VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

2009 has been an amazing year and I can’t tell you how proud I am of the dedicated, talented people in this organi-zation who have made it so successful! We are really look-ing forward the next year and are bringing to the table new ideas and new goals to reach for in 2010. Fortunately, for all of us, our two District Directors are serving a second term. The success of Districts 1 & 2 under the direction of Laurie Vik and Carla Larson has been outstanding. The in-formative and enjoyable monthly luncheons in Omaha have been very well attended and Laurie does a great job with both organizing and scheduling speakers for these meetings which is no small task! In District 2, Carla has successfully continued to bring paralegals together and spread the word

about NePA to members, students and guests in Lincoln and outstate Nebraska. We are excited to see and get to know our Lincoln members and really enjoy the lunch-eons Carla organizes. We are looking forward to more networking in 2010 and watching District 2 grow and become more involved in NePA activities.

I am happy to report that the budget supporting 2010 NePA benefits has been approved by the membership and we are preparing to bring the association another free Mid Year Seminar at Mahoney State Park. We also will continue the reduced luncheon prices and the reduced Fall Seminar registration fee. Giving back to the membership is very important to the Board of Directors of NePA and we are grateful that we are able to provide these additional benefits to our members.

(continued on page 2)

17

FROM THE PRESIDENT: Inside this issue:

Board of Directors

3

District II Report 4

President Elect Report

5

NALA Connection— 6

NePA Seminar Highlights

8

ACP Honorees 13

P.O. BOX 24943

Omaha, NE 68124

The Daily Record Article on Loretta Phillips

18

CP Honorees 11

NEBRASKA PARALEGAL

ASSOCIATION IINN B BRIEFRIEF

DDISTRICTISTRICT I D I DIRECTORIRECTOR—— L LAURIEAURIE S. V S. VIKIK, CP, CP

The October District 1 meeting of NePA was held on October 28, 2009 at the Holiday Inn Central. There were 31 attendees at the meeting.

As a recap, the Recognition Breakfast held on Sep-

tember 17 in conjunction with NePA’s Annual Meeting and Fall Seminar was a success, with attendance by approxi-mately 100 NePA members and other members of the legal community. The keynote speaker was Daryl Hansen, Dean of Business, Metropolitan Community College.

www.nebraskaparalegal.org

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE (CON’T):

For those of you who were not able to attend the Recognition Breakfast and witness the initiation of the CP and ACP award ceremony, we are excited to announce that NePA has made that ceremony a permanent part of the Recognition Breakfast agenda. Each year NePA will award a pin to those paralegals achieving these desig-nations and they will be recognized before their attorneys and peers for their outstanding achievement.

Without a lot of hard work, NePA’s accomplishments would not be realities but simply goals on the BOD agenda. It is one thing to talk about doing something and quite another to actually make it happen. The Officers and Board of Directors you elected are “do’ers” – and you can be assured they will give 100% in 2010. We hope each of you will also be “do’ers” in this organization and become involved - - it is a win/win situation for all of us and we look forward to working with you!

Thank you all for the opportunity to serve NePA and thank you even more for making this position such a personally rewarding one for me.

Loretta Phillips, President

Page 2 Volume 8, Issue 2

This year, with permission from NALA, NePA implemented a special recognition ceremony for all NePA members who have achieved CP or ACP status by giving them a pin signifying that accomplishment. This ceremony will become an annual event for all new CP’s and ACP’s who are NePA members. The pins were presented by our President, Loretta Phillips and Mr. Hansen.

At the luncheon, the new 2009-2010 officers were asked to stand and be recognized and tell the group

their name and officer position. We also recognized Annette Dieteman with a pin recognizing her achieving the CP status. Annette was unable to attend the Recognition Breakfast. Anyone who has achieved the CP or ACP status and has not received a pin was encouraged to contact Loretta Phillips.

John Friend, Douglas County Clerk of the District Court was the luncheon speaker. Mr. Friend spoke

about “Enhancements to the District Clerk’s Office” and how the Clerk of the District Court is committed to en-hancing the capabilities of the office by the use of new technology.

Our next District 1 meeting will be held on November 18, 2009.

Respectfully submitted, Laurie S. Vik, District 1 Director

DISTRICT 1 DIRECTOR (CON’T):

Knowledge is realizing that the street is one-way, wisdom is looking both directions anyway.

A man likes his wife to be just clever enough to comprehend his cleverness,

and just stupid enough to admire it.

Never argue with a fool, they will lower you to their level and then beat you with experience.

Nothing is illegal if one hundred businessmen decide to do it.

2009-2010 COMMITTEES

CLE/ Seminar:

Chair – Alison Barthel CP

Members: Stephanie Henson ACP, Carla Larson, Elece Raglin, Angel Engman CP, Laurie Montag CP, Mindy

Mutahi CP & Carolyn Berke CP, Loretta Phillips

Audit Committee:

Kris McMahon CP, Mary Jo Schettler CP, Barbara Schmidt –

Library:

Ann Atkinson, ACP & Linda Hess, ACP

Membership:

Kim Hansen, Carla Larson, Tobi Honn

Official Publications:

Stephanie Henson ACP, Christina Koch ACP, Joyce Buller CP, Barbara Schmidt

Nominations & Elections:

Mieko Young CP, Janie Boswell, ACP

Student Services & Mentoring:

Caryn Redding, Jaci O’Brien CP, Teresa Barnes CP, Angel Engman CP, Kalisha Reed CP

Student Scholarship:

Teri Gibbons, Laurie Vik CP

CLA Scholarship:

Kimberly Brown CP, Kalisha Reed CP, Alison Barthel CP

Web Site:

Kimberly Brown CP, Kylie Clayton CP & Misty Cowan

Public Relations/NSBA Liaison:

Christina Koch, ACP Chair – Carla Larson

Law Day Poster Contest:

Loretta Phillips, Tom Tilden ACP, Judy Heiserman

CP Review Course Ad Hoc Committee:

Janie Boswell ACP, Loretta Phillips, Ann Atkinson ACP, Annette Dieteman CP

Board of Directors Meeting Dates

December 5, 2009—Stephanie Henson

January 12, 2010—Gross & Welch

March 9, 2010—Adesta

May 11, 2010—Inserra & Kelley

August 6, 2010—Kim Hansen

October 14, 2010—Spencer Fane

President

Loretta Phillips, City of Omaha, Law Depart-ment

President—Elect

Alison Barthel, CP, Gross & Welch

Vice President

Kim Hansen, Omaha World Herald

Secretary

Jaci O’Brien, ACP, Adesta, LLC

Treasurer

Teresa Barnes, CP, Gross & Welch

Parliamentarian

Kalisha Reed, CP, Legal Aid of Nebraska

NALA Liaison

Christina L. Koch, ACP, Inserra & Kelley

District 1 Director

Laurie S. Vik, CP, Kiewit Corporation

District 2 Director

Carla Larson, Cline Williams Wright Johnson

& Oldfather, LLP

Web Administrator

Kim Brown, Spencer Fane

Publications Editor

Stephanie Henson, ACP, Dial Companies

2009-2010 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Page 3 VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

Carla Larson

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, then used against you.

A compromise is an agreement whereby both parties get what neither of them wanted.

You can't have everything....where would you put it?

Our NePA organization was introduced to two additional paralegal classes at Doane College, Lincoln campus in September with eight students subsequently requesting inclusion in future District 2 group e-mail information. The last 2009 District 2 networking lunch-and-learn meeting will be held Thursday, November 19, 2009 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Green Gateau restaurant in downtown Lincoln. At that meeting I will recap what we have accomplished in the previous 12 months, and present our NePA-approved 2010 budget. The meeting will also provide a forum to brainstorm what areas of continuing education, professional growth and commu-nity involvement attendees would like to develop in 2010, where they see our arm of the statewide organization going, and any creative proposals for continuing to grow our numbers. I am pleased to announce that the recent CP Scholarship winner announced at the 2009 NePA Fall Seminar was a paralegal from District 2: Shamlynn Berggren in Geneva, Nebraska. Congratulations, Shamlynn! 2010 District 2 quarterly meetings will be held on the fourth Thursday of the first month of each quarter. This adjusted schedule will enhance attendance opportunities by avoiding conflicts with April 15 tax day for tax-involved paralegals, major holidays, NePA’s Spring Seminar and Fall Seminar and membership meetings, and District I meetings. Until our attending numbers regularly exceed 25, we will continue to meet at the Green Gateau restaurant in downtown Lincoln, with each attendee ordering and paying individually from the menu.

2010 District 2 Meeting Dates: January 28 - electronic document security by IS personnel at CWWJO

April 22 - speaker/topic TBD

July 22 - speaker/topic TBD

October 21 - speaker/topic TBD

Respectfully submitted,

Carla Larson

District 2 Director

DISTRICT II DIRECTOR — CARLA LARSON

Page 4 VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

Volume 8, Issue 2 Page 5

One of the duties of the President Elect is to chair the Seminar Committee. Admittedly, at first, I was a hesitant about taking on this responsibility. Fortunately, for all of us, there is a committee in place that has been (and will continue to be) hard at work to make the NePA Spring and Fall Seminars successful, while making my job much easier. I would like to thank all of the members of the Seminar and CLE com-mittees for their continued hard work and I look forward to working with all of you.

While the committee strives to make these seminars not only educational and an opportunity for inexpensive CLE credits, they are also a great opportunity to meet and converse with your current para-legal acquaintances AND make new connections. One of the reasons I joined NePA years ago was for the networking opportunities. As a stu-dent member, I got to know a number of people. I may not have known them all personally, but I certainly recognized them and the in-formation they were willing to share with me. Now that I am an active member, I recognize even more now that members of our organization have years of experience and an expansive knowledge base. Their commitment to sharing that knowledge is also outstanding. I have yet to ask a question that someone from our membership did not have an answer to or, at a minimum, know where to direct me to find my an-swer. I would encourage all of you to attend both the Spring and Fall seminars to learn as well as make an effort to meet someone new. We all have great things to share!

Respectfully submitted,

Alison Barthel, CP

VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

Alison Barthel, CP

PRESIDENT ELECT’S REPORT BY ALISON BARTHEL, CP

VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT BY KIM HANSEN

Kim asks that you check your quarantine and/or spam filters to make sure her e-mails are

getting through. Her e-mail address is: Kim.Hansen@owh.com

Christina Koch, ACP

NALA Liaison

As NALA Liaison, I enjoy keeping up with the latest news from NALA and also

advising NALA of the latest news in the Nebraska Paralegal Association. The NePA

Fall Seminar was very exciting for many of our NePA paralegal members as they be-

came the first to receive the NePA-issued pins to recognize achievement of the NALA

Certified Paralegal and NALA Advanced Certified Paralegal designations. Each parale-

gal member of NePA who had earned the designation was awarded a pin signifying

their accomplishment. If you qualify for the pin and did not receive one, please con-

tact President Loretta Phillips at lphillips@nebraskaparalegal.org.

There are also some very exciting things happening NALA Headquar-

ters. First, this year’s NALA Short Course will be held in Las Vegas, NV on November

11-13, 2009. The next CLA exam is scheduled for December 4-5, 2009, and NePA

extends their well-wishes to any of our members sitting for this exam. Good

luck! The next exam date will be in March and registration should be completed by

January 15, 2010 if you wish to sit for the March examination. Please visit

www.nala.org if you have any questions about NALA or upcoming examination dates

or deadlines. If you have already obtained your CLA/CP designation, remember that

advanced certification can also be obtained through NALA in a number of different

areas. The ACP has its own website, which you can visit at http://www.nala.org/

apcweb/index.html. If you are looking for Continuing Legal Education credits, please

remember that in addition to NePA’s two very affordable annual seminars, you may

take courses on NALA Campus Live to obtain your necessary credits.

NALA’s publications have had some very exciting changes this year as

well. The August 2009 issue of Facts & Findings was the first to be full color and

printed exclusively on eco-friendly recycled paper, produced from well managed for-

ests, controlled sources, and recycled wood or fiber. The cover of Facts & Findings

also now features a water-based coating rather than petroleum-based alternatives to

achieve the glossy look. Lastly, subscribers will receive six issues this year, rather

than five. As the holiday season approaches, remember that a subscription to Facts

& Findings makes an excellent gift for any paralegal and can be purchased for just

$25.00 per year!

Lastly, the new LEAP Class has begun. If you are interested in learning more about LEAP, please attend the monthly NePA educational luncheon in November and learn about the exciting and rewarding year I spent in the LEAP program! Have a happy and healthy holiday season!

NALA CONNECTION—CHRISTINA L. KOCH, ACP

Page 6 VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

DECEMBER 2009

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

Page 7

NOVEMBER 2009 S U N M O N T U E W E D T H U F R I S A T

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30

Happy

Birthday

to all our

November

and

December

Babies!

May your

holiday be

blessed with

bounty in

all things.

May the joys

of the season be yours

throughout

the year.

Page 8 VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

NEPA’S 2009 FALL SEMINAR

BY: JOYCE BULLER, CLA On Thursday, September 17, and Friday, September 18, NePA held its annual fall seminar at the Holiday Inn Central in Omaha. Fifty-five members attended over the two days. Our organization was fortunate to have many stimulating speakers present on various legal topics. The first continuing legal education speaker was attorney, Heather May of Fidelity National Title Group. Ms. May spoke about Legal Writing. She covered these legal writing issues: abbreviations, pinpoint citations, short form citations and failure to cite where needed. Regarding abbreviations we were reminded of Bluebook rule 10.2.2, which requires that certain words be abbreviated. Words that must be abbreviated when citing case names can be found in T.6 of The Bluebook. Gener-ally, every abbreviation should be followed by a period. Thus, Avenue abbreviated becomes Ave. When abbreviating textual sentences, whether in main text or in footnote text, abbreviate only these widely known acronyms: &, Ass’n, Bros., Co., Corp., Inc., No., and Ltd. In order to point your reader to the specific page(s) that relate to the cited proposition, you must include a pinpoint citation. A pinpoint is necessary as it provides the only means by which the reader can be directed to the exact page that contains the information you are relying on for support. The following is an example of the pinpoint citation: Nolan v. Graves Corp., 10 S.W.3d 216,220 (Tex. 1999) Short citation forms include id. and supra. The use of id. applies when you have no intervening authority, and you are citing to a different page. You would use id. for citation of cases, statutes, and constitutions, as well as court documents and legal memoranda. A special note for court documents and legal memoranda--here use “id.” when citing an immediately preceding authority, but only when the immediately preceding citation contains just one authority. For example, a proper citation with id. would be: 15 Id. at 3, reprinted in Economic Foundations of Prop-erty Law 307,309 (Bruce A. Ackerman ed., 1975). Supra is the correct short form for citing periodicals, legislative hearings, regulations, and directives. The “supra” form generally consists of the last name of the author of the work, followed by a comma and the word “supra”; the supra form is to be used when an authority has been previously fully cited. Remember to cite for all information, all propositions, and all statements drawn from a source. Failing to cite a source is a common error in legal writing. The next speaker was attorney Steve Delaney of the Cline Williams law firm. He presented on the topic of personal injury plaintiffs’ cases. He elaborated on the ways he utilizes his paralegal in personal injury matters. Ini-tially, he and his paralegal both meet with a potential personal injury client. All the handwritten notes that Mr. De-laney takes from the initial client consultation are passed off to his paralegal. The paralegal then summarizes the notes. Once the firm agrees to take the personal injury case, the paralegal prepares the medical release forms for client signature. Next, the paralegal orders the medical records. Mr. Delaney emphasized that medical records are helpful for all stages of discovery, and it is especially important for him to review the medical records before going into any deposition. The best way to maximize monetary outcome for your personal injury client is with a settlement brochure. The settlement brochures Mr. Delaney and his paralegal produce for their clients include the following information: medical bills, medical records, insurance company recorded statements, witness interview summaries, photos and/or video images, special damages, lost wages, anatomical illustrations, mileage, life expectancy tables, jury verdicts and settlement research. An important aspect of the settlement brochure for Mr. Delaney is that it contains “clean” medical bills. The paralegal requests clean copies of all medical bills. “Clean” means the full cost of the medical treatments is listed on bill without any reference to insurance company payments. If a clean copy of a bill can’t be obtained, then the bills placed in the settlement brochure will have insurance company payment amounts redacted.

Mr. Delaney’s strategy in all personal injury cases is to make every medical bill and record part of the Request for Admissions. Mr. Delaney’s discovery time frame is to serve the defendant with Requests for Pro-duction and Interrogatories no later than 30 days after obtaining initial service on the defendant. After Mr. Delaney

Page 9 VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

NEPA’S 2009 FALL SEMINAR (CON’T.)

Responses to the Interrogatories and Request for Production, he then serves the defendant with a Request for Ad-missions. The paralegal is also involved in drafting discovery, noticing depositions, interviewing witnesses and trial preparation during the course of a personal injury case. The final presenter on Thursday was attorney, Thomas Anschutz of the Spencer Fane law firm. He dis-cussed witness credibility. Mr. Anschutz touched on overriding principals in witness interviewing, as well as specific tactics to use when interviewing witnesses. His advice included the following: the interviewer should use logic over emotion, ask open-ended questions, be patient, and take the time to fully listen to the responses of the interviewee. The strategy he employs when dealing with witnesses is to ask himself: “How will this witnesses aid or not aid in the case I am trying to prove?” An aspect of communication to be mindful of when evaluating witness credibility includes the degree of the interviewee’s conviction about the events. Does your witness respond with “I think”, “I believe” or “I know”? Answering with “I know” is the strongest level of conviction. Some indicators that a witness is probably not credible include if he/she shows a sudden change in speech patterns, answers a question with a ques-tion, or laughs at inappropriate times during the interview. Blushing often and/or sweating can be non-verbal clues that a witness is lying/not disclosing all information he/she knows. In evaluating a witness be sure to gauge 1) how consistent the witness is in answering questions; 2) if the witness is direct in answering questions; and 3) if the wit-ness is displaying any biases throughout the interview. Mr. Anschutz mentioned when looking into expert witnesses, the most important criteria is that person’s level of expertise on a given subject. Mr. Anschutz contemplates the en-tire interview before making a final determination of a witness’s credibility and trustworthiness. The second day of seminar was Friday, September 18. The first speaker of the day was attorney, Kristin Fearnow of the Peck Law Firm. Ms. Fearnow spoke on immigration law. Attorney Fearnow shared that many of her clients seek the status of Legal Permanent Resident (LPR). The most common ways one becomes a LPR is through either family sponsored immigration or employment-based immigration. Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) grants one the right to live and work in the United States indefinitely. However, this status can be revoked. Conditions which trigger the revocation of LPR status include conviction of a crime or leaving the United States for too long a period of time. Too long of a period of time is defined as more than one year. LPR’s have a permanent resident card, also known as a green card. Having the status of LPR allows one to potentially be come a naturalized U.S. Citizen. The criteria to become a naturalized citizen is as follows: You have been a legal permanent resident (LPR) of the U.S. for at least 5 years (requirement reduced to 3

years if the LPR is married to a U.S. Citizen)

Have good moral character.

Must demonstrate knowledge of U.S. history and government as well as the ability to understand, speak and write ordinary English.

Other less common legal status catergories include: nonimmigrant or temporary visas, asylees/refugees, asylum applicants, and temporary protected status individuals. Next, NePA seminar attendees heard from attorney, Stan Beede. He presented on defending criminal cases in Nebraska. First, the speaker covered the levels of crimes in the state, which include: infractions, misde-meanors, and felonies. Nebraska Revised Statutes Chapter 28 defines and covers crimes, and Nebraska Revised Statue Chapter 29 speaks to criminal procedures. Mr. Beeder also discussed some motions used in criminal matters. He spoke about the Brady Motion. This is filed by the accused, and it requires the State to produce exculpatory evi-dence. Exculpatory evidence is any evidence affecting the credibility of state witnesses. This could include items such as inconsistent statements, any evidence that mitigates against the degree of the offense the defendant has been charged with, and any witnesses that the state will call at trial who have been convicted of a crime. Another motion defense counsel might utilize is the Motion to Suppress. This is when the defendant asks the Court to enter an Order that suppresses evidence from being included at trial. This is usually due to evidence being obtained via

Page 10 VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

On Friday afternoon Amy Brunswick and Judy Eicher, presented on the topic of electronic filing with the Federal Court. Ms. Brunswich and Ms. Eicher are both case management specialists with the Untied States District Court for the District of Nebraska. The recommendation of the Court is to convert all electronic documents into a PDF (Portable Document Format). Note--you can use Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional to convert a Word Document into a PDF. If the document you are trying to file is larger than 10MB, you will need to split the PDF into two or more files. The website for the Court has a tutorial section on the electronic filing process. It can be accessed at www.ned.uscourts.gov; once you are at this main website, select Electronic Filing System (CM/ECF), and then go to the section called Procedures & Training. A few general tips regarding E-filing in the Federal Court, use white or light-colored exhibit stickers only. The reason for this is because the darker-colored exhibit stickers will not be readable once the exhibit is converted to electronic form. Also, there should not be anything attached to a mo-tion when doing your e-filing. File indexes and briefs separately from the motion. Any proposed orders that relate to a motion should be submitted to the Judge’s chambers, such proposed orders are not to be e-filed. Additional re-minders from the Federal court staff include that each attorney has his/her own unique user id and password for each Federal court that he/she is admitted to practice in. It is your ECF (Electronic Court Filing) id and password which enables you to electronically file your documents with the Court, not your Pacer password. Each law office is also assigned by the Federal Court, a Pacer id and login. This Pacer id and login allows anyone in the same office to view electronic court filings. The Pacer center charges for viewing electronic documents which is why each office is assigned its own Pacer id and password. The last speaker of the Seminar was Frank Reida, attorney with Energy Systems and a Dale Carnegie Trainer. He spoke about team building. In building rapport with people, Mr. Reida presented these 9 guidelines from Dale Carnegie Training:

Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain. Give honest, sincere appreciation. Arouse in the other person an eager want. Become genuinely interested in other people. Smile. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the most important sound. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. Talk in terms of other person’s interests. Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely.

In order to demonstrate the importance of listening within the communication process Mr. Reida held a demonstration. The demonstration involved several NePA volunteers, who left the main conference room where Mr. Reida was speaking. These volunteers were then secluded. Next, one person who stayed in the main conference room was told a story by Mr. Reida. The person who just listened to Mr. Reida’s story then had to repeat that exact same story to one of the secluded NePA members. The secluded person then had to re-tell the story to all sitting in the main conference room. Those of us listening to the re-telling then evaluated how accurate the information in the story was. It was fascinating to see what details of a story are omitted when information is going through an inter-mediary. It was a very effective way to demonstrate the importance of fully listening. The last piece of Mr. Reida’s presentation was a group survival exercise. Seminar attendees were broken into groups of 3. Each group had to both individually and as a group discuss how to use a list of limited resources given to them. Each person was provided a list of 14 items he/she would have at his/her disposable after surviving a plane crash. Each individual ranked the items in importance from 1 to 14. Then each group had to collaborate and rank these same 14 items in order of importance. Each group of 3 then had a spokesperson present to the seminar attendees as a whole, what items they valued the most and why they deemed those items the most valuable. It proved to be a very interesting experiment. People came up with many ways to use the items on the survival list. The creative juices were really flowing for this particular exercise, and our Fall Seminar ended in plenty of lively and

NEPA’S 2009 FALL SEMINAR (CON’T.)

Page 11 VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

Susan Altstadt 1/1/1998 Jennie Anderson 5/1/2008 Sandra Armstrong 5/1/2000 Sandra Banks 5/1/2009

Teresa Barnes 5/1/2007

Greta K. Barrett 1/1/2006 Alison Barthel 1/1/2009 Angela Baudler 1/1/1995 Sherrie Best 5/1/1990 Rena Blackwell 1/1/2007 April Bockelmann 1/1/2009 Heather Boozikee 1/1/2002 Karen Boyd 1/1/2002 Lacy Brandt 1/1/2005 Debra Brannan 9/1/2005 Joyce Bray 1/1/1994 Kimberly A.S. Brown 5/1/2009 Joyce Buller 5/1/2007 Karen Byrne 5/1/2004 Nikki Campos 1/1/2005 Judy Carver 1/1/2007 Kimberly Clayton 4/1/1998 Kylie Clayton 1/1/2007 Lee Coffin 1/1/2008 Jenessa Cruz-Alfaro 5/1/2005 Annette Dieteman 1/1/2008 Elisabeth Dority 1/1/2004 Amy Edmonds 1/1/2005 Elizabeth Elliott 5/1/2009 Jean Ellis 1/1/2006 Karen Emerson 5/1/1990 Angel Engman 1/1/2008 Kimberly Fauver 1/1/2009 Mary Ellie Fehrman 5/1/2001 Michelle Foutch 9/1/1998 Dawn Green 8/1/2008

Victoria Groskopf-Jones 5/1/1982 Maren Hanson 1/1/2007 Cindy Hawkins 8/1/2001 Jean Herman-Fehr 9/1/2006 Joni Hickey 5/1/2005 Karen Hicks 8/1/2003 Brian Hirschman 5/1/2007 Andrea Huey 1/1/2004 Rebecca Kay 5/1/2009 Danette Kennedy 5/1/1993 Connie Kroksh 1/1/1991 Tanya Kuenning 5/1/2007 Michael Labs 1/1/2009 Teresa Layton 9/1/1998 Angela Loehr 4/1/1998 A. Rose Lulla 5/1/2007 Lisa Marcuccio 1/1/2002 Lorine Mares 5/1/1979 Joanna McAleer 5/1/1996 Kristine McMahon 5/1/2006 Colleen Metz 5/1/2001 Mindy Mutahi 1/1/2009 Kimberly Neumann 9/1/2004 Terry Newquist 5/1/2006 Laura Olson 1/1/2009 Jennifer Osten 5/1/2000 Joyce Pardee 2/1/1992 Terri Peetz 1/1/2009 Carly Prouse 1/1/2005 Shauna Raab 5/1/2001 Kalisha Reed 5/1/2008 Carrie Rhine 9/1/2005 Pamela Richman 2/1/1996 Cinda Ritchie 8/1/2001 Mary Jo Schettler 1/1/2009 Kimberly Schoonmaker 1/1/1999 Michelle Sealock 5/1/2001 Cheryl Sempek 2/1/1992

NePA proudly recognizes the following individuals for their

Certified Paralegal achievement.

Page 12 VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

Teresa Shafer 5/1/2009

Joan Shaw 1/1/2008

Brandi Shirley 5/1/2006

Christine Shrader 8/1/2008

Jacqui Slinkard 1/1/2009

Radine Stewart 5/1/1980

Kimberly Studeman 5/1/2009

Fransesca Swynford 5/1/1994

Joan Thelin 5/1/1990

Peggy Thunn 1/1/1994

Thomas Tilden 1/1/2002

Susan Towles 1/1/2005

Millie Trent 1/1/2005

Laurie Vik 5/1/2000

Robert Wacker 5/1/2007

Carol White 5/1/1982

Kristine Woodke 9/1/1990

Mieko Young 5/1/2009

Mary Zgoda 5/1/2005

Pictured above are the Certified Paralegal Honorees taken at the

Annual Meeting Recognition Breakfast.

Page 13 VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

NePA proudly recognizes the following individuals for their

Advanced Certified Paralegal achievement.

Ann Atkinson 2/1/1993 09/06 - Contracts Administration/Management

Carolyn Berke 8/1/2008 09/08 - Discovery

Heather Bernt 5/1/2008 07/08 - Social Security Disability

Janie Boswell 1/1/1987 12/87 - Probate & Estate Planning

Sara Christianso 9/1/2005 10/08 - Business Organizations: Incorporated Entities

Kelly Elder 1/1/2007 05/08 - Discovery

Charli Fallon Horn 1/1/2004 11/08 - Discovery

Lori Froistad 1/1/2001 02/09 - ADR

Stephanie Henson 1/1/2003 01/08 - Business Organizations: Incorporated Entities

Linda Hess 5/1/1996 01/04 - Real Estate

Janice Howard 1/1/2003 10/08 - Contracts Administration/Management

Tammy Johnson 1/1/2007 04/08 - Discovery

Christina Koch 5/1/2001 01/07 - Trial Practice

Connie Kretchmer 10/1/1983 08/96 - Probate & Estate Planning

Susan Lindhorst 5/1/2003 01/05 - Civil Litigation

Andrea Maldonado 1/1/2002 12/06 - Social Security Disability

Colleen McCarthy 5/1/1995 01/98 - Civil Litigation

Kerry Michele-Buller

5/1/2005 02/09 - Discovery

Sarah Moore 5/1/2006 02/07 - Contracts Administration/Management

Jaci O'Brien 9/1/2007 02/08 - Contracts Administration/Management

Beverly Petersen 6/1/1981 03/87 - Probate & Estate Planning CLA Emeritus

Jaime Rose 9/1/2007 04/08 - Contracts Administration/Management

Katherine Stehlik 8/1/1994 08/06 - Contracts Administration/Management

CLA ACP DATE AND AREA OF ACHIEVEMENT

Page 14 VOLUME IX, ISSUE 1

Pictured below are the Advanced Certified Paralegal

Honorees taken at the

Annual Meeting Recognition Breakfast.

FOR MORE PICTURES TAKEN

AT THE ANNUAL MEETING

PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.NEBRASKAPARALEGAL.ORG

COMMUNITY ACTION

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COMMUNITY ACTION

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COMMUNITY ACTION

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YOUR PRESIDENT IN THE NEWS: THIS ARTICLE WAS PRINTED IN THE DAILY RECORD IN THEIR “WOMEN AT WORK” SERIES ON OCTOBER 13, 2009. THIS IS REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF THE DAILY RECORD.

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NEPA GRATEFULLY

ACKNOWLEDGES THE

SUPPORT AND INTEGRITY OF

THE DAILY RECORD.