1980 - 1981
CAPA voted to continue with the journal project. The following projects were considered for the year:
- Prepare a procedures manual
- Institute an outreach program to aid founding paralegal associations;
- Monitor statewide issues, and research potential grants;
- Focus on enhancing the visibility of the Alliance through greater publicity efforts;
- Write and maintain a history of the Alliance.
Mary Coughlan, SALA (now SVPA), was elected Executive Director for the CAPA 1981-82 term.
1981 - 1982
The total number of individual members of each association affiliated with CAPA was approximately 1,195.
The membership of the California Public Sector Paralegal Association (CPSPA) was terminated.
July, 1982, Linda M. Dougherty, SALA (now SVPA), was appointed Acting Executive Director till the end of the CAPA 1981-82 term.
CAPA approved the application of San Joaquin Legal Assistants Association for membership with CAPA.
A CAPA Member Directory was published for use at the 1982 State Bar Annual Meeting in Sacramento.
The Membership was distributed at the SALA (now SVPA) Paralegal Utilization Seminar held during the State Bar Convention.
CAPA responded to the State Bar inquiries on programs and definitions of legal assistants.
CAPA continued with the outreach program.
Linda M. Dougherty, SALA (now SVPA), was elected Executive Director for the CAPA 1982-83 term.
1982 - 1983
The number of individual members of each association affiliated with CAPA totaled approximately 1,410.
CAPA approved the application of Paralegal Association of Santa Clara County for membership with CAPA.
The Paralegal Section of the Orange County Bar Association (PSOCBA) applied for membership with CAPA,
but was denied membership because it was determined from its
application that they were in conflict with the CAPA by-laws,
which required that the control of each voting association vest
solely in paralegals. PSOCBA was invited to join CAPA as an associate member.
CAPA held a mid-year meeting in conjunction with the NFPA Region I Conference in Los Angeles in
March, 1983. Topics of discussion were the CAPA information
brochure, the State Bar Legal Services Department packet on
legal assistants, certification, and the CAPA Employer Directory
project. The CAPA directors agreed that every attempt should be made to meet
mid-year to accomplish the CAPA goals.
An informal legislative committee was formed to monitor any legislation affecting paralegals.
The Law Office Management Section of the
State Bar (LOMS) was invited to CAPA's annual meeting to discuss
placing a CAPA member on the LOMS Advisory Board.
A representative of LOMS stated that the Section would be
interested in having a legal assistant serve on the advisory
board.
A legislative committee was formed to
conduct an investigation to determine the benefits of the
potential affiliation of California paralegals with the
California State Bar Association.
Three standing committees were established:
- Newsletter Committee
- Membership Committee
- Legislative/Bar Relations Committee
Fran Chernowsky, LAPA, was elected Executive Director for the CAPA 1983-84 term.
1983 - 1984
Informally, a consensus of the associations felt that an Employer Directory should be used at
the local association level to aid in networking and to assist
paralegals relocating to other areas. Compiling a statewide directory was too cumbersome. By majority vote CAPA decided to table the completion of
the employer directory.
The State Bar Law Office Management Section approved having a
CAPA representative appointed to its Executive Committee.
CAPA drafted a position on the proposed
FTC Authorization Act of 1983 regarding regulation of
professionals.
In 1977 CAPA sent a letter to the State
Bar opposing the certification proposal. In order to formulate CAPA's then current position on
certification, CAPA decided to accumulate materials on
certification. The
certification materials would be distributed to each association
so that each association could give to CAPA a position paper
regarding certification.
A CAPA quarterly newsletter was
discussed. It was suggested that the newsletter be limited to one page. The first quarterly newsletter would contain a summary of
the deadlines and goals set at CAPA's mid-year meeting. No association volunteered to do the second edition.
A statewide public relations list and
California paralegal training programs list was considered.
CAPA operated for seven years as an
unincorporated association. It was unanimously decided to incorporate CAPA.
CAPA decided that as of 1985, the fiscal
year for CAPA begins on January 1 and ends on December 31.
Through the efforts of the outreach
committee, there were representatives from the Paralegal Section
of the Orange County Bar Association, Riverside Association and
Sequoia Association that attended the CAPA meeting. The Santa Barbara/Channel Cities Association was not
interested at that time.
The Paralegal Section of the Orange
County Bar Association submitted its revised application to CAPA
and the application was approved for membership with CAPA.
CAPA decided to prepare a paper outlining
the pros and cons of certification. CAPA would then be able to assist local associations to
educate paralegals as to what certification was all about.
Fran Chernowsky, LAPA, was elected
Executive Director for the CAPA 1985 term.
1985
CAPA held a Special Meeting in January to discuss the present disagreement and confusion over Paralegal
Section of Orange County Bar Association (PSOCBA) membership
issue. The Board of Directors unanimously approved a resolution which declared that
PSOCBA did not meet the eligibility requirements of the CAPA
bylaws. The vote to designate PSOCBA a voting member on October 26, 1984, was
declared null and void. The Board of Directors, by majority, approved a
second resolution to admit PSOCBA as an associate member as of January 12, 1985.
CAPA meetings were increased to three meetings a year as follows: Winter meeting as the first meeting
of the fiscal year in February, Spring/Summer meeting in June, and Fall meeting in November.
CAPA decided to monitor legislation relating to the Analysis of the Private Investigator Act because
it impacted paralegals.
CAPA approved Nikki Colbert's design and presentation on the title "RECAP" and logo (the acronym CAPA
superimposed on a rendering of the State of California) for the CAPA newsletter.
The newsletter was intended to be a forum of information for all paralegals in California so that they would
be informed on what was happening statewide. The first RECAP newsletter was presented at the June meeting.
Several guests attended the June meeting including Joseph E. Deering, Jr., who authored the proposal to
the California State Bar to license legal assistants. Various representatives from CAPA associations expressed
their association's view against the proposal. Mr. Deering was given a copy of CAPA's statement opposing
his proposal. It was suggested that CAPA make a formal presentation to the public to educate the public
against Mr. Deering's proposal. The LOMS section of the State Bar also recommended disapproval of Deering's proposal.
A steering committee was established to review CAPA's structure. There was also discussion about holding a CAPA board retreat.
CAPA approved the application of Marin County Association of Legal Assistants (MALA) as a member of CAPA.
CAPA reviewed the application of the Ventura County Association of Legal Assistants (VALA). CAPA was concerned with
VALA's affiliation with the National Alliance of Legal Assistants (NALA). VALA's application was tabled until the next CAPA meeting.
Doug Spoors, SJALA, was appointed Advisor to CAPA on the Private Investigators Act.
Barbara Cone, SFALA, was elected Executive Director for the CAPA 1986 term.
1986
VALA's application for membership was reviewed. CAPA was concerned with VALA's relationship with NALA, VALA's
relationship with the Ventura County Bar (VCBA), and that student members of VALA were allowed to vote.
CAPA bylaws required voting control of a CAPA voting member be vested in practicing paralegals.
CAPA discussed these issues in executive session. CAPA, by unanimous vote, resolved that in the future,
each member association shall submit a certification as to the total number of members by class of membership
and shall certify that control of the association is vested in practicing paralegals.
Based upon the membership clarification and VALA's affiliations with NALA and VCBA, CAPA approved VALA as a member of CAPA.
CAPA for the first time participated in the State Bar Convention held in September, 1986, in Monterey.
CAPA presented a computer - related workshop, which was well attended.
At the February LOMS meeting, the name of the section was changed to the Law Practice Management Section (LPMS).
AB 2729 was proposed by Assemblyman Rusty Areias which would set the ratio of paralegals to attorneys in
all state government departments of 1:5. The bill was defeated before it was set for hearing,
largely because of heavy lobbying in opposition to the bill from attorney groups.
CAPA discussed the pending Texas Bar proposal for paralegal licensure. The Board approved to respond to the Texas proposal,
based on CAPA's response to the recent proposal by Mr. Deering for licensing California paralegals.
The CAPA Task Force on Certification and Licensure decided to:
- Prepare a perspective paper on the history of certification;
- Adopt definitions of certification and licensure to be the official definitions of CAPA;
- Investigate the California certified law program;
- Survey public sector paralegals as to their roles, tasks, etc.;
- Survey the members on issues of certification and licensure;
- Prepare a CAPA position paper on certification and licensure;
- Draft model legislation.
Fran Chernowsky prepared a comprehensive feasibility study of producing a statewide freelance directory
as a fundraising activity.
CAPA approved the application of the Sequoia Paralegal Association (SPA) as a member of CAPA.
Lee Elliott, SJALA, was elected President for the CAPA 1987 term.
1987
The CAPA board approved the definitions on accreditation, certification, licensure, certificated,
Certified Legal Assistant and ABA approval, which were to be
included in a survey of the Certification and Licensure
Committee.
The application of the Orange County
Paralegal Association (OCPA) was approved by written consent of
the CAPA Board on April 10, 1987.
Fran Chernowsky, LAPA, and Tim Pluma, LAPA, were accepted to serve on the State Bar of California's
newly formed Public Protection Committee.
At the State Bar Convention LAPA and OCPA presented a seminar on behalf of CAPA entitled "Paralegals +
Productivity = Profitability." The seminar was favorably received by more than 45 people.
PASCCO volunteered to prepare an index of publications and articles about paralegals.
Bakersfield requested assistance from the CAPA Outreach Committee to form an association.
CAPA decided to work on visibility by submitting articles about CAPA to local bar newsletters, local
journals and newspaper articles and press releases about CAPA; its meetings and other scheduled events.
AB 1334 passed through the assembly with no problems and was sent to the senate judiciary committee. If passed,
the bill would allow direct billing for paralegal time spent on extraordinary services in probate.
The Outreach Committee reported that the Napa Association and Redwood Empire were interested in CAPA
membership. Channel Cities was not interested and Chico was too small.
CAPA's Board adopted CAPA's position against using certification as a test for the minimal level of competency.
Therefore, the Task Force on Certification and Licensure was changed to the Task Force on Specialty Certification.
CAPA unanimously approved to adopt the Articles of Incorporation.
Linda Roye, SALA (now SVPA), was elected President for the CAPA 1988 term.
1988
Linda Roye invited Donna Eller from Result Consulting to assist CAPA in setting goals for 1988 and the future.
CAPA's 1998 goals were as follows:
- Member Services - Purpose: to maintain and enlarge the scope of member services.
- Public Relations - Purpose: to increase visibility through public relations activities.
- Administration - Purpose: to maintain and improve the administration of CAPA.
- Fund Raising - Purpose: to create fund raising activities to achieve CAPA goals.
Using a facilitator to assist CAPA in organizing its goals was a turning point for CAPA because the
goals became realistic by recognizing the short term and long
term commitments and setting deadlines to accomplish these goals.
The State Bar Public Protection Committee's original position was to license paralegals, and who
should be paralegals as distinguished from a "form preparer". The Committee acknowledged receipt of the paralegal
associations' letters and commended the paralegal associations as the most organized groups represented before the task force
hearings. The Committee moved from its original position regarding licensing
paralegals to not supporting licensing at all. A registration program for forms preparers which would
not effect traditional paralegals employed by attorneys was discussed.
June 24, 1988 - First California Paralegal Day Celebration. CAPA received
its first proclamation from the Governor recognizing and honoring California Paralegal Day.
The creation of an issue book which would contain a discussion of issues currently important to paralegals was discussed
- What is a "Paralegal";
- The Public Protection Committee Report;
- Licensure and Certification;
- What is CAPA?;
- Education and Schools;
- Exempt/Non-Exempt Employment Status;
- Ethics;
- National Affairs;
- Bar Relationships.
All Primary Representatives were required to maintain a copy of the Issue Book.
The Task Force on Specialty Certification talked to various organizations that have specialty
certification. A proposal was submitted to CAPA which stated that the specialty
exam would cover procedural, substantive and ethical issues. The first step towards specialty certification would be
to establish a certification board. The committee also announced that the first specialty
certification would be in probate, but CAPA decided that litigation would be a more favorable field for the first
specialty certification. A sample Application for the Specialty Certification
Board and a flow chart/time table was presented to CAPA for review.
State Bar Convention, September 24, 1988 - CAPA presented the same seminar that was presented in 1987,
entitled "Paralegals + Productivity = Profitability." The syllabus was a free handout at the convention.
A transcript of the videotape along with the syllabus could be purchased for $15.00.
Fund raising ideas were discussed. CAPA authorized the purchase of post-it pads with the
slogan "Trial a Paralegal" for the State Bar Convention and subsequent fund raising projects. CAPA adopted the
following slogan for sweatshirts:
Para what?
Paramedic
Parakeet
Paralegal
CAPA reserved the following slogans: "Paralegals Support the Bar" and "Behind Every Good
Paralegal is a Successful Attorney" for other fund raising
ideas.
EBOLA dissolved its organization.
CAPA approved the application of Redwood Empire Legal Assistants (RELA) as a member of CAPA.
Kathleen Keefe, SFALA, was elected President for the CAPA 1989 term.
1989
CAPA approved the application of Kern County Paralegal Association (KCPA) as a member of CAPA.
CAPA's presentation at the State Bar Convention was co-chaired by SDALA (now SDPA) and SALA (now SVPA),
which was held in San Diego, September 15 and 16. The topic of the presentation was the team approach to
the practice of law.
The Task Force on Specialty Certification presented a draft Statement of Purpose for the certification
exam which was part of the recruitment letter sent to potential
board members. The Board would consist of three paralegals, two
attorneys and two paralegal educators. Ms. Harper advised CAPA that CAPA and NFPA held
conflicting positions. NFPA was not in favor of certification until a need for
it was proven. Ms. Harper advised CAPA that it had not done enough background
research in this area and that a similar effort in Oregon failed
for this reason. CAPA decided to prepare a comprehensive survey on certification
before moving forward on the specialty certification.
Fundraising - CAPA sold 177 slogan sweatshirts. New slogans were discussed, such as "Paralegals Make $ense", "Born to Bill",
"Behind Every Successful Attorney Is An Exhausted Paralegal".
CAPA approved the following definition of the title "paralegal": A paralegal, also known as a legal
assistant, is a person who performs legal services traditionally, but not exclusively, performed by a lawyer.
A paralegal is qualified to perform such legal services through formal education, training and/or experience
in substantive and procedural law. Paralegals are retained or employed by law firms,
corporations, governmental agencies and other entities. Paralegals may also be authorized by administrative,
statutory or court authority to perform legal services."
First CAPA June Conference - Friday, June 15, 1989, hosted by
LAPA at the Los Angeles Hilton.
Kathleen Keefe, SFALA, was elected President for the CAPA 1990 term.
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