A New Bar Year, A New Beginning, The Same Great Division

By Yazmeen O. Gadalla

Hello to all of our wonderful Paralegal Division members! It is with great pleasure that I introduce myself to you as your 2022-23 Paralegal Division Chair. I would like to introduce you to this year’s officers:

Yazmeen Gadalla, Chair

Yazmeen Gadalla is a North Carolina Certified Paralegal currently employed at Hendren, Redwine & Malone, PLLC as a Bankruptcy Paralegal. Prior to joining Hendren, Redwine & Malone in 2020, Gadalla was employed with Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P. from 2019 to 2020, assisting start-up corporate clients with the formation of corporations and other business-related matters. Gadalla was also employed by Waldrep LLP from 2017 to 2019, where she provided essential support to their health care and bankruptcy practices, regularly assisting the attorneys with a wide variety of business bankruptcy matters in Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 12 proceedings. As a paralegal at Hendren, Redwine & Malone, Gadalla focuses on Chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcies and state court matters. Gadalla is the current Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Paralegal Division and serves as co-chair on the Communications, Long-Term Planning, Membership and Scholarship Committees. Gadalla holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology, cum laude, from North Carolina State University, as well as her paralegal certificate from the Guilford College Paralegal Program.

Lakisha Chichester, Vice Chair

Lakisha Chichester is a corporate paralegal at Trupanion Inc. She is a North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal and NALA Advanced Certified Paralegal. She spent much of her career working for in-house legal departments, specializing in corporate governance and regulatory compliance. She is passionate about her career and the paralegal profession. She enjoys inspiring paralegals to leverage their skills to build fulfilling paralegal careers. She currently sits on the North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification and the North Carolina State Bar Paralegal Certification Committee. She is an active member of NALA and the NCBA Paralegal Division, currently serving as vice chair. In her free time, she enjoys reading, dancing, and traveling.

Alice Johnson, Secretary

Alice Johnson is a Senior Paralegal living in Cary, North Carolina. She has over 37 years of experience in the legal field. She has worked in various areas of law, including Employment Litigation; Immigration; Complex Litigation; IP; Workers’ Compensation, Aviation Law and Personal Injury. Prior to moving to North Carolina in 2008, Alice worked as both a Legal Assistant and Paralegal in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She is a North Carolina Certified Paralegal and a member of the North Carolina Bar Association Paralegal Division, as well as other paralegal associations. She currently serves as Secretary for the NCBA Paralegal Division and is a Co-Chair on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and CLE Committee.

Sarah L. White, Treasurer

Sarah is a senior litigation paralegal with Ragsdale Liggett PLLC. She focuses in the areas of civil litigation and insurance defense, handling cases in all of North Carolina’s state and federal trial court divisions, including appellate courts. She also manages the firm’s eDiscovery platform and continuing education courses with the North Carolina Department of Insurance. Sarah holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice and Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Paralegal Studies and advanced certifications from NALA and the North Carolina State Bar. She was the recipient of the North Carolina Bar Association’s 2018 Distinguished Paralegal Award. Her professional involvement includes serving as Chair of the North Carolina State Bar Paralegal Certification Committee (2017-present), Treasurer for the NCBA Paralegal Division (2022- present), Council Member for the NCBA Paralegal Division (2019-2022), Item Writer for the North Carolina State Bar Paralegal Certification Committee (2014-2016) and member of the NCADA Paralegal Division and NALA.

Shawana W. Almendarez, Immediate Past Chair

Shawana W. Almendarez is a North Carolina native with 22 years of legal experience. She earned her associate degree in Paralegal Studies from King’s College in Charlotte in 2000. She obtained a B.S. in business administration with a concentration in legal studies from Strayer University in 2013. She has a demonstrated history of working in state and local government administrations. Employed by the Office of the City Attorney’s Office in Charlotte as a litigation paralegal in 2015. She worked as a Family Court Case Coordinator in the Mecklenburg County Family Court Administrator’s Office. She dutifully served as an Absolute Divorce Clinic facilitator for the 26th Judicial District Self-Serve Center. Her skill set includes coaching, consulting, event planning, grant writing, legal research, teaching, and team building. She is a freelance paralegal and owner of North Carolina Paralegal Consulting Services, which provides administrative support services to Social Security Disability representatives, family law attorneys, and small business owners. She serves as a child custody advocate for the Council for Children’s Rights and has volunteered for various pro bono statewide projects. She is a co-contributor and member of the North Carolina Justice for All Project. In 2015, Shawana joined the North Carolina Bar Association’s Paralegal Division and has dutifully served the division as chair, secretary, and treasurer. This year she is the Immediate Past Chair, and she continues to serve as the Chair of the Nominations Committee and Co-Chair of the Executive Leadership Training Committee.

Reflecting on our Previous Bar Year

In the past few years, our Division has managed to survive through some different and trying times. 2020 and 2021 were the years of Zoom, from painting classes to yoga to trivia. It was not until this past bar year that the NCBA Paralegal Division went back to in person events, and we came back swinging (literally!). Our Division enjoyed some axe throwing at Crazy Axe in Raleigh, as well as drinks and appetizers at Catawba Brewing Co. in Wilmington.

We had our annual meeting in person for the first time since 2019, and it was a great time! Members convened at the Holiday Inn Resort in Wrightsville Beach, where we kicked off the events with a reception dinner. The next day was jam-packed with some fascinating CLEs (check them out here) and celebrations of our members. We introduced our new leadership, we honored our Distinguished Paralegal Award winner, Grace Ward, and we congratulated our Student Scholarship winner, Cleo Le Anne Ackerman. A huge thank you to our CPE Committee for making this event a reality, and to all those who attended (either as speakers or guests).

Looking into the Future Bar Year

On August 12, 2022, the NCBA Paralegal Division’s Council met for the first time in the 2022-2023 bar year. The Council held a three-hour Strategic Planning Meeting, where all of the executive team, council members, and committee chairs/co-chairs met to brainstorm possibilities for the upcoming bar year. As a result, there was a lot of positive discussion as to what our Division would like to achieve for the upcoming year, including:

• More networking and member events throughout the state and via Zoom;
• Revisiting our ethics as paralegals and encouraging discussion on the same;
• Creating technology videos about our profession and our people;
• Surveying our membership in a variety of areas;
• Providing events to discuss career enhancement opportunities; and
• An exciting Annual Meeting event.

I encourage you all to stay tuned to the blog and your email. As new events and opportunities arise, we will be sending along information to all of you. Keep your eyes open for our next big events coming soon!

The Benefits of Being an NCBA Paralegal Division Member

In moving forward for the new year, my goal is to bring our division closer, and for our members to fully utilize the amazing benefits that the North Carolina Bar Association and the Paralegal Division provide to its members. If you weren’t already aware, here are some of the benefits that the NCBA provides to all of its membership:

• Section Membership: NCBA membership includes complimentary access to one of 30+ practice area-specific sections. Take advantage of the many robust benefits of section membership, such as in-person networking opportunities, discounts on section-specific CLE programs, and access to exclusive forms and email forums.
• Expert Series CLE: NCBA membership includes access to up to 12 hours of quality On-Demand CLE annually with Expert Series CLE. Each month, a new 1-hour On-Demand CLE will be made available to add to your CLE account. Once added to your account, you can watch it for up to 90 days.
• NCBA Community Forums: Connect with members of your NCBA Communities, plus access practice-specific resources and forms in the NCBA Community Forums.
• Member Discounts: Save on office supplies, travel, health planning, practice management software and more. Members also get free, unlimited access to the N.C. Fastcase Web Library with state and federal opinions, statutes and regulations & rules.
• Member Directory: Search for members by name, practice area and location.
• Events: View and register for upcoming NCBA events, including networking events, informative webinars, pro bono opportunities and more.

In addition to all of the items mentioned above, the Paralegal Division specifically offers the following opportunities and advantages:

• NCBarBlog – Paralegal Division members receive notice of all new blog posts, including monthly Paralegal Spotlights and quality content specifically tailored for our division. The blog has started a new series entitled Through our Eyes – a Paralegal’s View into ____ Law, where members can share their experience in their area of law with the division.
• Pro Bono Opportunities – Our Pro Bono Committee is constantly working to provide our Paralegal Division with opportunities to contribute to the legal community in a meaningful and impactful manner. The next upcoming opportunity is the Charlotte Expunction Clinic that will be held on September 24, 2022. More information on this and other opportunities will be shared as they arise.
• Paralegal Division Events – Our Membership Committee plans several networking and membership events throughout the state each bar year. This year, the Membership Committee already held its first event in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem area. If you have ideas for potential events/locations, please share them via the community forum or to [email protected].
• Committees – The Paralegal Division has sixteen (16) Committees that work constantly to ensure that our members get the most out of their division. If you would like to be an active force in providing change to our division, go to Form | North Carolina Bar Association and fill out the form with your committee preferences.
• Annual Meeting – The Paralegal Division holds its annual meeting each year in May. The event is a paid CLE event with at least six (6) CLE credits, with one (1) hour of Ethics/Professional Responsibility credit.
• Student Scholarship – The Paralegal Division Student Scholarship provides tuition award to a North Carolina resident enrolled in a North Carolina Qualified Paralegal Studies Program as defined by the North Carolina State Bar (see list here). The scholarship will be paid directly to the school.
• Premier Pass Member Giveaway – The Paralegal Division provides the opportunity for two members to win access to the NCBA Premier Passes at the beginning of each bar year. Premier Pass offers virtually unlimited CLE, including tuition-free program admission and around 1,000 On-Demand programs.

Remember – if you have not already renewed your membership for the 2022-23 year, you have until August 31, 2022 to do so!

As we continue into the 2022-2023 bar year, it is my hope that we can continue to pursue in-person events and grow closer as a division. If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to make the Paralegal Division Council aware of, I highly recommend submitting your thoughts here.

Thank you for being a Paralegal Division member. I am so thrilled to be your Division Chair, and I cannot wait to see all the great things this upcoming year holds!

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The Paralegal Division Blog is managed by the Division’s Communications Committee. Via the blog, the Communications Committee provides information written by attorneys, paralegals, and other experts designed specifically for paralegals in the areas of substantive law, ethics, technology, paralegal practice advice, and more. If you are interested in signing up to submit a blog post on a future date, you can do so here. When you are ready to submit a blog post, you can do so by using this form.

You may also wish to participate in the Division by using our virtual suggestion box to submit suggestions/ideas to the Division Council, nominating a paralegal for Paralegal Spotlight, or completing the Paralegal Spotlight Questionnaire if you are nominating yourself. If you are interested in volunteering with the Communications Committee, please contact the Communications Committee Chair at [email protected]. If you are interested in joining other division committees, you can review a list of committees and sign up here.