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.