Central Florida Paralegal Association, Inc. Monthly E-Newsletter
CARPE DIEM - AUGUST 2020
In This Issue
NALA News
News Ethics Advice on Working from Home in
Pandemic
Virtual Lunch Bingo
Annual School Supply Drive
Seeking Active Members
Public Relations Report
Article Headline
Hello fellow CFPA Members: I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. This pandemic has changed so much in our daily lives. As we are all adapting to our new normal CFPA has been working hard to provide the membership with virtual opportunities to continue to network and socialize during these challenging times. We are hosting a new virtual roundtable series called "Paralegals with a Purpose" to discuss different topics on issues paralegals deal with on a daily basis. This will be a benefit for CFPA members only. We are looking to the membership for suggested topics and panel speakers. As long as there are topics and panelists we will hold the virtual roundtable bi-monthly or monthly. Upcoming August topics are Working from Home - COVID 19 on August 3rd and Notary Signing Agents on August 17th. Continuing on the virtual path we have changed all luncheons to virtual and will be hosting another Virtual Lunch Bingo on August 13th which will be sponsored by CFPA Patron, Client Legal Funding. This event is open to Members and Non-Members. We are also hosting a Virtual Membership Mixer on August 26th where will also being playing Bingo for Charity. Bingo cards are on sale on the CFPA website Our Patron sponsors for this event are Northstar Legal and S.K.I. Investigations. Bingo cards are available for purchase on our website and all money raised will go to our charity, USO of Central Florida. This event is also open to Members and Non-Members. We are coming into that time of year where CFPA holds it annual election of officers and directors for the Board of Directors. CFPA will
CFPA Membership Mixer
CLE Corner
CFPA's New Members Only Group
CFPA on the Web
Paralegals with Purpose
Half Year Membership Drive
From the Editor
Membership Corner
Upcoming Events
Membership Corner
NEW STUDENT
MEMBERS:
Lindsay Beben Cheryl Cooper
Lianet Gonzalez Olivia Ramo
Christina Tice Laken Verst
For Membership Information and
once again be looking to its Active members to get involved and run for office and be a part of the leadership team to help carry out CFPA's mission. Be on the look out next month for the Declaration of Candidacy form. We hope to see you at our August virtual events. As always the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs are available to answer any of your questions. Stay safe out there!! Sincerely, Marisa Green, ACP, FRP CFPA President - 2020 [email protected]
NALA News ...
Annual Convention: 2020 NALA Conference @ Home
Application CLICK HERE
ALREADY A MEMBER?? If you have recently changed jobs, moved or just have a new email address, PLEASE make sure that you update your membership records by notifying CFPA's Membership Committee at: Membership@cfpa
inc.org.
Quick Links
Seminar Registration Apply for
Membership More About Us CFPA Events
What a terrific conference! In less than 2 months time, NALA transformed their conference to a 100% virtual platform. Although there were a few technical glitches, NALA was quick to respond and to correct. For those who registered early, NALA provided a Stay at Home care package that included pens, ear buds, a coffee mug, and a USB memory stick. Attendees could download the conference APP and/or could participate in meetings and view educational sessions through the digital platform designed by a professional production company. Some of the presentations were pre-recorded but NALA Board of Directors and some of the speakers were available live and were able to answer questions. I especially enjoyed the "chat" feature in each session. While waiting for a session to begin, all of the participants sent out greetings. It was such a nice way to say hello, to meet new people, and to catch up with old friends! Each registrant could attend the meetings for free and earn up to 11 Continuing Education Credits for a nominal fee. As an active NALA member, I applied my $80.00 gift certificate so I paid only $19.00 for the educational sessions I attended. Not only were the speakers outstanding but the topics were extremely relevant. And, at the end of each day, several groups offered virtual networking events. Several CFPA members attended the Conference@Home and the event had a record attendance of over 900 total registrants! During the Annual Membership Meeting, the 2020-2021 NALA Board of Directors were introduced: Melissa Hamilton, President, Debra Overstreet, Vice President, Cheryl Nodarse, Secretary, Michelle Pfeiffer, Treasurer, Dana Welcker, Area 1 Director, Angela Oberle, Area 2 Director, and Vicki Kasper, Area 3 Director. During the Affiliated Associations Meeting, the Alabama Association of Paralegals, Inc. presented "How to Plan and Present a CP Review Course". Also during this meeting, the Affiliated Awards were presented. Chlo Destine, FRP, was recognized for her outstanding contributions to CFPA and Jean Hinton, ACP, who is a longtime CFPA member, was recognized by her Jacksonville area affiliate association for her volunteer work. Congratulations Chloé and Jean! Our very own amazing Peonca Grier, CP, FRP, who has been a longtime CFPA Board of Director, Active Member, and Committee Head, has been appointed chairperson of NALA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Peonca was also elected as the Affiliated Associations Director for the second consecutive year. Congratulations Peonca!
8/3/20 Paralegal Round Table 8/15/20 Declarations of Candidacy starts 8/17/20 Paralegal Round Table 8/13/20 CFPA Virtual Lunch Bingo 8/26/20 CFPA Virtual Membership Mixer
2020 Board of Directors
President
Marisa Green, ACP
Vice
President/President Elect 2021
Yolanda
Fuhrmann, FRP
The NALA 2019 report is available on NALA's website at: https://www.nala.org/sites/default/files/files/users/2019%20Annual%20Report%20for%202020%20Annual%20Meeting.pdf. SAVE THE DATE: Next year's conference will be held on July 22-July 24, 2021 in Louisville, KY at the Marriott Downtown.
Digital Badges
NALA is now offering to its members a way to digitally and professionally display your credentials. Digital badges are a method of sharing and proving your NALA achievements. These badges can be displayed on your LinkedIn profile, on your employer's website, and on your email in your signature block. Some of the digital badges available are: Certified Paralegal, Advanced Certified Paralegal, NALA Member, and 2020 Conference@Home Attendee. All active members should have already received emails from NALA regarding these badges. For more information, see NALA's website at: www.nala.org.
New Affiliated Association Member Discount
As of July 15, 2020, all members of NALA affiliated associations such as CFPA, Inc., will receive a 25% discount off of their active NALA annual memberships. This discount will be effective every year members renew their NALA memberships. Normally, an active NALA
Secretary
Iris F. Walker, FRP
Treasurer
Roger Smith, FRP Treasurer@cfpainc
.org
NALA Liaison
membership costs $154.00 per year. Now, when you renew your membership to NALA, you'll only pay $115.50-a savings of $38.50!! Not currently a NALA member? This is a great time to join. A NALA active membership includes several outstanding benefits including:
• A subscription to Facts and Findings magazine; • Access to NALA Commons (group email communication
platform); • Access to NALA's paralegal report, National Utilization and
Compensation Survey; • An $80.00 gift card that can be used towards purchasing
educational courses, seminars, or conferences; • Affinity discounts for office supplies and for car rentals; • Discounts on NALA educational seminars, courses, and
conferences; • Complimentary educational courses; and • Access to NALA's career center.
All of these benefits for an annual cost of $115.50! As always, if you have a NALA-related question, please don't hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. Julie McLean, CP, FRP NALA Liaison News Ethics Advice on Working from Home in Pandemic ...
New Ethics Advice on Working from Home in Pandemic Attorneys must be technologically competent to work remotely
By John M. McNichols
The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) has issued new guidance to attorneys on working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Formal Opinion 2020-300 addresses a host of issues relating to remote practice, including an attorney's duty of technological competence when handling sensitive client information in a home environment. ABA Section of Litigation leaders observe that although the opinion was prompted by the current shelter-in-place orders, its guidance reaches well beyond the present circumstances, and will
Julie McLean, CP, FRP
Parliamentarian
Kristina Rodriguez Parliamentarian@c
fpainc.org
Directors:
continue to apply as attorneys increasingly depart from the traditional brick-and-mortar office model in favor of "virtual" law firms and other arrangements. On April 1, 2020, Pennsylvania's governor, Tom Wolf, ordered all "non-essential businesses" in Pennsylvania, including law firms, to close. Because an extended work-from-home period was new to many attorneys, the PBA Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 2020-300 to address issues of legal ethics relating to remote practice. Finding that "no Pennsylvania Rule of Professional Conduct specifically addresses the ethical obligations of attorneys working remotely," the PBA drew upon its previous opinions on cloud computing and virtual offices for guidance on an attorney's "duty of technological competence." As the opinion observes, this duty "requires attorneys to understand the general risks and benefits of technology, including the electronic transmission of confidential and sensitive data, and cybersecurity, and to take reasonable precautions to comply with this duty." Reprinted from the American Bar Association: June 15, 2020 www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/publications/litigation-news/top-stories/2020/new-ethics-advice-wfh-pandemic
CFPA's August Virtual Lunch Bingo ...
Sara Ferguson, CP, FRP
Leslie M. Norton, ACP, FRP
Cassie D. Snyder, ACP, FRP
Newsletter Sponsor ...
Lora Trowell, FRP Director4@cfpainc.
org
CFPA's 2020 Charity
100% OF ALL MONEY DONATED to CFPA on behalf of a charitable fundraising event goes directly to the charity. CFPA retains $0 and, in most cases, adds money from our operating budget to supplement donations received for each charity supported.
CFPA Committees:
Continuing Legal Education
Committee Chair: Sara Ferguson, CP,
FRP CLEChair@cfpai
nc.org
Membership
Committee Chair: Cassie Snyder,
ACP, FRP Membership@cfp
ainc.org
Public Relations
Committee Chairs:
Lora Trowell, FRP
CFPA Annual School Supply Drive ... Great morning catching up with some of my favorite ladies from CFPA while collecting school supplies for the USO of Central Florida who fill up backpacks with the school supplies for children of those service men and women here locally. CFPA would like to send a big thank you to all those members who donated supplies and those who made monetary donations to purchase school supplies!!! We could not do this without you!!
Yolanda Fuhrmann, FRP
Community Service
Committee Chair: Peonca Grier, CP,
Student Relations
Committee Chair:, ACP, FRP
Leslie Norton Students@cfpain
c.org
Social Media
Committee Chair: Yolanda
Furhmann, FRP Socialmedia@cfp
ainc.org
Newsletter - Carpe Diem
CFPA is Seeking Active Member Participation ...
Cassie Snyder,
ACP, FRP [email protected]
rg
Paralegal Regulation &
Ethics
Committee Chair: Julie McLean, CP Nalaliaison@cfpa
inc.org
Job Bank
Committee Chair: Leslie Norton,
ACP, FRP
Newsletter Sponsor
CFPA Contact: Tess Tourelle
Marcus Tourelle
Email: info@prolitsupport
.com
Website: http://prolitsupport
.com
1 S Orange Ave #406
Orlando, FL 32801 (407) 286-2988
Visit Our Sponsor
Newsletter Recognition:
Public Relations Report ...
Please join us for CFPA's Virtual Big Bingo Mixer on Wednesday, August 26, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. Thank you to our sponsors, Northstar Legal and S.K.I. Investigations!!! In addition to getting that social time we've missed, we'll be playing bingo for prizes and to raise money for our charity, USO Kids. What fun!! Bingo cards will cost $3.00 for members and $5.00 for non-members. To purchase, go to the CFPA website "community" tab (http://cfpainc.org/events/). Deadline to purchase is noon on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 so that bingo cards can be emailed on the day of the event. This event is free for members. Non-members welcome with a $5.00 donation to our charity. After you register via EventBrite, you will receive an email with the Zoom link. Don't forget to BYOB and have your snacks ready. We hope to see you "there"!! Save the date for our end of the year events!!! Our Fall Mixer will in October, and don't forget about our Holiday Party in December. Details coming soon. We encourage all of our CFPA members to get involved. Let's join together and make CFPA the best it can be!! CFPA needs volunteers like
Constant Contact
2018 All Star Award Winner
www.cfpainc.org
Post Office Box 1107 Orlando,
Florida 32802 407-672-6372
Promoting Paralegal Excellence Through
Active Engagement.
Celebrating the
Professional Standard in Central Florida
Since 1983.
you to continue to run smoothly. Joining a committee provides opportunities to meet people, learn skills, and represents that you are interested in leadership. We have something for everyone. The available committees are CLE, membership, student relations, public relations, holiday party, social media, newsletter, and community service. If you are interested, email us at [email protected], and we'll help find the right fit for you. Are you making the most of your CFPA membership by being a part of the CFPA Yahoo! Group? As a benefit of your membership with CFPA, you are eligible to join the CFPA Yahoo! Group. This is a forum where you can post questions to other CFPA members such as referrals to other attorneys in other practice areas, or if you need an expert witness and are seeking a recommendation, or if you are seeking a certain form that you don't have. All you have to do is post to our Yahoo! Group. We also provide information about our events, such as networking luncheons, CLE seminars, social events and mixers, community service opportunities, and much more. Don't miss out on this amazing membership benefit!! For more information on how you can become a part of this Yahoo! Group and receive an invitation to join, please contact CFPA's Yahoo! Group Moderator at [email protected]. Remember that you can stay connected with CFPA on social media to get the latest on what we're up to! You can "Like" us on Facebook at Central Florida Paralegal Association, Inc. (https://www.facebook.com/CFPAINC1983) and follow us on Instagram at @cfpa_inc to stay in the loop with all of the upcoming CFPA events. CFPA Public Relations Committee: Lora Trowell, FRP Yolanda Fuhrmann, FRP Co-Chairs
What's Ahead for Legal Tech? ...
What's Ahead for Legal Tech? Experts Share 7 Predictions
This year, the legal industry only began to scratch the surface of what's possible when it embraces technology. Lawyers became more educated about how they should be leveraging technology, while legal software continued to advance, catching up with the tools and resources available in other industries. Next year, we'll see more lawyers who won't just be comfortable with exploring new solutions for their firms - they'll start to actively seek them out. Litify rounded up legal technology predictions from internal and external subject matter experts to get a better understanding of what lies ahead in 2020. 1. Accelerated adoption of Platform as a Service (PaaS) -Steve Stockstill, Litify Chief Product Officer PaaS is essentially an environment that allows companies to develop and manage their own apps in the cloud, without the hassle of having to maintain the infrastructure that comes along with it. Salesforce is an example of a PaaS provider. Increased PaaS adoption can be evidenced by the growth of legal solutions on the Salesforce.com platform, as well as the emergence of dedicated legal PaaS providers, like Reynen Court. While it's true that the legal industry has moved to the cloud at a much slower rate than other industries (only 55% of law firms use the cloud compared to 91% of businesses in general), that will likely change next year, as more and more legal tech solutions come on the scene. Investments in legal technology spiked in 2019, reaching a record-breaking $1.2 billion in September. And according to a Gartner study, public cloud revenue is predicted to increase overall by 16.5% in 2020. 2. Greater use of blockchain
-Steve Stockstill, Litify Chief Product Officer In 2019, blockchain use matured significantly within financial services and cybersecurity. But blockchain plays an important role in the legal industry as well. Last year, the Vermont State Supreme Court added blockchain to its list of permissible forms of evidence in the courtroom. We'll likely see more states follow suit, particularly since blockchain's immutable nature makes it a priceless form of evidence. When used to write media metadata, for instance, blockchain can protect against photo and video manipulation. Blockchain is also being used to write "smart contracts"-digital contracts that feature legal terms and conditions written in code so that the contract can self-execute once terms are met. Once one party delivers a particular service, the contract will automatically charge the other party, without requiring external involvement. The Global Legal Blockchain Consortium, a group dedicated to developing standards for blockchain use in the legal industry, now lists over 300 participating organizations. In 2020, we'll likely see legal professionals incorporate blockchain more frequently in their own work, as well as collaborate with and advise other industries to enhance the security and productivity of blockchain overall. 3. State and local courts continue to prioritize case management software -Chapley Watson, Litify Lead Engineer Conversations about legal technology predominantly focus on law firms, but court systems must have access to a robust case management software if they are to operate as efficiently as possible. Some local courts are lagging behind in technology to such a devastating degree though that they are lucky to have computers in the building. Providing court systems with a singular, deployable software package that includes a full document management suite and one-click Pacer lookups could expose a larger audience, like local attorneys, to the
benefits of such technology. If this technology integrated with an e-signature platform like Docusign, it would bypass the need for hard copies and cut down on clerical costs. Overall, these improvements in technology could reduce the length of cases, cut down on court costs, and improve overall efficiency. Effective case management software not only ensures that the courts operate smoothly, it also reduces the chances for errors, which can severely impinge on the court's ability to deliver justice. In 2016, reports accused Odyssey case management software of allegedly causing unlawful arrests and longer prison sentences. This year, multiple states like Washington, Vermont, Maryland, Kansas, and Florida rolled out initiatives to update their case management software-a sign that technology will continue to be a priority for state and local courts in 2020. 4. Even more on-premise cybersecurity incidents -Travis Howe, Litify Chief Information and Security Officer Law firms that have yet to adopt the cloud will continue to have a much higher risk for suffering a data breach. Most law firms don't have the resources and cyber-skills necessary to effectively address security threats on their own. By moving their infrastructure off of an on-premise solution to a cloud service provider, firms can rest assured that their data is physically secure in multiple offsite locations, backed up in case of a disaster, and most likely protected with encryption and multi-factor authentication. Plus, cloud service providers typically put a greater emphasis on security since it is a core tenet of their business model-you'd be hard pressed to find a small firm that makes cybersecurity as much of a priority. Gartner predicted that businesses that are on the cloud will experience 60% fewer security incidents than those that are using more traditional on-premise solutions. Of the incidents that do happen on the cloud through 2025, they predict that 99% will be due to the customer's fault-not the fault of the cloud itself.
5. Using data-driven legal marketing to understand the entire client journey -Dan Shainker, Litify Product Manager Legal marketing will continue to become more and more data driven in 2020. Generally speaking, the deeper a marketer can understand a customer's journey through to the point of conversion, the better their ad platforms can use automation to drive efficiency. Today, most law firms capture information when a customer clicks on a call-to-action, or makes a phone call. The most sophisticated firms take this one step further though by analyzing the customers' journey through to the point that they sign a retainer. But that is where the legal customer journey generally stops today. Meaningful litigation data (including settlement amounts, the amount of time to resolution, etc.) is being captured by legal CRM tools, but it isn't being passed to and ingested by ad platforms in a meaningful way. Successful legal marketers in 2020 will bridge this gap and enable ad platforms to automate their advertising spend in real time based on the full picture of the legal customer journey, from client acquisition to case resolution, to ensure the most valuable leads find their way to the law firm. 6. Continued reliance on A.I. to drive efficiency -Chrissie Lightfoot, CEO of EntrepreneurLawyer and Robot Lawyer LISA In Lightfoot's presentation at LitiQuest NYC, she explained that in the future we'll see an even greater reliance on A.I. to complete lower-skilled or time consuming legal tasks, particularly legal research and contract review. An example of this is technology-assisted document review. Tech programs, like Relativity and Everlaw, use natural language processing to scan documents for information related to a lawyer's query in e-discovery, review contracts for specific clauses, and more.
A study from McKinsey Global Institute found that at least 23 percent of a lawyer's tasks can be automated with existing technology. Robots won't be replacing attorneys anytime in the near future, but we will likely see the legal profession delegate more and more lower-level tasks to machines. 7. Leveraging SMS to automate client communications -Josh Kwartler, Chief Operating Officer of Kwartler Manus Firms that have yet to embrace SMS as a method of client communication will likely find themselves at a disadvantage in the new year. A study from Campaign Monitor found that text messages have a 98% open rate. Email? Just 20%. And Americans are texting more than they are talking on the phone: On average, we're spending 26 minutes per day texting, and only 6 minutes on phone calls. Adding SMS to more traditional mix of communication can help law firms reach non-responsive clients. It's also extremely efficient for short updates or questions, requiring less time than playing phone tag. Automating client updates via SMS and email can also help ensure clients are updated throughout the duration of their case, without the firm having to devote a lot of energy and resources. And there is a significant financial incentive for automating client communications. At LitiQuest NYC, Josh Kwartler, Chief Operating Officer of Kwartler Manus, shared that after his firm leveraged a process builder to automate follow-up communication using a mixture of SMS, phone calls, and letters and they were able to reduce a full-time job to a minimal task. So, there you have it. Does it seem realistic that law firms will adopt some of these advancements in tech? Personally, I'm not sure that many law firms will want touse text messaging as a way of communicating with clients or other members on the team, but maybe that's just me. Article Reprinted from MyParalegalPlace.com - Blog
https://myparalegalplace.com/whats-ahead-for-legal-tech-experts-share-7-predictions
CFPA Bingo Membership Mixer ... You can purchase your Bingo cards on the CFPA website. If you want only one card to play for each round you can use the Bingo button to pay online. If you want to play more than one card each round you will need to pay under the "Donate" button on the page the total amount for how many cards you want. Please indicate in any memo area how many cards. Once we have the number of cards you want Membership Committee will get them together and email them to you.
TO GET YOUR BINGO CARDS ... PAY HERE!! http://cfpainc.org/events/
CLE Corner ...
UPCOMING CLE ...
September Webinar - TBA
The CLE Committee is working hard on future seminars to be held virtually due to COVID-19, our "new normal" for the time being. Thank you for your understanding and patience during this time as we work towards providing you with quality CLEs that are on trend and relevant to the legal field.
If you have any suggestions or if you would like to present a virtual seminar please contact the CLE Committee at [email protected]
Announcing CFPA's New Members Only Group ... CFPA has launched the new "Members Only" Group on Groups.io. All CFPA notifications for announcements, events, CLEs, mixers, job bank, referrals, etc. will now be going through Groups.io. You should have already received your invitation to join the group. If you have not received your invitation, please check your spam folder or email the Membership Committee at [email protected] and I will resend it to you. This platform is so easy to use!! All you need to do if you want to send out a message to the group, i.e. if you are looking for a referral, form, or have a question you want to pose to the membership, just draft an email to [email protected] and it will go to the group and members will be able to respond. CFPA Yahoo Groups will no longer be used as of July 31, 2020 so if you want to stay in the loop on all of CFPA's events, please be sure to accept your invite!!
Event Sponsor ...
CFPA on the Web ...
You can find CFPA on these social networking sites:
Linked In
Paralegals with Purpose Roundtable Discussions ... CFPA would like to offer a virtual space for paralegals of all backgrounds and levels of experience to participate in round table discussions to provide insight, experience, suggestions and even just a safe space to vent on a variety of topics. Upcoming topics for August are: As we start this new segment of virtual round table discussions, we will need your help and participation. We are looking for topics of interest to the membership as well as panelist. If you have a topic you would like to see discussed by seasoned paralegals or if you would like to be added to our list of panelist please email Membership Chair, Cassie Snyder, ACP, FRP at [email protected].
Membership Corner ... Oh my goodness! We had SOOOO much fun today at the Virtual Lunch and Bingo!!! We had 26 virual attendees!!! Not too shabby for our 1st virtual lunch and Bingo. If you were unable to attend today DON'T WORRY ... CFPA will be hosting another virtual Bingo lunch next month!!! I was so busy calling numbers that I forgot to take a picture .... but Verena at Client Legal Funding came to the rescue!!!
Any questions please email [email protected]. Cassie Snyder, ACP, FRP Membership Committee Chair
From the Editor ... Would you like to write an article for the Carpe Diem?? If so please send me a draft. We would love to include articles from our members in our monthly issues. Also if you see any any legal related articles or topics of interest that you would like to see covered in the next issue of the Carpe Diem please feel free to share them with me.
Cassie Snyder, ACP, FRP - Editor
Article submissions by CFPA Members on legal related subjects are published upon approval and at the discretion of the Editor. HAVE YOU MISSED AN ISSUE OF THE CARPE DIEM?? Feel free to email me at [email protected] and let me know which issue you would like.
Here is a link to some of our archived issues from March 2011 through January 2015:
Carpe Diem Archived Issues
Central Florida Paralegal Association, P.O. Box 1107, Orlando, FL 32802-1107
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