Members for 2008 are:President

Chrissy Weeks

Voting PositionsVice President

Kevin FogleSecretary

Julia LanfordTreasurer

Ann JacksonDirector of Pro BonoMichael Misenheimer

Director of MembershipTenitra Adams

Director of CommunicationsSherry Rosen

NFPA Primary RepresentativeKaren Prouty

Non-voting Board PositionsBoard AdvisorBarbara Pylant

NFPA Secondary RepresentativeLaShonda Dillard

Speakers’ CoordinatorLaShonda Dillard

Student Members CoordinatorNola Sayne

PACE AmbassadorPaezle Harris

State and Local Bar LiaisonEdwina Robinson

E-News CoordinatorChrissy Weeks

Web Design CoordinatorAmadi Leaks

Mentor Program CoordinatorTenitra Adams

New Members CoordinatorCheryl McKinzie

Community Service CoordinatorJenny Manzer

This may look like a longlist, but there are still a fewspots open. For informationabout joining the GAP Board,please go to our website,www.gaparalegal.org.

How many things are you juggling thesedays? I am a wife and mother, I work fulltime at the Atlanta Volunteer LawyersFoundation, and I am the President of GAP.I am sure that you are right now making yourown list of the top things that you arejuggling.

But have you ever stopped to think, “why amI doing all of these things?” We all need toexamine all the things in our lives that arekeeping us busy and make sure that they arethe things we want to be doing.

For example, I love being a wife and mother; there is no questionabout that. I have to admit that I feel a little obligated to my job, butthat is because it took me several years to get to a job that I love, andI think we do great work for an underserved community. Plus, thepeople I work with are amazing. My bosses are some of the mostunderstanding and fun people I have ever known, and my co-workersare super sweet.

Additionally, being President of GAP is something that I grew intoand though the timing was a bit unfortunate (I had a baby and becamePresident in the same month), I am very proud of the fact that I amthe President of GAP and I do want to be your President.

Sure there are days when I do not feel like I have the energy to be anddo all or even some of the things my life now entails. But I get upand I do them and by the end of most days, I am back to being happywith my life and enjoying all of the “jobs” I do.

I am not a “superwoman.” I do not have it all. But I have all I wantand I do my best to give each aspect of my life the attention it deserves.I hope that you can see that I am just a regular old person like you. Ihope that I can inspire you to do what you want. I hope that one ofthe things you want is to be a more involved GAP member.

While you are thinking about your New Year’s resolutions and anyother planning you are doing for 2008, make sure you take sometime to think about yourself and your goals. I challenge you to bebrave enough to be yourself and be true to what you want. Make noapologies for getting what you want and getting rid of what you don’twant.

Have a great holiday season! I look forward to being your presidentfor the 2008–2009 term. If you have any questions about orsuggestions for GAP, please feel free to contact me directly atgap_president@bellsouth.net.

2

2008 Board of DirectorsPresident

Christina “Chrissy” WeeksVice PresidentKevin O. Fogle

SecretaryJulia Lanford

TreasurerAnn Jackson

Director of CommunicationsSherry Rosen

Director of MembershipTenitra Adams

Director of Pro BonoMichael Misenheimer

NFPA PrimaryKaren Prouty

Board AdvisorBarbara Pylant

NFPA SecondaryLaShonda R. Dillard

Speaker’s CoordinatorLaShonda R. Dillard

Student Members CoordinatorNola Sayne

PACE AmbassadorK. Paezle’ Harris

State and Local Bar LiaisonEdwina Robinson

E-News CoordinatorChrissy Weeks

Web Design CoordinatorAmadi E. Leaks

Mentor Program CoordinatorTenitra Adams

New Member CoordinatorCheryl McKinzie

Community Service CoordinatorJenny Manzer

Events CoordinatorKristie D. Collier

Benefits CoordinatorOPEN

Director of CLEOPEN

State Outreach CoordinatorOpen

Membership Growth CoordinatorOpen

Collateral CoordinatorOpen

Public Relations CoordinatorCristal Nader

Sustaining Member CoordinatorOpen

Executive AdministratorGina S. Farley

FROM THE PRESIDENTChrissy Weeks

3

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“The legal education I am receiving at has been invaluable to me personally and professionally. Because of the quality of my education, I have become an active participant with our lawyers in several challenging cases including appeals. has enabled me to grow professionally while preparing me for the challenges I will face as a lawyer.”

— Vicki Novak, Class of Part-Time Program Paralegal/Criminal Investigator

Offering part-time and full-time programs

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GAP MEMBERS MAKE STRIDES FOR BREAST CANCERby: Chrissy Weeks, GAP President

On Saturday October 27, 2007, Team GAPparticipated in the annual Making StridesAgainst Breast Cancer fundraising walksponsored by the American Cancer Society. Itis a three-mile non-competitive walk throughAtlantic Station and the surroundingneighborhood. It was a beautiful day for such afun community serviceevent.

Team GAP raised $870 forthe cause, and the overallevent raised over$1,000,000. I hope you willjoin us next year. It was agreat way to get to knowsome more GAP memberswhile supporting a valuablecause.

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WELCOME NEW GAP MEMBERS!Active Members

Raynita S. AlexanderAaron Alter

Beth E. BaileyCindy BastosTamara Burns

Deborah CharmeMelody Cox

C. Ashlee CrenshawBarbara Dobbs

Jessica A. DuncanVito De Gennaro

Sonja Kaye ElliottJane Fieldings

Carol GamboneHelen GarrettJanet C. Guy

Marsha Van HamAmy HarbinDebra HarrisMia L. Harris

Stephanie E. HarrisLachena N. Hazel

Sheila Denise HowardRobyn K. HughesAndre P. JobsonDawn Kamara

Johnathon D. KendrickDaniella Lambright

Wynell LauverLa Lisa Leary

Julie LubinKelly Mann

Denise McDaniel, RPPaul Lockley Minchella

Paula MunroeKristie MurphyDevora Nealy

Kenya R. NelsonWendi L. Reames

Charles R. RoseberryMelanie Scott

Jennifer L. SecristMeredeth Shellnutt

Kristi SherrellBarbara SquiresCrystal StewartHelen Thiessen

Sandra TylerWendy Tyson

Bianca VriesingaUta Wallace

Jade K. WhiteSandra J. Yates

StudentMembers

Fine AkanbiElizabeth W. AkinAllison Bernard

Kathleen CanuppMichael H. Clezie

Allison Taylor DealPascha Dudley

LaToya HendricksonNissa M. Hogue

Arlene InnissCortney Jantzer

Andrea JollyAaron McCulloughCynthia McMillon

Judith OrtegaHanna PhamKeisha PorterMelba Prevost

Sarah Ried-MfoafoCatherine M. Roberts

Arsan SaulnierP.J. Sage

Robert Scott

Sheresa StubbsMandy R. Terry

Delores VanstoneCynthia WalshBonnie Welch

Angela M. WilliamsonCynthia Woods

Elizabeth Jan Young

SustainingMembers

Bull Darity Hopson& Worley LLC

Dennis BullStephanie Heinis

Holland Imaging LLCRob HollandBen Williams

GAP BOSS OF THE YEAR WINNERGAP member Nola Sayne nominated her firm, Seyfarth Shaw. Jennier Hershey, Office Administrator, and

Mary Howe, Human Resource Manager, joined us at the holiday dinner meeting to accept the award. Here isa selection from Ms. Sayne’s nomination for Boss of the Year Award:

Seyfarth Shaw actively supports its paralegals’ participation in GAP. The firm provides dues for ourannual GAP membership, the fees to attend monthly GAP dinners, and has three current employees who areBoard members. Seyfarth encourages the paralegals who are Board members to host GAP meetings, attendGAP events, and allows Board members to develop their Board positionsduring working hours. GAP participation is credited to the paralegals’chargeable hours as “legal association activity” and this is viewed as apositive activity during review time.

GAP PACE SCHOLARSHIP WINNERCongratulations! PACE scholarships were awarded to Amy Attaway and Charlotte Barnett. The prize

package was sponsored by Brown & Gallo and included the application fee for the exam, the study manual,and $50 to be used towards the online exam or the review course.

Paezle Harris passed the PACE exam in 2007 and was awarded her RP pin. Ms. Harris is taking over asour PACE ambassador for 2008. If you are interested in the exam please contact her with questions atPaezle.Harris@cox.com.

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took place at the group’s first meeting andcompleted the process of establishing anorganization:1. planning the general format of the

organization’s meetings;2. announcing the organization’s first meeting

time and location;3. typing up an agenda, approximating duration

of planned activities; and4. incorporating student input and suggestions

as appropriate.

The Paralegal Alliance held its first meeting onJuly 23, 2007. Attendees included Kathleen A.Ellzey (President and Acting Treasurer), HansiHolloway (Vice President), Vanessa Moody (VicePresident), Lindsey Santoyo (Secretary), DelanaKiett (member), Alma Mitchell (member), SolinSaleh (member), Virgil Costley (advisor), CeliaMurray (advisor), Nola Sayne (GAP StudentGrowth Coordinator), and Barbara Clay (DTCStudent Services Coordinator).

During this initial meeting we all gained awealth of information including how to access thegroup webpage, upcoming projects, next meetingdate and member contact information.

Today, the Paralegal Alliance has twelvemembers.

Kathleen is a student in the Paralegal StudiesProgram at DeKalb Technical College. Sheexpects to complete her associates degree withhonors in March 2008. Besides founding theParalegal Alliance, Kathleen is the VP of PhiTheta Kappa Honor Society, Student GovernmentAssociation President, and GAP StudentAmbassador. DeKalb Tech’s Paralegal StudiesProgram has just received its charter for LambdaEpsilon Chi, the Paralegal Studies Honor Society,and she will be one of its first inductees. Kathleenplans to transfer to Kaplan University where shewill complete a B.A. in Science with an emphasisin Corporate Law and work on becoming acertified paralegal.

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STARTING A STUDENT ORGANIZATIONBy: Kathleen A. Ellzey

As a student in the Paralegal Studies Program atDeKalb Technical College, before I began on myquest to start a new student organization, I did someresearch to find out what organizations were currentlyoffered through my school and if any interested me.I spoke with Virgil Costley, the Paralegal StudiesProgram Coordinator, and he informed me that formerstudents had previously attempted to start paralegalorganizations in the past, but had lost interest.However, Mr. Costley and Mrs. Murray, an instructorat DeKalb Tech, were both interested in beingadvisors for a paralegal organization. T h ebrainstorming began. I asked myself, “how can youkeep your fellow paralegal students informed if wedo not have our own organization?” I began askingmy classmates, “if the college had a paralegalorganization, would you join?” The response wasoverwhelming. I created a membership interest formrequesting a student’s name, contact information,schedule (fulltime or part-time), convenient meetingtime, and any suggestions for the group’s activities.Response was strong: twenty-three students filledout the form and were interested in becoming officers.Before formally asking permission from the ParalegalStudies Program and the school to form theorganization, I had to undertake the following basicsteps:1. find people to help organize (these volunteers

were the first officers of the organization);2. recruit at least one advisor;3. create a name (“Paralegal Alliance”),

constitution, mission statement, and logo;4. choose a focus for the organization based on the

interests and needs of the school’s population;5. conduct a simple survey to find out

approximately how many students would beinterested in participating;

6. determine the organization’s main objective andgoal; and

7. create a membership application for students tocomplete and submit.

After these steps were completed, I then focusedon the inaugural meeting. The following activities

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2008 GAP CALENDAR OF EVENTSAnthony’s Restaurant • 3109 Piedmont Rd • 5:00 cocktails • 6:00 dinner

Feb. 12 GAP Dinner MeetingSpeaker: Mary McKay,NFPA Region III DirectorSponsors: OPEN

April 8 GAP Dinner MeetingSpeaker: OPENSponsors: OPEN

June 10 GAP MembershipAppreciation DinnerMeeting

Speaker: OPENSponsors: OPEN

August 12 GAP Dinner MeetingSpeaker: OPENSponsors: OPEN

October 7 GAP Dinner MeetingSpeaker: OPENSponsors: OPEN

December 9 11th Annual GAP HolidayParty

Speaker: OPENSponsors: OPEN

8

GAP 2007 CORPORATE SPONSOR MEMBERS

Andrew Grace Associates, LLC

Anthony’s

Atlanta Attorney Services

Brown & Gallo

Bull Darity Hopson& Worley LLC

Business Mailing Services

CambridgeStaff

CanopyLegal Corp.

City of Atlanta, Law Department

Counsel On Call

Courtroom Visuals, Inc.

Cox Communications, Inc.

DA Forensics

Discovery Support Services, Inc.

Document Technologies Inc.

EMag Solutions

Esquire Litigation Solutions, LLC

Estrin Professional Careers

FirstPro, Inc.

Fulton County Daily Report

Georgia Pacific Corporation

Henning Mediation &Arbitration Service, Inc.

HIRECounsel

Holland Imaging LLC

Hudson Legal

Huseby, Inc.

Ikon Office Solutions

Kelly Law Registry

LawStaff Group

Legal Eagle

Legal Video Services, Inc.(Atlanta)

MLQ Attorney Services

Mariposa Publishing

Merrill Corporation

Merrill Legal Solutions

National CorporateResearch, Ltd.

National NetworkReporting Company

Omnivore

Paramount Staffing, Inc.

Paranet CorporationServices, Inc.

PINow.com

RoadOne Express

Robert Half Legal

ServeNow.com

Special Counsel, Inc.

TransPerfect Translations, Inc.

Trial Exhibits

UPS, Inc.

Visual Litigation Services, LLC

Wheeler ReportingCompany, Inc.

GAP 2007 COLLEGE & UNIVERSITYSPONSORS

Atlanta Technical College

Augusta Technical College

Clayton State University

DeKalb Technical College,Clarkston Campus

DeKalb Technical College,Covington Campus

Emory University

Georgia Perimeter College

Griffin Technical College

Gwinnett College

John Marshall Law School

Washington OnlineLearning Institute

A tip of the hat tothe following lawfirms which “up-graded”their GAPmember-ship toCorporateSponsors:

Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske, LLP

King & Spalding LLP

Miller & Martin PLLC

Nelson Mullins Riley &Scarborough, LLP

Powell Goldstein LLP

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

2007 AVLF WINE TASTINGby: Chrissy Weeks

Thank you to all of the paralegals in the Atlanta legal community who generouslydonated both time and money to Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation(“AVLF”) annual wine tasting this year. It was not only hugely successfulfinancially, but it was a great party.

We were not finished doing ouraccounting by the deadline for thisnewsletter, but we are on track tohave raised an estimated $250,000.The annual wine tasting is ourbiggest fundraiser and helps usincrease our ability to provide equalaccess to justice to the underservedmembers of our community.

A special thank you to Michael Misenheimer, GAP’s Director of Pro Bono anda regular volunteer at AVLF. Michael spent most of the evening (and the nextday) working hard to help us make sure that everything was seamlessly executed.

AVLF is working to build more opportunities for paralegals to participate in probono. We hope you will join us next year as either a guest or a volunteer for thisannual fundraiser. The 2008 wine tasting is scheduled for Thursday, November6. For more information about AVLF go to www.avlf.org.

9

Dionne Hines, Paralegal at AVFLand GAP Member

Michael Misenheimer, GAP Directorof Pro Bono and regular volunteer atAVLF with Bobbie Alexander, AVLF

Administrative Assistant

10

SOAKIN’ IT UP IN TAMPA BAY! 2007 Convention Report

by Kevin O. Fogle

in Iraq and informed us how much it meant to her for all involvedin the project to take time out of their busy days to prepare andsend packages to them. This was a very emotional display.Certificates were presented to each association that is a part of theproject, one of which was GAP.

The policy meeting was held all day Saturday and part of theday Sunday. At the policy meeting, we brought agenda topics tothe floor and discussed their merits. Once we exhausted allopposition to voting, a vote was taken on any agenda topic thatproposed a change to the bylaws or policies of NFPA. As you mayrecall, a survey was circulated before the convention asking foryour vote and comments on the agenda topics as presented prior

to the convention. Many of the agendas wereadopted as resolutions, and you can reviewthem as passed on the National Informationpage of the GAP website.

One of the agenda topics that caused agreat deal of discussion dealt with the ModelPlan for Paralegal Regulation (“Plan”). Manybelieved that the Plan submitted was toogeneral and separate Plans should be drafted,one for a Certificate scheme and one for aRegistration scheme (collectively referred toherein as the “Plans”). These two Plans wouldbe in addition to Revised Model Plan forParalegal Licensure, which, incidentally, wasadopted during the policy meeting. Thedrafting of separate Plans would allow anassociation that wishes to seek regulation intheir state to use the Plan which best fits thetype of regulation they wish to pursue as a

guide. After a long, strenuous discussion, it was decided by thedelegate body to send this agenda topic back to the committee forthe purpose of drafting separate Plans as described above. Anotherhot topic was the issue of the minimum education standards foreducation proposals which NFPA can support, to be amended toinclude a two-year associates degrees. After much debate, thisamendment to NFPA’s policy was adopted. The delegates realizedthat various states may set differing education standards inregulation proposals, and this amendment will allow NFPA tosupport a regulatory scheme which includes minimum educationstandards of less than a four year degree.

On Saturday evening, we attended our Region III dinner. Thiswas a great opportunity to get to know some of our fellow NFPAmembers in a casual setting and was a great deal of fun.

The policy meetings came to a close on Sunday and the newmembers of the NFPA board of directors were elected. An updatedlist of the members of the NFPA board will be listed on the NFPAwebsite at www.paralegals.org.

If you would like any further information about the conventionor any NFPA matters, you may visit the NFPA website atwww.paralegals.org or contact Kevin Fogle atkevinofogle@yahoo.com or Karen Prouty at kprouty@fellab.com.

The 2007 AnnualConvention of theNational Federation of

Paralegal Associations(“NFPA”) was held at the

Hyatt Regency in Tampa,Florida, on October 18-21 and was hosted

by the Tampa Bay Paralegal Association. This year’s conventionthemed “Soakin’ it up in Tampa Bay!” was very well attended byforty-five of the fifty-five member associations of NFPA. It iscommon practice for each association to send two delegates. Thedelegates representing GAP were Kevin O. Fogle, Vice Presidentand NFPA Primary delegate, and KarenProuty, RP, NFPA Secondary delegate.

The convention began on Thursdaywith a day of seminars on topics such asProbate Litigation, Medical Malpractice,Forensic Reconstruction, White CollarCrime, and Adoption Law.

On Friday morning we attended ourregion meeting which offers an opportunityto meet members of associations in ourregion, to share ideas on associationmanagement, and to discuss other topics ofinterest. GAP is in Region III, whichincludes the following associations:Cleveland Association of Paralegals,Greater Lexington Paralegal Association,Indiana Paralegal Association, MemphisParalegal Association, Michiana ParalegalAssociation, Middle Tennessee ParalegalAssociation, Northeast Indiana Paralegal Association, PalmettoParalegal Association, and Tampa Bay Paralegal Association.Minutes from the region meeting will be available to be viewedon the National Information page of the GAP website as soon asthey are available.

On Friday evening, a social event was held for all attendeesat the Columbia Restaurant in the Ybor City area of Tampa. Weenjoyed delicious Cuban food and a live show performed byflamenco dancers.

Prior to the commencement of the policy meeting on Saturday,a history/memoriam presentation was given. This presentationconsisted of a slide show of photos from previous conventions,meetings and conferences from 1999 through 2006 as well as amemoriam dedicated to two deceased NFPA members we lost thisyear. Stephen S. Distefano, LNCM(SW/AW), Command MasterChief, Judge Advocate General of the Navy, along with six otherlegalman who recently returned from Iraq gave a presentation tothe entire Federation in appreciation of the Legalman Project. Oneof the members who recently returned from Iraq three months agostood and expressed her appreciation to Lori Thompson(Coordinator of the Legalman Project) and to the Federation. Shewas actually one of the people who received a care package while

(l-r) Kevin O. Fogle, GAP VP andNFPA Primary; Mary J. McKay,

RP, CLA, Region III Director; andKaren Prouty, NFPA Secondary atthe 2007 NFPA Annual Convention

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