"You've Come a Long Way, Baby"
When I was still just a schoolkid, my favorite commercials were the ones that featured that slogan, because they demonstrated the way that society's perception of a woman's role has changed over the years. That phrase once again echoed through my mind during the annual meeting as I met some of the founding members of the organization I am so proud to lead.
I wasn't a member of this profession when the Division was formed - I was still pursuing a music degree, never dreaming that I would ever do anything other than direct a band. But my friends and colleagues who have been in the trenches for years have told me what it was like before the days of fax machines, personal computers, and overnight messengers. The technology which we all take for granted in our everyday lives has only been around for some 15 years, yet most of us cannot imagine what it would be like to try and communicate with opposing counsel on a last minute basis without our trusty faxes and messengers. And I can only imagine what my life would have been like as an appellate legal assistant with only a typewriter and carbon paper!
In my early years on the Board of Directors, some six years ago, I often witnessed the indignant responses to statements such as "anyone who has a computer on their desk is not a real legal assistant." Now it seems as though not only must a legal assistant be computer literate - he or she must be intimately familiar with the newest technology. In recognition of the important role that technology plays in our professional lives, the Board will host several attorney/legal assistant teams who will demonstrate some of their favorite tricks of the trade using today's state-of-the-art software and hardware at the Texas Forum in September. I wonder what some of the people who felt that legal assistants and computers should not mix would have thought in July when most of the Directors were exchanging e-mail addresses.
Several charter members have expressed their great sense of pride in the positive changes they have seen in the Division since they laid its solid foundation 15 years ago. In my years as both a Director and an officer, I have participated in many painful debates over what our membership needed and wanted - not a few of which I thought would result in a serious division in our membership. But, when all is said and done, the Board has continually sought to further the goals and needs of our members.
This term the Board is committed to answering yet another need of the members - affordable and accessible CLE in all districts. Not only will we continue to expand our offer of advanced level seminars in the areas of specialty certification, but we are also adding a new Practice Skills seminar. The brainchild of Immediate Past-President, Sally Andress, the Practice Skills seminar will be co-sponsored by the Dallas Young Lawyers Association and is designed to assist both legal assistants and recently licensed attorneys.
However, we are not stopping there. At the urging of the Board of Directors, an Ad Hoc Committee has been appointed to help the Division answer the need for CLE presentations closer to home. The Ad Hoc Committee's report will be presented at the September Board meeting and, once approved, will provide step-by-step assistance and guidelines for any District Director to follow in planning seminars in their home District. Additionally, it will provide the initial funding to allow these seminars to be offered at an extremely reasonable cost to our members. It is my hope that never again will the Board be faced with the problem of members who cannot obtain the CLE that they desperately need because their employer is unwilling or unable to assist them with travel and registration expenses.
We have come a long way, baby - from the days of carbon paper and typewriters to the days of e-mail and "the net." Yet we are an organization in its infancy, and we still have a long way to go.
TEXAS PARALEGAL JOURNAL
Fall 1996
©1996 Legal Assistants Division, State Bar of Texas