2008–2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2008–2009 Board of Directors, Paralegal Division. Seated from left to right: Clara Buckland, Stephanie Hawkes, Rhonda Brashears, Cheryl Bryan,
Debbie Oaks Guerra. Standing from left to right: Charie Turner, Sheila Veach, Susan Wilen, Cynthia Williamson, Michele Rayburn,
Michele Flowers Brooks, Connie Nims, and Kim Hennessy
President
Rhonda Brashears, CP
Rhonda is a
paralegal with
the firm of
Underwood,
Wilson, Berry,
Stein & Johnson,
P.C. in
Amarillo and
has been in the
legal profession
for 22 years. She
practices in personal injury and civil trial
defense law. She received her B.G.S. degree
from West Texas A&M University in 1998,
her CLA designation in 1996, and was
board certified by the Texas Board of Legal
Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law
in 1998.
Rhonda has been a member of the
Paralegal Division since 1990, and served
as Director of District 7 from 1996 until as
as Secretary from 1999 to 2001, President
of the Division in 2002, and President-
Elect in 2007. She has also served on various
committees throughout the years.
Rhonda is also a member of the Texas
Panhandle Association of Paralegals, where
she has served as President, President-
Elect, Treasurer and NALA Liaison.
Rhonda is a part-time instructor at
Amarillo College, teaching paralegal classes
in its Paralegal Studies program and
serves as the Chair of the Advisory Committee
for Amarillo College’s Paralegal
Studies program.
Rhonda has been married to her husband
Rod for 15 years and they have two
children, Cody and Caitlyn, and one
grandchild, Lilly. Rhonda is also a member
of the First Baptist Church of Amarillo
where she works with the Acteens.
President-Elect
Stephanie Hawkes, RP, CIPP
Stephanie is the
Manager of Privacy
and Information
Security
at Nissan Motor
Acceptance
Corporation, a
position in
which she
reports to General
Counsel.
Stephanie is a graduate of the University
of Texas at Austin and the Lawyers
Assistant Program at Southwest Texas
State University. In 1999, she obtained her
Registered Paralegal certification from the
National Federation of Paralegal Associations.
In 2008, Stephanie obtained her
Certified Information Privacy Professional
designation from the International Association
of Privacy Professionals.
Throughout her career, Stephanie has
been active in professional development of
paralegals. She has served in various positions
on several planning committees for
the Texas Advanced Paralegal Seminar and
Co-Chaired the Annual Meeting Committee
in 2005. She previously served on the
Board of the Dallas Area Paralegal Association.
In 2000, she was awarded the “Volunteer
of the Year” award and in 2001 was
designated “Paralegal of the Year” by
DAPA. Stephanie is a Past President of the
Metroplex Association of Corporate Paralegals
and most recently was the District 2
Director and Treasurer of the Paralegal
Division.
Away from the office, Stephanie is a
mentor in the Communities in School of
North Texas program.
Parliamentarian
Debbie Oaks Guerra
With nearly 20 years of real estate paralegal
experience, 13 of those spent with the
Trammell Crow Company, Debbie Guerra
is currently the Legal Compliance Manager
and Corporate Secretary of Dmyterko &
Wright, LLC, a commercial real estate
developer headquartered in Chicago, IL.
Debbie is currently
serving
her second
term as District
12 Director. In
1996, she simultaneously
served as the
President of the
Dallas Area
Paralegal Association
(DAPA) and District 2 Director on
the PD Board of Directors. From 2004-
2007, she served as the Executive Director
of DAPA and has most recently served as
the NFPA Primary Representative on the
DAPA Board of Directors. She was named
DAPA Paralegal of the Year in 2005, DAPA
Volunteer of the Year in 2005 and was
honored with the DAPA President’s Award
in 2007. She is the current PD Vendor
Liaison as well as the Vendor Chair on the
2008 Texas Advanced Paralegal Seminar
(TAPS) Planning Committee.
Debbie serves on the Educational Advisory
Boards of both Southeastern Career
Institute (ABA approved paralegal program)
and Everest College-Dallas and is a
member in good standing of DAPA, the
Denton County Paralegal Association
(DCPA) and the North Texas Legal Association
(NTLA) in Grayson County.
Debbie and her husband Freddie live in
Flower Mound with their two amazing
sons, Spencer, 11 and Reed, 10.
Secretary
Clara Buckland, CP
Clara is serving
her second
term as District
16 Director.
Clara is a Certified
Paralegal
with the El Paso
law firm of
Kemp Smith LLP. She has
worked in the
firm’s specialty area of Labor and Employment
Law for nearly 14 years. Her supervising
attorney and mentor is Michael D.
McQueen, Managing Partner.
Clara received her A.A.S. in Paralegal
Studies from the El Paso Community College
and has served on the college’s Advisory
Committee for the Paralegal Program.
Clara is a member of the El Paso
Paralegal Association and has served on
that organization’s board in various capacities,
including President in 2003, the same
year she received its Paralegal of the Year
Award.
Clara enjoys many interests, including
reading and research on the Tudor court
of England. Clara has an identical twin,
Claudia. Clara is married to Bucky
(Mark) and they have two wonderful
daughters, Jazmine and Olivia. In addition,
they have been blessed with three
beautiful grandchildren, almost-four-yearold
Jason, Maddie who is two years old
and Jayden, who was born mid-2008.
Treasurer
Cheryl A. Bryan, CP
Cheryl is a
paralegal with
the law firm of Orgain Bell &
Tucker, LLP in
Beaumont.
Cheryl attended
Northern
Illinois University
in DeKalb,
Illinois for two
years. She has been employed with OB&T
for 26 years. She began working as a paralegal
in the late 1980s. In 1992, she passed
the CLA exam sponsored by NALA. In
1997, she passed the board certification
exam in personal injury trial law sponsored
by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Cheryl has been a member of the Paralegal
Division since 1993. Actively pursuing
CLE through the seminars sponsored
annually by the Division, in 1998 or 1999,
she met Nancy McLaughlin at a PD seminar
when their bosses had a case together
and Nancy took Cheryl under her wing.
Nancy was a great supporter of the profession
and the Division, and it was after her
untimely death that Cheryl considered
becoming more active in the Division,
beginning by volunteering at TAPS.
Cheryl is also active in her local association,
the Southeast Texas Association of
Paralegals. Over the last several years, she
has served on several event planning committees,
and has been elected to serve as
SETAP’s NALA Liaison for 2008-2009.
Cheryl has been married to her husband,
George, for almost 16 years. They
have no children but do have two wonderful
Labs, Jake and Samantha, and three
saltwater aquariums.
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