 PRESIDENT’S MessageJavan Johnson, ACP, TBLS, Board Certified Legal Assistant, Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
It is already the time for us to begin
turning our thoughts towards
renewing our membership. The first
renewal notices will come to you in
April, with the end of our fiscal year
being May 31st.
With that said, if you are an Active or
Associate member, it is time to make
sure that you have completed your six
hours of continuing legal education
(CLE) to make certain that your renewal
process is smooth. All CLE hours must
be completed by May 31st. It is so easy to
let this time slip up on us, and not have
yet earned our six hours. So, assess
where you are at this time, and whether
you need to begin working on getting
your CLE hours in order to
maintain membership.
It is so easy to get those
credits. Your District
Directors are working hard
all over the state to offer you
CLE events in your local
areas, many of which are at
no charge. The Division’s
online library continues to grow. In fact,
several new courses are being added to
our library at the current time. Just go
to our website at www.txpd.org, and
under the drop down menu for the
CLE/Events, you will see the Online
CLE. When you go into it you will see
the CLE is organized by substantive area
of law. These are very
affordable CLE hours made
available for you, and you
never have to leave your
desk.
Also, most local associations
offer CLE events
each month. If you will
check out the CLE calendar
on the Division’s website, we post any
events which we learn of all over the
state. The State Bar of Texas website
(www.texasbar.com) is a wealth of information
for you, with many opportunities.
So, you can see there are plenty of
opportunities for you to still have time
to secure those hours. And remember,
two of the six hours can be in self-study
– reading the substantive articles in the
Texas Paralegal Journal and Texas Bar
Journal, reading papers out of seminar
books, reading case law updates, etc.
The Division decided to go with
required CLE just a few years ago for a
number of reasons, but mostly because
CLE keeps us on top of our game. It
keeps us abreast of current changes in
the law. It keeps us fresh on current
issues. And more importantly, it keeps
us professional. CLE is vital to our daily
work for our attorneys and the clients.
Even if you are not “required” to obtain
CLE hours for membership purposes,
or because you hold a certification of
some type, you should want to continue
to learn and grow in your profession
with CLE.
And talking about CLE – plans are
in full swing for the Texas Advanced
Paralegal Seminar (TAPS), which will
once again be in Dallas, so mark your
calendars for October 3-5! |
