C
O L U M N S
PRESIDENT'S
MESSAGE
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It
is with sincere apprehension that I write my first President’s
Message. I can still remember filling out my application to become a
member of the Division in 1990. It was such an exciting milestone
for me. I recall keeping the application on my desk for several
months prior to the time when I would be eligible, just waiting for
the moment when I could be accepted as a member. Upon acceptance, I
immediately became active as a sub-committee chair in my District
and in 1996 I was appointed to fill a vacant term as District 7
Director. Since that time I have had the opportunity to witness the
great leadership skills and innovation of my predecessors to this
position, and all I can say is—WOW!
The pressure to perform and perform well is almost
overwhelming, but working under pressure is the name of the game, or
at least the legal assistant game, right?
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Rhonda
J. Brashears, CLA
President, 2002-2003
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When I ran for this position I had to start
thinking about the wonderful things that the Division has done for
me. It did not take me long: 1)
Membership in LAD brought with it a sense of strength and unity.
Think about it, how many states across the Nation boasts the
association that we have with our State Bar?
Not many. This is a Division that was formed by the State Bar
of Texas 20 years ago with the intent to provide representation for
the growing profession; 2)
It has brought me undeniable networking capabilities. I have met
people from every region of the state. I can find a reliable court
reporter, process server or copy service just by picking up the
phone and calling an acquaintance;
3) I have access to exceptional CLE opportunities. Just a
couple of weeks ago I showed the attorney charged with managing the
legal assistants in our firm the LAU 2002 brochure and he was
genuinely impressed by the amount of CLE available for the cost;
4) I am able to keep abreast of the ever changing issues
regarding legal assistants as well legal issues from around the
state and the nation by way of the Texas Paralegal Journal, TPJ,
etc. and my District Newsletter;
5) I have been privileged enough to meet and become friends
with some of the most exciting and invigorating people, all of whom
are striving for positive changes in the legal assistant profession.
These are just few of the reasons that the Division is so important
to me.
The 2002/2003 Board of Directors has developed
our goal for this fiscal year—to focus on the future and the
preparation of the Legal Assistants Division for the changing needs
of its members and the profession as a whole. The Board of
Directors, along with the Committee Chairs and numerous
Sub-Committee Chairs from around the state, are working to achieve
this goal through committees that will research the possibility of
online CLE, continued work with the College of the State Bar to
develop associate membership in their association, marketing of the
Division through our newly developed ad, updating of our website,
post-card mail outs to non-members, the development of a public
service announcement to boast of the benefits of LAD, and the list
goes on and on.
Okay,
this is where I ask you—what does the Division mean to you?
Are there things that you have found to be beneficial, are
there things that you would like to see changed?
Let me know. You can contact me directly at P.O. Box 9158,
Amarillo, TX 79109 or at rjb@uwlaw.com.
I would like to hear your thoughts and comments, but I also
challenge you to do one of the first things I did after joining the
Division: get involved.
The list that I gave above or the things that you would like to see
happen do not happen without the dedicated volunteers that keep LAD
running. You may say
that you do not have time to be involved, and maybe you don’t
(right now) but I would bet that everyone who reads this column
knows at least one person who is not a member of the Division, but
should be. Take a copy of this magazine to that person and tell her
(or him!) why you are a member of the Legal Assistants Division of
the State Bar of Texas!
EDITOR’S
NOTE
by Debra Crosby
I can’t believe that fall is
already upon us and that I’ve been editing the TPJ for over a year
already. This was a task I took on, as you all know, with a bit of
cautious optimism, but with a great deal of fear as well. I can only
hope that the magazine lives up to the effort we make to bring it to
you. My efforts were rewarded when the Division board saw fit to bestow
on me the Award of Excellence at this year’s Annual Meeting. To say
that I was shocked was an understatement, but I was also deeply moved as
well. I am always pleased to serve the Division in any capacity (well,
almost!), and I am constantly amazed at the number of tireless, devoted
volunteers who do so much excellent work on behalf of not only the
Division, but also the legal assistants of Texas. In comparison,
I never feel that I personally do enough, well enough. Therefore
I was doubly honored and humbled by this award. Thank you so much.
I’ll try to live up to it.
Enough of that. Now on to more
interesting things! This
issue has some articles that I think you’ll all find fascinating. The
new cyber-world of e-commerce, e-communication, e-documents and e-fraud
is an amazing place to be. The law is just catching up to it and we all
have a great deal to learn. I hope that this issue will at least help
you to scratch the surface of this new information age phenomenon, its
advantages as well as its pitfalls. Adjustment comes more easily with a
good base of knowledge. And of course, we have our usual interesting
columns, as well as an introduction to your new board of directors and
its officers and some
highlights from the Annual Meeting. Enjoy.
I
hope that as this year moves into fall and comes to a close that it
finds you all well and content. Let me hear from you. We’re always
open to ideas, suggestions, and good articles. Thanks, as always, for
your support.
WEB
WIZARDS
http://www.harddecisions.com
is a mediation program for domestic relations cases only.
http://www.cybersettle.com
is the official online settlement tool of the American Association of
Trial Lawyers.
http://www.anybirthday.com
allows you to search for someone's birthday.
http://www.paralink.com
is a translation site — English into Russian, German, French or
Spanish
The British Library has an
excellent listing of trademark sites. You can access it at http://www.bl.uk/services/information/patents/tmlinks.html#data
One site that can be
particularly useful is http://web.archive.org.
This is a site that archives old web pages. Just plug in the URL and the
site will bring up links to the prior pages for that site.
http://www.labtestsonline.org
— This site provides important information on blood tests, hormone
analyses and other diagnostic tests.
The following sites were
found in a recent edition of the newsletter
found at http://www.llrx.com/features/laborlaw.htm
This article by Alyssa Rosen
identifies a host of free labor and employment sites from commercial,
academic, association, publisher, union and government sources.
http://www.llrx.com/columns/reference39.htm
This article by Jan Bissett and
Margi Heinen provides access to sources for state jury model/standard
instructions in print, on the Web, and via commercial databases. (This
is Part II (Missouri to Wyoming) There is also a link to Part 1 in this
reference).
http://www.ibiblio.org/slanews/internet/archives.html
This site provides access to
newspapers from across the country. The states are grouped
alphabetically. A chart of the states and their archived newspapers
contains a link to the newspaper’s website, the city where the
newspaper is published, the archive site and the link to it, dates of
coverage, and the cost to retrieve a full text article. Searching is
free unless otherwise noted. (from the LLRX article by Margaret
Berkland)
The Supreme Court's Daubert v.
Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals decision in 1993 forever changed the rules
on expert scientific testimony. A useful new web site www.daubertontheweb.com
can help lawyers to keep up with its progeny.
This web site offers more than
200 appellate cases, organized by circuit and field of expertise, along
with a procedural guide, tactics and an evolving treatise.
SCRUPLES
The Ethics of Business Cards & Letterhead
by Ellen Lockwood, CLA—Ethics
Chair
More and more paralegals have
business cards and have their names included on their firms’
letterhead. These are certainly recognition of our increasing stature as
professionals. However, there are strict rules in Texas governing these
matters.
Business Cards
According to Texas Ethics
Opinion 403, a legal assistant may have a business card that includes
the name of her employer, “provided the status of the legal assistant
is clearly disclosed.” Tex. Comm. on Prof’l Ethics, Op. 403, 45 Tex. B.J. 78
(1982). Opinion 403 goes on to state that the lawyer-employer who
permits his name or the name of his firm to appear on the legal
assistant’s business card “is charged with the responsibility of
ensuring that the card meets the same standards of dignity and accuracy
as would be required for the lawyer’s own card.” Ibid.
An appropriate business card for
a paralegal would include the following information:
ADAMS, BAKER & COOPER, P.C.
Jane Doe, CLA
Paralegal
111 Main Street, Suite 100
Capital City, Texas 77777
Letterhead
According to Texas Ethics
Opinion 436, a law firm may include the names of paralegals and their
certifications on its letterhead, but must also include a designation
that the person is a legal assistant and is not licensed to practice
law. Tex. Comm. on Prof’l Ethics, Op. 436, 49 Tex. B.J. 1085 (1986). I
have often seen paralegals and their titles listed on firm letterhead,
but have rarely seen firms comply with the requirement to include the
notice that the paralegal is not licensed to practice law. It is never
correct to just list the paralegal’s name on firm letterhead, even if
the paralegal’s certification is included.
This requirement appears to go
further than a related ethics opinion. Opinion 381 states it is proper
for a legal assistant to write a letter on her law firm’s letterhead
as long as she is a supervised employee of the firm and her signature
includes her legal assistant title. Tex. Ethics Op. 381 (1975). This
opinion doesn’t include the further requirement to note that the legal
assistant isn’t licensed to practice law. Perhaps this difference
between these ethics opinions is the reason so few firms appear to be
familiar with the requirement to include the statement that the legal
assistant isn’t licensed to practice law.
Sample Letterhead—Correct Form
John Doe
ADAMS, BAKER & COOPER, P.C.
Joe Blow
111 Main Street, Suite 100
Jane Doe, RP*
Capital City, Texas 77777
PACE Registered Paralegal
*not licensed to practice law
Sample Letterhead—Incorrect
Form
John Doe
ADAMS, BAKER & COOPER, P.C.
Joe Blow
111 Main Street, Suite 100
Jane Doe, CLA
Capital City, Texas 77777
Sample Letterhead—Incorrect
Form
John Doe
ADAMS, BAKER & COOPER, P.C.
Joe Blow
111 Main Street, Suite 100
Jane Doe, CLA
Capital City, Texas 77777
Paralegal
As the samples above indicate,
the firm’s letterhead must include the paralegal’s title, even if it
includes the paralegal’s certification, as well as a notice that she
is not licensed to practice law.
To summarize the requirements:
Business Card Must Include
Letterhead Must Include
Correspondence on Firm
Letterhead Signed by Paralegal Must Include (regardless of whether
paralegal is listed on letterhead):
Although the ethics opinions
cited above assign the responsibility for compliance to the supervising
attorney, it our professional responsibility to know and abide by all
ethics rules, particularly the ones that directly affect us.
Ellen Lockwood, CLAS, is
the Chair of the Professional Ethics Committee of the Legal Assistants
Division, a position she has held since 1997. She is Treasurer of LAD
and a past president of the Alamo Area Professional Legal Assistants
in San Antonio. You may contact her at 210/832-3382 or
ellenlockwood@clearchannel.com.
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