Notice of Nominations/Election of President-Elect

Pursuant to Standing Rule XIV of the Legal Assistants Division of the State Bar of Texas, notice is hereby given of an election for the office of President-Elect. This election will be held by mail during the month of January 2002 by the Board of Directors.

Qualifications for serving as President-Elect of the Division are contained in Standing Rule XIV as follows:

XIV. OFFICERS

B. ELIGIBILITY

1. Any current or past Director who is currently an active or freelance member of the Division is eligible to be elected as President or President-Elect.

Any qualified individual who is interested in running for office of President-Elect should forward a one-page résumé, together with a letter of intent to run, to the nominations committee at the following address NO LATER THAN JANUARY 15, 2002.

Melinda Jackson
Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP
700 Louisiana, Ste. 1600
Houston, TX   77002

Notice of Director Election

Jo Ann Sims, PLS, CLAS
Board Certified Legal Assistant-
Real Estate Law-
Texas Board of Legal Specialization 
Elections Committee Chair
254/739-2563
jo@glade.net 

The election of directors to the Board of Directors of the Legal Assistants Division of the State Bar of Texas from District 2, District 4, District 6, District 8, District 10, District 12, District 14, and District 16 will be held on May 2, 2002. All active and freelance members of the Legal Assistants Division of the State Bar of Texas in good standing as of February 1, 2002, will be eligible to vote.

Each potential candidate must satisfy the following requirements:

a.            Eligibility Requirements. The candidate must satisfy the eligibility requirements of Article III, Section 3 and Article IX, Section 1 A and Section 4 of the Bylaws and Rule V B, Section 5 c of the Standing Rules.

b.            Declaration of Intent. The candidate must make a declaration of intent to run as a candidate for the office of director through an original nominating petition declaring such intent that is filed with the Elections Subcommittee Chair in the candidate’s district pursuant to Rule V B, Section 5 of the Standing Rules.

c.            Nominating Petition. The original nominating petition must be signed by and must be submitted to the Elections Subcommittee Chair in such district, on or before March 18, 2002. The number of signatures required on the original nominating petition shall be as follows:

Beginning on February 15, 2002, each Elections Subcommittee Chair shall prepare and forward, upon request, the following materials to potential candidates for director in their respective district at any time during the nominating period:

a.         A copy of the List of Registered Voters for their district;

b.         A sample nominating petition; and

c.         A copy of Rule VI of the Standing Rules entitled “Guidelines for Campaigns for Candidates as Director”.

            To request information from the Elections Subcommittee Chair for your district contact:

District 2: Linda J. Wolf, CLAS, 214/981-3342 (Dallas area) lwolf@sidley.com

District 4: Jennifer Fielder, 512/482-9291, Extension 101 (Austin area) jfielder@r-wlaw.com

District 6: Beth Arnold, CLA, 806/762-5281 (Lubbock area) barnold@cdmlaw.com

District 8: Ann R. Giddens, CLAS, (361) 888-7676,  agidd12983@aol.com (Victoria/Corpus Christi area)

District 10: S. Kristine Farmer, 214/369-1321 (Conroe/Beaumont/Huntsville area) KristineFarmer@paralegals.org

District 12: Rhonda J. Brashears, CLA, 806/379-0325 (Abilene/Denton/Wichita Falls area) rjb@uwlaw.com

District 14: Linda Slayter, CLA, 903/597-8311 (Tyler area) lindaslayter@potterfirm.com

District 16: Donna Crafton, CLA, (El Paso area) 915/546-8313 dcra@scotthulse.com

 The following timetable is provided to guide you through the election process.

 February 1, 2002: In accordance with the Standing Rules V B, Section 5 e, the voter registration deadline shall be February 1 of each year.

 February 15, 2002: Contact the Elections Subcommittee Chair for your district and request a nominating petition and, at your option, prepare a short resume to attach to such nominating petition. Each candidate should include enough copies of the resume for each member of the candidate’s district.

Brochure or Resume:  A brochure or resume pertaining to each candidate for director may be enclosed with the ballot and shall be prepared and furnished to the Elections Subcommittee Chair at each candidate’s own expenses. Such brochure or resume shall be received by the Elections Subcommittee Chair sufficiently in advance to be included in the mailing of the ballots. Such brochure or resume shall not exceed two 8 1/2" x 11"  pages or one 8 1/2"  x 14"  page.

Campaigning:  After the signatures on the Nominating Petition  have been verified (March 18, 2002), the nominee may begin actively campaigning. Solicitation by mail is proper, provided that such mailing be on personal stationery or employer letterhead (provided that the employer’s permission has been obtained). Candidates themselves, in addition to the above, may campaign by personal solicitation. The full expense of such mail solicitation shall not exceed the sum of $500. However, to the fullest extent possible, all communications and solicitations, whether by letter or card or telephone, should concentrate on the candidate’s merits and should avoid criticism of the other candidate or candidates. The excessive use of telephone solicitation by persons other than candidates through the use of WATS lines and similar organized solicitation is discouraged.

 March 18, 2002:  Return your Nominating Petition, properly completed, and at your option, with a sufficient number of copies of your resume or brochure for members in your district, to the District Subcommittee Chair. (Any petition received after March 18, 2002, will not be accepted. Faxed, xeroxed, or telecopied nominating petitions cannot be accepted as proof of a candidate’s eligibility for nomination.)

March 27, 2002:  Elections Subcommittee Chair, after verifying signatures on the Nominating Petition, will forward a draft of the ballot to the Elections Chair.

April 5, 2002:  Elections Committee Chair shall forward ballots to the Legal Assistants Division Coordinator for printing.

April 17, 2002:  Ballots mailed for Director Election.

May 2, 2002:  Deadline for receipt of marked ballots for director election. All ballots must be returned to the Legal Assistants Division Coordinator for the Legal Assistants Division in the ballot envelope furnished. Only ballots received by May 2, 2002, shall be tallied.

May 3, 2002:  The Legal Assistants Division Coordinator with the Elections Subcommittee for District 4 will cause such ballots to be tabulated and notify the active candidates of such election results.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Elections Subcommittee Chair for your district.

On August 29, 2001 Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed Xavier Rodriguez, a labor lawyer with the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski (San Antonio) to the Texas Supreme Court.

Xavier Rodriguez is former Chair of the State Bar Legal Assistant Committee, and served on the committee for several years before becoming Chair.

The Legal Assistant Committee of the State Bar is appointed by the State Bar President and its members are primarily attorneys, with some legal assistants appointed as public members of the committee.

In addition,  Justice Rodriguez previously served on the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Legal Assistants (“SCOLA”)after appointment by the ABA President. In these positions, Mr. Rodriguez has attended Texas Legal Assistant Division meetings and national paralegal organization meetings.

Mr. Rodriguez graduated from Harvard in 1983 and received his law degree from the University of Texas in 1987. At the time of his appointment to the Texas Supreme Court,he practiced law at the San Antonio office of Fulbright & Jaworski. He will seek election to the Court in 2002.

An interesting note is that Mr. Rodriguez was appointed to fulfill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by  Justice  Greg Abbott, who was a former legal assistant in Austin prior to becoming an attorney and left the Court to run for Texas Attorney General.

Legal Assistants University 2001 — Excellent, As Usual

Over 250 legal assistants gathered for the third LAU, held at the Renaissance North Hotel Dallas, September 5th through the 8th. What an awesome seminar it was this year. The LAU Committee,  Stephanie Hawkes, Dallas; Kim Cantu, Dallas; Ginger Dvorak, Austin; Kathryn Moore, Fort Worth; Robin Swattes, Houston; Kristine Farmer, Dallas; and of course, Norma Hackler, LAD Coordinator, and her assistant Tricia Humber, as well as 70 volunteers across the state, made an unbelievably dedicated committee to make LAU happen. I thank each and every one of them with the deepest respect for their dedication to LAD.

The event began on Wednesday afternoon with a technology seminar. We then went next door to the Brookhaven College campus for a barbeque. Earlier that day, less that 20 miles away, tornadoes were touching down in Dallas, and it was pouring rain. We were very fortunate that it completely cleared off in North Dallas, and a wonderful breeze picked up, and the barbeque was a great success. The barbeque was partially sponsored by vendors: Co-Counsel, Trial Arts, Marker-Hoff Group, and Pinnacle Outsourcing. Everyone commented on the great food, and it started our event off on a very positive note. In addition, we had over 20 students from the El Centro/Brookhaven legal assisting program attend. Most of them were brand new students to the program, and were very glad to have the opportunity to network with legal assistants from all over the state, and to get information about LAD.

On Thursday, classes formally commenced, and were extremely well attended. The vendor booths were set up that morning. We had a total of 30 vendors join us this year. Our luncheon was designed to review LAD’s 20 year history. As our speakers we had Judge Richard Johnson, Melinda Watts Smith, and Ike Vanden Eykel as speakers, who were on the original planning committee for LAD in 1979–1980. They shared memories with us as to the formation of LAD. Since we are beginning our 20 year celebration, we recognized all of the former Chairs/Presidents, Board members, and Charter members that were in attendance. A short history of top events of LAD over the past 20 years was presented—and LAD’s 20 year history is also presented in this issue of the magazine.

Thursday evening was the “Mystery Guest” dinner. Buses were chartered, thanks to Dallas Area Paralegal Association, Metroplex Association of Corporate Paralegals, and Collin County Legal Association to transport the attendees over to the restaurants. Attendees had chosen to eat either Italian, Mexican or American food, and were taken to one of the appropriate restaurants. When the attendees came back to the hotel, there was a Talent Revue Dessert Social with a sundae dessert bar, and karaoke!  The karaoke DJ got things started very quickly, and it really took off. There was a waiting list for people to sign up to sing. The vendors attending really got into the swing of things, and made the evening a lot of fun!  Everyone was able to really relax, and have a great time.

Friday, classes continued. There was a special luncheon for the volunteers, which was very nice, and our way of saying thanks for all of their help. Fort Worth Paralegal Association sponsored a “Cowtown Board Breakfast at LAU” for Board members of LAD, local associations, and LAU committee members. It was a very nice breakfast and we thank FWPA for their contribution in that regard. On Friday evening, we had our more formal social. The food was wonderful, and great door prizes were given out. The “Name Game” was once again played.

We asked for a few comments from the attendees, and share the following thoughts:

Cynthia Minchillo-Synhorst from Dallas was one of our scholarship recipients for LAU. She made the following comments: “This was my first LAU even though I have purchased a manual in the past. Being here in person gave me the opportunity to branch out and experience a new area of the law. David Watkins was my guinea pig when I skipped my registered class. I ended up being assigned to the pool of defense lawyers Mr. Watkins assigned to various, amusing, sexual harassment (hostile environment) cases. Wow, what an education I received!”

Another attendee wrote: “This was my first LAU and it was an amazing experience. I am already looking forward to Houston!”

Sheila M. Rummery from Dallas was one of our volunteers. I have to share the funniest moment of the entire seminar (with Sheila’s permission)—and she said it was her favorite memory of the seminar as well. I got the bright!? idea to make all of the volunteers mini mum corsages, which they wore throughout the seminar. Now, I must admit, some probably wore them with trepidation, but others seemed to really like them. Sheila shared with us on Thursday that she was so proud of her corsage that when she got home Wednesday evening she put it in the refrigerator to keep it fresh!  Yes, you guessed it right—the mums are silk!  That made it all worth the yards and yards of ribbon, and the multiple glue gun burns I endured putting them together!  Sheila also graced us with the following comments: “I found dealing with complexities of a personal injury case very informative. Mr. Shiver provided some very helpful examples of how to make scheduling depositions with several attorneys, clients, etc. a little easier to accomplish. Plus he added a lot of helpful hints that I would have never thought of in putting together a PI case in terms of strategies to be used.”  She also made the following remarks: “This was my first Lau and definitely will not be my last!  The information provided by the speakers was incredible. I learned valuable information from every one of them. Some seminars you go to and feel you wasted a full day of work, plus lost your money in the process. This was not the case at LAU. The evening events were fun and made an excellent ending for a long day in seminars.”

Betsy Dennis from Dallas said “William Liebbe did a great job on presenting his topic Medical Negligence!  Its really complex and now I have a better insight plus the printed material I can use as a reference guide to future questions. Thanks for a job well done. His attorney jokes also a gave us a laugh!” 

LAU 2001—A Success; Thank You, Sponsors