HISTORY OF
THE PARALEGAL DIVISION OF
THE STATE BAR OF TEXAS

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A special committee was appointed to assist the Chair Pro Tem with the development of a Procedures Manual to serve as a guide to officers, directors, committee chairs, board liaisons, and advisors. The Chair Pro Tem was designated as chair of the committee and the Parliamentarian and three other directors were appointed to serve on the Committee.

A special committee was also appointed to develop a job description, budget, etc. for consideration in determining whether to retain an executive director for the Division.

The Board appointed liaisons to the Legal Administrators Division, the Legal Assistants Committee of the Bar (LAC), Texas Association of Legal Secretaries (TALS) and Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA).

Bylaws were amended to permit members to directly initiate amendments to the Bylaws by written petition, and to provide for voting on bylaws amendments by mail ballot.

The Board participated with educators and the Legal Assistants Committee of the Bar in Forum VII held in Houston at which the group discussed "Designing a Placement Module for a Legal Assistant Program."

The Board adopted a resolution authorizing the Division to incorporate as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation following guidelines set out by the Division attorney and subject to approval by the Bar Board. The Chair attended a meeting of the Bar Board at which a motion to permit such incorporation was defeated. This matter was later tabled until such time as the Legislature's Sunset review of the Bar is completed.

At the recommendation of the Membership Committee, the Board appointed a special ad hoc committee to investigate and present recommendations regarding guidelines for processing membership applications. Because freelance legal assistants perform work for more than one attorney, the requirement of the supervising attorney verification for freelance legal assistants was dropped and replaced with such legal assistant being required to obtain letters of recommendation from active Division members and one attorney. Additionally, the criteria for sustaining members were changed to "any law firm, corporation, institutionally accredited or ABA-approved paralegal training programs interested in supporting the purposes and goals of the Division."

Liaisons to the National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc. (NALA), the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA), Texas Alliance of Paralegal Associations (TAPA) Texas Association of Legal Secretaries (TALS), Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA), the Legal Administrator's Division and the Legal Assistants Committee of the Bar (LAC) were appointed for information and conduit purposes.

A referendum regarding the disposition of the certification fund resulted in the membership's voting to maintain the fund for future certification. Of the 1,733 ballots mailed, 938 were returned and 28 of the returned ballots were deemed invalid and not tallied. In the final tally, 910 ballots were counted. There were 494 votes to retain the funds and 416 votes to release the funds.

The Board voted to retain an executive director on a contract basis, to be budgeted for the 1990-1991 fiscal year.

The Annual Meeting was held in San Antonio. Registration totals were as follows: Seminars - 107; Luncheon - 57; Annual Meeting - 65. A Seminar was presented by Ross Laguzza on "The Psychological Strategy of Juror Persuasion."

In June, the membership in the Division totaled 1,931, exceeding June 1988 membership by 112 and June 1987 membership by 249.

An orientation meeting was conducted in Dallas for new committee chairs for the first time.

Ms. Gerry Malone was named recipient of the Award of Excellence in recognition of her many years of efforts to improve the professional utilization of legal assistants and for her extensive assistance in the preparation of Attorney's Guide to Practicing with Legal Assistants.
 

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