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Board Certified Legal Assistant |
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In 1976, while a high school senior, I was interested in the law. I was the
“Speaker of the House” in my civics class and had the opportunity to travel to
Austin, Texas, to see our state Legislature in action. (I still have a gavel
from the Texas House of Representatives that is “Texas sized!”) |
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My church pastor referred me to an attorney to talk about the legal profession
as a career. Will Barber who later served on the Texas Court of Appeals, 5th
District, Dallas, was kind to meet with me, and during our discussion, he
showed me a magazine article that described, as he called it, “This new thing
called ‘paralegal.’” Although I had an interest in law, I was unsure if I
wanted to be an attorney. “Paralegal” was a concept that was only beginning at
that time. |
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I investigated educational programs and found an associate degree course of
study at El Centro College in downtown Dallas. El Centro’s program had been
recently initiated with the assistance of the Dallas Bar Association. Local
attorneys helped set up classes and provided attorney instructors. I enrolled
and began the program in 1977. |
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| After I graduated from the program, which is now an ABA approved program, I
worked in a small firm practice. In 1986, I moved to a medium-sized tax and
litigation boutique firm and extended my experience to tax litigation and white
collar criminal defense, as well as more complicated commercial litigation
matters. In 1989, the attorneys for whom I worked moved to the largest law firm
in Dallas at that time. |
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The large law firm environment was a new experience for me, and I had the
opportunity to work on very large, document-intensive matters. This was the
beginning age of databases (the old “dBase” and Summation). I moved with my
attorneys to other law firms, and since 1998, I have been at the firm of Hughes
& Luce, LLP., doing specialty litigation. I have served as the chair of the
firm’s paralegal committee |
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I returned to college and completed my Bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude from
the University of North Texas. I received an “Outstanding Student” award. In an
unique degree plan of “applied arts and sciences,” my degree gave academic
credit for my former paralegal courses, and I took courses in two additional
concentration areas of Criminal Justice and Mediation, which met the State of
Texas statutory requirements to be a mediator. |
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In 1984, after joining the Dallas paralegal association, someone asked me to
serve on a committee. That was the beginning of 20 years of paralegal
association participation, as I then served on the local board as president
(1987-88), and president of the state organization (Legal Assistants Division,
State Bar of Texas, 1990-91)(now the State Bar of Texas Standing Committee on
Paralegals). I am on the editorial advisory board for Legal Assistant Today
magazine. I have often given CLE presentations on the local, state, and
national level. |
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EDUCATION/HONORS/CERTIFICATIONS |
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Bachelor’s degree, Applied Arts and Sciences, University of North Texas, magna
cum laude, GPA: 4.0, overall GPA, including associate degree hours,3.84
Outstanding Student Award for Applied Arts and Sciences, School of Community
Service, University of North Texas
Associates degree and certificate, El Centro College Paralegal Assistant
Program (3.68 GPA)
Board Certified Legal Assistant, Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal
Specialization (first offering of such an exam for legal assistants, 1994)
Certified Paralegal, (Certified Legal Assistant Examination, National
Association of Legal Assistants (NALA), May 1985
Completed Basic Mediation Training, and received certificate from the
University of North Texas, Alternative Dispute Resolution Program administered
by the Institute of Applied Economics, August 2001, which complies with Texas
Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, §154.052 of the Texas Civil Practice and
Remedies Code to serve as a Mediator
UIL College Scholarship recipient, DeSoto High School, 1977 (top 7%, and
faculty voted “Most Outstanding Student”) |
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PROFESSIONAL |
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1990-91 |
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Chair of the Board, Legal Assistants Division of the State Bar of Texas
(position now known as president), approximately 2000 members; and Director
(Dallas, District 2), 1989-91 |
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1991-93 |
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State Bar of Texas Joint Task Force on Specialty Certification, Justice Linda
Thomas, Chair (to promulgate specialty certification of legal assistants by the
Texas Board of Legal Specialization) |
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1992-2004 |
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Committee member, State Bar of Texas Legal Assistant Committee (appointed by
Texas State Bar President); Subcommittee chair, responsible for Pro Bono
Partners |
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1999-2004 |
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Legal Assistant Today magazine – Editorial Review Board member |
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1988-89 |
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President, Dallas Association of Legal Assistants (now known as Dallas Area
Paralegal Association), and prior Board positions as President-Elect, Education
Vice President (1984-88) |
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1994-95 |
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Dallas Area Paralaegal Association (DAPA)(formerly
"DALA")primary;representative to (NFPA) |
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1996-2004 |
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Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (“PACE”) Standards Committee Member (NFPA) |
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