1. ♦♦ ♦♦
♦ President’s Message
♦ President Elect’s Message
♦ Spring Seminar Rotation
♦ Request for Volunteers from Your
Paralegal Advocate Team
♦ NOTICE STUDENTS:
Publishing Opportunity
♦ Scholarship for Students
♦ Award Scholarship for Members
♦ Scholarship Recipients for 2011
♦ NALA Campus Live
♦ State & Chapter News
♦ Fall & Spring Seminar
♦ Job Security? Take Your Cues
from Santa Clause!
—By: Vicki Voisin, ACP
♦ 2011 Board Members & Directors
♦ NALA CP/CLA Exam Schedule
♦ Sustaining Members
♦ The Paralegal Advocate Team
♦ Deadlines & Contact Information
Tennessee Paralegal Association
Post Office Box 21723
Chattanooga, TN 37424
♦♦ E-Mail: info@tnparalegal.org ♦♦ Web Site: http://www.tnparalegal.org ♦♦
Greetings TPA Members:
We recently hosted our Fall Seminar in Lebanon, Ten-
nessee. The topics were great and the speakers were
wonderful. LaFran Plunk did a great job, so much so
she has been elected to First Vice President for the 2012
year.
At our Annual Meeting we elected new officers for the
2012 year. They are as follows:
President—Louise C. Mulderink, CP
First Vice President—LaFran Plunk
Second Vice President—Christie Gass
Treasurer—Phyllis Carter
Secretary—Pamela K. Leckey, CLA
NALA Liaison—Caleeta Beagles
W. TN Regional Director—Jennifer Petty
C. TN Regional Director—Rachael Reach
E. TN Regional Director—Laysha M. McCullaugh, CP
Congratulations to all officers. I wish you the best in the
upcoming year!
Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christ-
mas and a Happy New Year!!
Yours very truly,
Sherri S. Fawver, CP
TPA President
2. Happy Holidays TPA Members!
I am very proud to have been elected President of the Tennessee Paralegal Association for the
upcoming 2012-2013 term at TPA’s 2011 Fall Annual Meeting and Seminar.
The TPA Board and I will give our very best efforts and energy to support each Chapter in eve-
ry way possible and to continue the building process will ensure that TPA remains a viable as-
sociation that reflects the professionalism and integrity of the paralegal profession in Tennes-
see. Further, I am personally committed to every TPA member to listen to you, to assist you
and to support you, individually and as a chapter, in your journey to grow professionally and
become an active and productive branch of TPA.
We cannot meet our goals and your expectations without every member’s participation in some
way. You have an opportunity to participate. You have an opportunity to make a differ-
ence. Your individual expertise is needed to continue TPA’s success.
Once the Board meets for its first meeting in early January, we will be back to report how you
can help as we “grow” forward in 2012.
I wish you all a Joyous and Happy Holiday Season and very Merry Christmas!
Louise C. Mulderink, CP
2012 President Elect
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Spring Seminar Rotation: Central 2012, West 2013, East 2014, Southeast 2015
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Request for Volunteers to join the Paralegal Advocate Team: We want to put your skills
to work at what you do best. You determine the time commitment. We tell you what we need
and you tell us what you are able to contribute. This is a great for adding to your resume and
opportunity to be more active in your Association while doing what you enjoy.
♦ Authoring articles on legal topics or additional information of interest for our Mem-
bership;
♦ Selection of relevant legal articles from various sources & obtaining permission
from author for publication in The Paralegal Advocate;
♦ Requesting individuals in the legal field to write an article for The Paralegal Advo-
cate;
♦Proofreading submitted articles &/or final draft of The Paralegal Advocate for publi-
cation;
♦Marketing liaison – reach out to vendors in the legal field to see if they want to ad-
vertise in our newsletter;
♦Creative submissions or standing column is another consideration/opportunity
If you are interested in volunteering to join our Team, please e-mail us at in-
fo@tnparalegal.org Thank you very much. Your Paralegal Advocate Team
3. NOTICE:
PARALEGAL/LEGAL ASSISTANT STUDIES STUDENTS
Looking for written articles from paralegal/legal assistant studies students to publish in
our quarterly newsletters.
Basic guidelines: Article/essay can be up to 2 pages. Topic should be on a current legal
issue, topic, or subject. It can be an essay or informational piece on the chosen topic.
Article can be sent by e-mail to info@tnparalegal.org with subject heading “Student arti-
cle submission for review to the Paralegal Advocate” – student will need to include full
name, e-mail contact and school attending.
The student, if article is selected, can add to his or her resume as being selected for pub-
lication in our newsletter & will need to submit final in Word document for publishing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SCHOLARSHIPS
SPONSORED BY TPA
The Lawassa B. Jones Scholarship
(For Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies Major Students)
2011 Scholarship Recipient Elizabeth Green
&
A CP/CLA Exam Scholarship
(For Tennessee Paralegal Association Members)
2011 Scholarship Recipient Rachael Reach
For more information
GO TO OUR WEBSITE AT:
www.tnparalegal.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please forward any announcements for The Paralegal Advocate to in-
fo@tnparalegal.org Attn: Paralegal Advocate Team
NALA CAMPUS LIVE!
GO TO http://www.nalacampus.com
4. Our Fall Seminar and Annual Meeting was held on November 4th & 5th. It was
a great seminar. LaFran Plunk, our First-Vice President, did an awesome job in
coordinating this event.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR APRIL 20 & 21—UPCOMING SPRING SEMINAR
Holiday Inn Express & Suites—Lebanon, TN
Watch our Website and Upcoming Newsletters for New Information
Our West TN Chapter always has devoted members that contribute immensely to our
Association and its Chapter. The geographic location in the West provided many chal-
lenges for members to be active in participation of their Chapter membership meetings
and regularly scheduled activities as a Chapter. The West Chapter is dormant for the
next year and hopefully by this upcoming Spring a new interest in active involvement
for membership will be present. The small number of West Chapter members are elect-
ing currently to be members At Large.
The Southeast Chapter continues to have their Lunch ‘N Learn Luncheons on the third
Tuesday of each month, with the exception for their Christmas Luncheon being moved
to the second Tuesday to accommodate holiday schedules and to allow time for volun-
teers to participate in United Way’s Gift Tree Project occurring during the 3rd week of
December.
Our new Central Chapter is meeting the challenge of growing their Chapter. Rachael
Reach and Theresa Carrico have been promoting our Association at a number of local
paralegal schools.
Our East Chapter continues to work on their book drive for the Knox County Jail Li-
brary (a project started at the Public Defender’s office) and assisting with Second Har-
vest. Also, they have been working on a membership drive, including calling current
and recent members to see what more can be offered to our Membership that is not cur-
rently being met.
6. Contact the officers/board members via our new e-mail address at:
info@tnparalegal.com or directly from our website at www.tnparalegal.org
President: Sherri S. Fawver, CP, Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, Knoxville
First Vice President: LaFran Plunk, West Tennessee Legal Services, Jackson
Second Vice President: Christie L. Gass, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Chattanooga
NALA Liaison: Tammie Murphy, CLA, Toppenberg & Burke, P.C., Knoxville
Secretary: Laysha M. McCullaugh, CP, Fleissner, Davis and Johnson, Chattanooga
Treasurer: Phyllis A. Carter, SunTrust Bank (Retired), Chattanooga
Central Region Director: Rachael Reach, Brewer Krause Brooks Chastain & Burrow, Nashville
East Region Director: Pamela K. Leckey, CLA, Peggy G. Comstock Attorney at Law, Knoxville
West Region Director: Tammy R. Bradford, John D. Hamilton Attorney at Law, Jackson
Central TN Chapter Chair: Theresa Carrico, CP, Brewer Krause Brooks Chastain & Burrow, Nashville
East TN Chapter Chair: Nita Gorman, Gary A. Davis and Associates, North Carolina
S.E. TN Chapter Chair: Laysha M. McCullaugh, CP, Fleissner, Davis and Johnson, Chattanooga
West TN Chapter Chair: Courtney Sydnor, Nix, Patterson & Roach LLP, Jackson
Historian: Susan Westmoreland, CEBS, Horton & Maddox PLLC (Retired), Chattanooga
Parliamentarian: Susan Westmoreland, CEBS, Horton & Maddox PLLC (Retired), Chattanooga
Publication Chair: Laysha M. McCullaugh, CP, Fleissner, Davis and Johnson, Chattanooga
Website Committee Chair: Theresa Carrico, CP, Brewer Krause Brooks Chastain & Burrow, Nashville
9. Is published quarterly by the Tennessee Paralegal Association, an affiliate of the National
Association of Legal Assistants, Inc. Articles and other information for the newsletter
should be sent to the Advocate Team at the below e-mail address. Please title subject head-
ing “For TPA Advocate.”
info@tnparalegal.org
UPCOMING ISSUE
DEADLINES
SPRING: MARCH 25, 2012
SUMMER: JUNE 25, 2012
FALL: SEPTEMBER 25, 2012
WINTER: DECEMBER 25, 2012
SPECIAL REQUEST:
PLEASE SUBMIT TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO DEADLNE, IF POSSIBLE. THANKS!
MESSAGE FROM THE PARALEGAL ADVOCATE TEAM
We would appreciate your contribution to The Paralegal Advocate by submitting articles
of interest to you to be published. Please note the deadlines for each issue and feel free
to provide any information you would like published prior to the deadline.
If you would like to have articles published on specific topics in the Advocate, please
contact us.
— The Paralegal Advocate Team