Meet Our Contributors
Each issue of LAT
magazine is supported by a talented group of contributors: our
writers and our
editorial advisory board. Below you will find more information
about these experts and their invaluable contributions to the magazine.
Our Writers
All of
the articles in Legal Assistant Today
are original material written by expert authors. Our columnists
are selected because of their experience both in the paralegal field
and the selected topic. The subject matter of each article is a
collaboration between the authors and LAT
’s editorial team, and is based on the writer’s expertise
and reader feedback. Each article is fact checked by the editorial
staff to ensure the accuracy of published information. Below is
an introduction to our regular columnists and writers.
Catherine Astl, CLA,
is a civil litigation trial practice legal assistant working for
T. Patton Youngblood, Jr., in Tampa, Fla., in the areas of personal
injury, medical malpractice, entertainment
and criminal
law. Astl is the author of
"Behind the Bar – Inside the Paralegal Profession" (iUniverse,
2003).
Christy Hall Benson,
CLA, has more than 15 years of paralegal
experience and lives in Concord, N.C. She has a Bachelor of Arts
in journalism and mass communication from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and a paralegal degree from Meredith College
in Raleigh, N.C. Benson has written many articles on legal writing
and can be reached for questions or comments at chbenson[at]ctc.net.
Brett Burney
is principal of Burney Consultants in Cleveland,
where he focuses his time on helping clients bridge the chasm between
the legal and technology frontiers of electronic discovery. You
can e-mail him at burney[at]burneyconsultants.com
Therese A. Cannon
is the associate director of the Western Association of Schools
and Colleges, Senior Commission in Alameda, Calif.
She also serves as the educational consultant to the American Bar
Association Standing Committee on Paralegals. She is the author
of “Ethics and Professional Responsibility for Paralegals” and “A
Concise Guide to Paralegal Ethics,” both published by Aspen Publishers,
Inc., and is co-author of “Paralegals, Profitability, and the Future,”
published by the ABA. She has been teaching and lecturing on legal
ethics for more than 25 years.
Cynthia S. Couch
has been a paralegal for more than 23 years.
She has worked for an electric utility corporation located in Kansas
for the past 20 years, specializing in the areas of corporate and
securities law. Before commencing her career as a paralegal, she
earned degrees in French and paralegal studies from Wichita State
University in Wichita, Kan.
Alisa Driscoll
is a freelance writer based in Orange County,
Calif.
Amanda Flatten
is the former editor and publisher of LAT.
She currently is the editor of Dallas/Fort Worth House & Home
magazine based in Dallas.
Mark A. Gediman,
library director for Best Best & Krieger in Riverside, Calif.,
has more than 18 years of experience in law firm library management.
He has been with BB&K since 2000, and speaks and writes frequently
about law library management issues.
Oliver M. Gierke
is a litigation case manager in the litigation/IP
practice of White & Case, a leading global law firm with more
than 2,300 lawyers in 37 offices in 25 countries.
Mary Girsch-Bock
is an independent business and software
consultant from Rio Rancho, N.M., who currently specializes in legal
and property management software.
Jeffrey A. Helewitz, Esq.,
received his juris doctorate and master of laws degree from Georgetown
University Lw Center, and his masters of business administration
from new York University. He is the author of 20 legal texts and
more than a dozen legal articles covering a wide range of legal
theory, and he is a mediator and an arbitrator. He has been an adjunct
professor of law and an adjunct professor of paralegal studies at
various schools in the New York area. Currently, he is a court attorney
to a New York City Court judge.
Nancy B. Heller, RP,
has been a litigation paralegal since 1978, and has been employed
with the Columbus, Ohio-based law firm of Vorys, Sater,
Seymour and Pease for the past 20 years.
She has been a frequent seminar lecturer on the topic of ethics
and is a co-author of the National Federation of Paralegal Associations’
Model Code of Ethics. Since 1999, she has served on the adjunct
faculty for the Capital University Law School Paralegal Program
where she teaches Ethics and Law Office Practice and Civil Litigation
II: Trial Preparation and Practice. She also is a co-author of the
ethics section for NFPA’s Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam Study
Manual.
Milton Hooper
is a litigation support specialist in Macon, Ga. He has worked in
trial graphics, document management and courtroom presentation technology
since 1996. Hooper has been an instructor of Microsoft PowerPoint
and Verdict Systems’ Sanction II a the National Advocacy Center
in Columbia, S.C.
Stacey Hunt, CLA, CAS,
is a graduate
of the Fresno
City
College paralegal program and a litigation paralegal
with Duggan Smith in San Luis Obispo,
Calif. She is the co-author
of Evidence Management for the Paralegal
(Cengage, 2007), as well as two other paralegal books. Hunt taught
legal writing and ethics for the paralegal studies program at California
Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. She is a past president of the
California
Alliance of Paralegal Associations and currently is working
on modules for the Commission for Advanced California Paralegal
Specialization’s new online program.
Melody Ip is
a freelance writer based in Seattle.
Sally A. Kane, J.D.,
is a freelance writer specializing in legal and career topics. She
has over a decade of experience in the legal industry as a paralegal
and an attorney. For more information, visit her legal careers Web
site at
http://legalcareers.about.com
Tammy R. Pettinato
is a law librarian and lecturer all the University
of California, Los Angeles School of Law in Los Angeles.
Kim Plonsky
has been a paralegal for over 30 years, specializing in civil litigation
of all types, and presently is working in Lafayette, LA., as a freelance
paralegal and writer. Plonksy recently was selected as a Court Appointed
Special Advocate for children for the 15th Judicial District, an
entity of Louisiana CASA.
Carolyn M. Saenz,
AACP, is a senior paralegal at Western-Southern
Life Insurance Company in Cincinnati, where she has been employed
since 1995. She is the membership director for the American Alliance
of Paralegals, Inc., and is on the advisory council of the Cincinnati
Paralegal Association. She is an adjunct instructor and advisory
board member at The College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati.
Lori Thompson
is a paralegal specialist for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she has been employed since
March 1991 and works with the legal division’s consumer/ compliance
section. Thompson currently is serving as the National Federation
Paralegal Associations’ coordinator for the Navy Legalman and Military
Paralegal Outreach Program and is the immediate past NFPA Pro
Bono coordinator and liaison to the
ABA Standing Committee on Pro
Bono Public Service. She was the
recipient of NFPA’s 2000 Individual Pro
Bono Award and the National Capital
Area Paralegal Association’s 2007 Pro
Bono Service Award.
Jamie Ann Tyo is
a freelance journalist and former managing editor of LAT.
Our Editorial
Advisory Board
The
Editorial Advisory Board was established in 1999 and consists of
12 respected leaders from a variety of legal backgrounds, including
paralegals in many different specialties, attorneys and paralegal
educators and managers. Each of our Board members has 20 years or
more of experience in the legal field, and they each provide invaluable
contributions to the magazine by supplying LAT with ideas, contacts
and feedback. In addition, since 1999,
LAT ’s
Editorial Advisory Board has selected the Paralegal of the Year
and runners up, and since 2003, has selected the Rookie Paralegal
of the Year.
Therese A. Cannon
is the associate director of the Western Association
of Schools and Colleges, Senior Commission in
Alameda, Calif.
She also is the educational consultant to the ABA Standing Committee
on Paralegals. She is the author of “Ethics and Professional Responsibility
for Paralegals,” now in its fifth edition, and “A Concise Guide
to Paralegal Ethics,” both published by Aspen Publishers, Inc.,
and is co-author of “Paralegals, Profitability, and the Future,”
published by the ABA. She has been lecturing on legal ethics for
more than 25 years.
Nancy B. Heller, RP,
has been a litigation paralegal since 1978, and
has been employed with the Columbus, Ohio-based law firm of Vorys,
Sater, Seymour
and Pease for the past 24 years. She has been a frequent seminar
lecturer on the topic of ethics and is a co-author of NFPA’s Model
Code of Ethics. Since 1999, she has served on the adjunct faculty
for the Capital University Law School Paralegal Program where she
teaches Ethics and Law Office Practice, and Civil Litigation II:
Trial Preparation and Practice. She also is a co-author of the ethics
section for NFPA’s Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam Study Manual.
Stacey Hunt, CLA, CAS,
is a graduate
of the Fresno
City
College paralegal program and a litigation paralegal
with Duggan Smith in San Luis Obispo,
Calif. She is the co-author
of Evidence Management for the Paralegal
(Cengage, 2007), as well as two other paralegal books. Hunt taught
legal writing and ethics for the paralegal studies program at California
Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. She is a past president of the
California
Alliance of Paralegal Associations and currently is working
on modules for the Commission for Advanced California Paralegal
Specialization’s new online program.
Sybil Taylor Aytch
has been a paralegal for more than 20 years in
Phoenix and New
York, specializing in commercial bankruptcy/litigation,
and is an adjunct faculty member of the paralegal program at
Phoenix College
in Phoenix. Active in paralegal organizations
for most of her career, she currently serves as NFPA’s Ethics Board
chair.
Brad Baber is
the paralegal manager in Troutman Sanders’ Atlanta office. He earned
his bachelor’s degree from Wabash
College in Crawfordsville,
Ind., and a paralegal certificate
from Midlands Technical
College
in Columbia, S.C.
Baber has more than 20 years of paralegal management experience
and formerly worked as a paralegal in the areas of bankruptcy and
litigation. He has been an instructor in the paralegal program at
Midlands Technical
College
and is a former columnist for LAT. Baber is an active member of
the International Paralegal Management Association.
Michele Boerder
is a 28-year paralegal with K&L Gates in
Dallas.
She has an associate degree from the El Centro College Paralegal
Program in Dallas, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas
in Denton,
Texas. She is a Board
Certified Paralegal-Civil Trial through the Texas Board of Legal
Specialization, and served on the TBLS Paralegal Civil Trial Commission.
She is a NALA Certified Paralegal and a past president of the Dallas
Area Paralegal Association. Boerder has served on the State Bar
of Texas Paralegal Committee since 1991 and was past president of
the bar’s paralegal division, and also has served on NFPA’s Paralegal
Advanced Competency Exam Standards Committee.
Paul D. Guymon
has been the coordinator of the paralegal program
at William
Rainey Harper
College
in Palatine, Ill.,
since 1995. Guymon graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree
in political science from Utah
State University
in Logan, Utah,
in 1977, and received his juris doctorate from Western State University
College of Law in
Fullerton, Calif., in 1980.
He left the full time practice of law in 1990, and worked in and
directed the paralegal program at California State
University,
San Bernardino in
San Bernardino,
Calif.,
for five years. He became a member of the board of directors of
the American Association for Paralegal Education in 1996, serving
as the president for the 1999-2000 term.
Bruce F. Hamm, JD,
received his bachelor’s degree and juris doctorate from
Syracuse University in
Syracuse, N.Y.,
where he currently is the director of legal studies.
Hamm served on the board of directors of
AAfPE and the New York State Bar Association Law Practice Management
Committee, and currently is on the editorial advisory board for
the IPMA’s Paralegal Management magazine. He is active in several
ABA
sections and regularly does ABA Approval site visits. He has been
on the NALA Certified Legal Assistant Certifying Board and is on
the NFPA PACE Standards Committee. He is a member of the Onondaga
County Bar Association Paralegals Committee, the board of directors
and the Bar Reporter editorial board.
Francine Shay, CP, FRP,
is a paralegal manager at Lewis, Longman & Walker in
West Palm Beach, Fla.
She is active in several paralegal associations and advisory boards,
has authored portions of a paralegal studies textbook, and has written
and presented articles on paralegal career development and law firm
ethics.
Marilyn Wass, CP, CAS,
a practicing paralegal for over 30 years, currently works in the
Newport
Beach, Calif., office of
Lopez McHugh, specializing in mass tort/product liability litigation.
She received her bachelor’s degree and paralegal certificate from
the University of California,
Los Angeles and has held various positions in
paralegal associations at local, state and national levels.
William J. Mulkeen
is the Paralegal Program Director at Thomas Edison State College’s Watson School of Public Policy and Professional and Continuing Studies in Trenton, New Jersey. At Thomas Edison he has also mentored undergraduate and graduate level courses and served on various committees including several terms as the President of the College’s Academic Council. He has been active in legal education for over 30 years and has most recently served as the President of the American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE) where he founded the AAfPE Technology Task Force. He has been an active team member with various national paralegal accrediting agencies that are part of the Council of Higher Education Accreditation Commission (CHEA) of the United States Department of Education and has also served as a civilian and military paralegal reviewer with the American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington, D.C. In addition he has also served as a paralegal program reviewer for the Distance Education Training Commission (DETC) and the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET), also both in Washington D.C.
|