HISTORY OF
THE PARALEGAL DIVISION OF
THE STATE BAR OF TEXAS

<< Previous   1987 - 1988    Next >>

The Board was advised that the Bar could no longer provide an attorney for the Division. An attorney was retained to represent the Division in connection with certification issues and other Division business.

The Board met with the Legal Assistants Committee of the Bar and legal educators for Forum VI in Austin, which focused on internship programs.

The Board adopted long-term goals, including implementation of voluntary certification, and a Statement of Purpose as follows:

In accordance with its Bylaws, the Division shall seek to identify and increase the quality and quantity of services to members by providing them with opportunities to advance their professional skills and by fostering more effective utilization of legal assistants by attorneys.

Discussions continued on the certification issue. An additional $25,000.00 was allotted for future implementation of a certification program. A certification fund was established by placing the previously approved set-aside fund in the amount of $75,000 in a special account. The Board rescinded its prior action regarding elimination of NALA as a partial vehicle toward certification and authorized the Professional Development Committee to proceed to prepare and submit Requests for Proposal to test design experts. Requests were sent to fourteen vendors and bids were received from three. A special board meeting was called for the purpose of interviewing the three vendors, after which the Board adopted a resolution calling for a contract with NALA for the use of the CLA examination as the general component and a contract with Professional Testing Corporation of New York to assist in developing a state-specific examination for the specialty component. The Resolution was submitted to the membership by mail ballot. The vote produced 993 ballots of which 329 were invalid. The proposal failed by vote of 235 for and 428 against. The Board determined that the item should remain on the list of long-term goals.

Membership of 1,819 was reported at the Annual Meeting held in Fort Worth. Seminars were held on the utilization of legal assistants and dispute resolution.
 

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