Legal Assisting Program. Advisory Board Meeting. Minutes. December 9, 2011

Transcription

1 Legal Assisting Program Advisory Board Meeting Minutes December 9, 2011 Members Present: Bernita Blanton Virginia Bradley Patricia Creech Michelle Dunkley David Goodrich Christine Honeycutt* Nekishia Lester Bianca Moreiras Charles Morton Charles Oliver Charles Oliver Donna Person Mary Rousseau Lynn T. Slossberg Judge Sonom Cheryl-Dene Spring Kelly VanBenschoten Carolinda Williams Karen Wollard* Lynn T. Slossberg Eric Young *Ms. Honeycutt attended on behalf of Dr. Deborah Hopkins. Dr. Wollard attended to provide the board with information pertaining to the College s Continuing Education department. Welcome and Introductions

2 Donna Person, Chairperson of the Legal Assisting Advisory Board, opened the meeting and asked each board member to introduce himself/herself. After the introductions, Ms. Person stated that Ms. Slossberg had some announcements to make. Ms. Slossberg asked the board members to join her in congratulating student member Kelly VanBenschoten who is graduating on December 14 th. Ms. VanBenschoten is working as a paralegal. Ms. Slossberg then informed the board that student Trecia Bennett won a scholarship sponsored by the South Florida Paralegal Association (SFPA). The essay topic was a discussion of an ethics case, Florida Bar v. Neiman, a case in which the defendant was sanctioned for the commission of the unlicensed practice of law. Ms. Bennett s essay was published in the latest issue of The SFPA Legal Journal. Ms. Slossberg ended the announcements by reading a letter she received from recent graduate Melissa Simmons. Ms. Simmons graduated the program at the end of the summer semester and currently is a student in Nova Southeastern University s Bachelor of Science Paralegal Studies Program. Ms. Simmons thanked the entire staff of Broward College s Legal Assisting Program for preparing her so well for the next stage of her academic and professional career. The announcements completed, a motion was made by Mr. Young to approve the minutes from the April 8, 2011 meeting. It was seconded by Mr. Morton. Old Business Updates on the Florida Registered Paralegal Program (FRP) - Ms. Slossberg updated the board members on the current status of the FRP program. She said that since the last advisory board meeting, the FRP s Program Evaluation Committee met in May to decide whether to accept the proposal of mandatory licensing of the paralegal profession in Florida, as well as to decide whether to accept a second proposal designating the use of the term paralegal. Prior to the May meeting, a vote was taken pertaining to these two proposals. Although the majority report was in favor of limiting the use of the term paralegal to Florida Registered Paralegals, the minority report was followed. This means that at this time there is neither mandatory licensing nor is there a restriction limiting the use of the term paralegal. Nonetheless, these issues may be revisited in the future.

3 CLA/CP Workshops - Ms. Slossberg indicated that Broward College s Legal Assisting Program will continue to encourage students to sit for the CLA/CP Exam. She explained that once an applicant passes the exam and becomes a CP, that individual automatically is eligible to become a Florida Registered Paralegal s/he simply has to complete an application and pay a fee. The continuing legal education completed for one of these designations also applies to the other designation. Ms. Creech, who is an officer of the Broward Chapter of the Paralegal Association of Florida (PAF) stated that her association also is pushing its members to take the CLA/CP Exam. She said that the larger firms will want CPs, so we need to emphasize the importance of this designation. Ms. Creech took the CLA/CP prep class at FAU. She said it was a six-week course that met on Saturdays and cost several hundred dollars. Ms. Moreiras said that she always is asked whether there is a local prep class for the exam. Ms. Slossberg said that the most difficult portion of the exam for examinees nationwide is the portion on critical thinking, judgment, and writing. Students may be able to purchase the texts and attempt to study the substantive law and ethics materials on their own, but they cannot succeed on this other portion without proper preparation. Ms. Bradley said that at her firm, the CP and the FRP designations are very important. People are paid based on their experience and skill. She said that if an attorney wants to bill for paralegal time, that attorney wants his or her paralegals to have these designations. Ms. Slossberg stated that a graduate of Broward College s Legal Assisting Program is eligible to become a FRP with this A.S. degree plus two years experience. If a graduate obtained his/her degree from a non-american Bar Association approved program, that student would need four years work experience. However, if firms are becoming reluctant to hire someone who is not a FRP, it will be difficult for that graduate to be given the opportunity to obtain the two year work experience, so it will become a Catch-22. Ms. Creech stated that the CP designation will help graduates salary-wise. Judge Sonom asked if the CP prep course that Ms. Creech completed was all-inclusive. Ms. Creech said that it was, but it was very fast-paced and she wished it was a bit longer.

4 Mr. Morton asked why experience was necessary to become a FRP. Ms. Slossberg said that it is not needed for those who become CPs. The options are being a CP or having the combination of education plus work experience. Ms. Slossberg said that in addition to offering a prep course through the Continuing Education department, the College also wants to become a CLA/CP testing center. Ms. Wollard said that she investigated this and that the only little hurdle would be the dates and hours for administering the exam, but this is a hurdle that can be worked out. Ms. Rousseau asked how often the exam was offered? Ms. Creech said it was offered three times a year. Ms. Rousseau said that it may be preferable to use one of the computer labs in the business department on South Campus rather than the labs in the College s testing centers because the equipment in the business department s computer labs is updated. Ms. Slossberg said that in the past, the exam had to be taken on set dates, but now NALA has set up examination windows ; for example, the exam can be taken any time during the month of September rather than on specific dates in September. Ms. Wollard said that many types of certification preparatory courses are offered through the College s Continuing Education department. She indicated that it was easier to go this route because a proposal does not have to go through all of the levels of approval (for example, the College s curriculum committee) for courses offered through this department. She confirmed that the College easily can become a testing center. She also said that the course should be offered on one campus initially as a test case before offering it on multiple campuses and that it should be offered on South Campus first because, based on her research, students in South Broward County have very limited options for review courses. This way, students on North Campus can choose to either take the course at FAU or at BC, whichever is closer and South Campus students will also have an option available to them. Ms. Moreiras said that now that grandfathering into the FRP is over, there will be no shortage of people interested in taking the CLA/CP Exam and therefore it will be easy to market a prep course offered at the College. Ms. Slossberg said that she sent out feelers among both current students and graduates and there seems to be great interest. She said that the current course offered at FAU is taught in Boca by one attorney. She was told that there is a prep course offered at FIU, but that currently it is taught by CPs, not attorneys. Ms. Lester said that she used to teach as one of the instructors for the prep course offered at FIU and that at the time she was involved in

5 that course there were attorneys who taught segments of the prep course. Ms. Slossberg stated that she received her information from the current president of the South Florida Paralegal Association in Miami who told her that this organization is very much involved with the review course at FIU and that it is taught by CPs. The consensus of the advisory board members present was to move forward with the development of the review course. Ms. Creech said that there are working paralegals who would be interested in other courses in addition to CLA/CP prep courses. For example, she recently moved from a probate firm to a litigation firm and she would have loved to take a refresher course on the relevant statutory laws and court rules. She believes all paralegals need regular updates. Ms. Wollard asked whether such courses would have to be approved by The Florida Bar. Ms. Slossberg said that most CLE courses taken by paralegals either are approved by The Florida Bar or through NALA. New Business Program Statistics Ms. Williams said that in comparing this program with other programs at the College, the students who enter this program tend to remain in the program and complete it. She then presented statistics to the board. Below are the current statistics for Legal Assisting students college-wide: Number of currently enrolled in the fall 2011 semester: 389 Number of graduates for the summer 2011 semester: 14 Number of graduates for the fall 2011 semester: 18 Placement Statistics Ms. Slossberg discussed employment and continuing education information as it pertains to the fourteen summer graduates. Of the fourteen students who graduated this past summer, four are working as paralegals, two are working in another field, and eight are continuing their education. Of the eight, seven indicated plans to enroll in the B.A.S. in Supervision and Management at Broward College. The other graduate indicated plans to enroll in the B.S. in Paralegal Studies at

6 Nova Southeastern University. Of the eighteen students who are graduating on December 14 th, four are working as paralegals, two are working in the legal field in another capacity (one as an office clerk in a law firm and one as a judicial assistant), two are working in another field, five are seeking employment, one is not seeking employment at this time, and four are continuing their education. Out of the four, three indicated plans to enroll in the B.A.S. in Supervision and Management at Broward College. The other graduating student indicated plans to enroll in the Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at FAU. ABA Interim Report - Ms. Slossberg stated that she has been working on the ABA Interim Report which is due on January 15, Because the ABA was between two and two and one half years behind on its site team visits, an interim report is due even though ABA re-approval was awarded last February. The interim report is a large report, including twenty exhibits. She mentioned that she had been in contact with Jessica Watson at the ABA, who oversees interim reports. She said that Ms. Watson has been very helpful and that, based on the feedback thus far, Ms. Slossberg does not anticipate any issues arising over the report. Program Assessment - Ms. Slossberg explained the importance of assessment, both for SACS as well as for ABA compliance. She said that the program utilizes many different assessment methods. One method implemented each year is a program evaluation survey students complete in the middle of the winter semester. She then shared the results with the board members, compiled for the academic year. She received 164 anonymous, completed surveys. The survey questions address the goals and objectives of the program. Based on the results, the program appears to be meeting its goals. Regarding the question pertaining to the dissemination of information on local paralegal associations, Ms. Slossberg said that there are some students who would like to attend the meetings, but the meeting dates and times conflict with classes. Regarding the program s emphasis on the importance of students working with advisors, Ms. Slossberg said that she highly recommends that students work with Ms. Williams. Although there are many capable advisors at the College, Ms. Williams specializes in this program and is in the best position to guide the students regarding this major. Ms. Slossberg then said that the program conducts employer and graduate focus groups every other year. Last month the program conducted a graduate focus group, facilitated by Ms. Person. Although twelve graduates RSVPed that they would be

7 attending the focus group, six actually attended. Ms. Slossberg then contacted the others via and asked them to provide written answers to the questions asked during the focus group meeting. She also asked them to answer a short survey that participants completed. She received answers from two additional graduates. Their input is included in the results of the focus group. Ms. Person said that the participants liked the hands-on application they received in the classes. They said that putting these projects into portfolios helped graduates obtain legal jobs. Ms. Person stated that the graduates seemed to have a positive experience while enrolled in the program and really did not have anything negative to say regarding the program. Ms. Slossberg then presented the results of the survey the participants completed. She said that the one area that did not rank as highly as others was legal technology. She stated that the focus group was comprised of graduates from various academic years and that may account for this result graduates who started the program earlier may not have been exposed to all of the legal software programs that the program recently has integrated into the curriculum. Mr. Morton noted that, according to the survey, very few participants prepare memoranda or conduct research. He asked if the program emphasized this. Ms. Slossberg said that the program is required by the American bar Association to teach the students how to research although, in reality, few utilize this skill often in the workplace. Ms. Creech said that legal research was included on the CP exam, as well as the writing of a memorandum. Shadowing Ms. Slossberg said that some of the participants in the graduate focus group, as well as some students she conversed with during the exit interview process, said that they were unable to participate in internships because of the time commitment involved. Most of them work full-time. However, they suggested that the program offer opportunities to shadow working paralegals. Ms. Slossberg asked the board members if they had suggestions on how this might be implemented. Ms. Bradley said that her firm recently provided such an opportunity to a student enrolled in a paralegal program at a private institution. The student shadowed paralegals in her firm over a period of six weeks, rotating through various legal practice areas. The student was given opportunities to assist, which helped to develop practical skills. The student had to pay the academic institution $1,200 to participate in this experience. Ms. Bradley thinks the concept is a wonderful idea. Ms. Bradley said the office personnel truly liked the student and it helped build the student s self-esteem. Ms. Lester said she thought this was a great idea. She said law schools are starting to implement this concept to provide law students with real world skills. Mr. Morton said that if a student wanted to participate in this type of experience for credit, it would have to be approved. Judge Sonom suggested contacting legal services organizations as possible sites. Ms. Slossberg said that the College does use Legal Aid offices, as well as private firms, as

8 internship sites. The problem is the number of hours required to participate in an internship for academic credit the internship requires a 144-hour commitment during a semester. Ms. Lester wondered if it was possible to spread the hour requirement over a longer time period than one semester. Ms. Slossberg said that would be difficult when trying to award proper academic credit. Ms. Moreiras suggested that students try to shadow for a week or two during their vacations. It is a sacrifice, but it is worthwhile when considering the impact on their future career. Judge Sonom asked about the current job market for graduating students. Ms. Slossberg said it is very competitive at the moment, like most other fields, although the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the paralegal field has a much higher job growth rate than most other fields. CALI Finally, Ms. Slossberg reported that the program has become a member of CALI this academic year and has provided these computer-assisted legal tutorials to the students. She has implemented them in her courses. She said that the cost to paralegal programs is minimal compared to the costs charged to law schools. The program pays $250 per year. This covers all students in the program on both campuses. Mr. Young said that NSU s law school pays $7,500 per year for the same access. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned.