Annual Meeting: Transcending Today’s Paralegal
By the CPE Committee
On May 6, 2022, the Paralegal Division will host its first in-person annual meeting since May 2019. The pandemic stopped the planning of the 2020 annual meeting in its tracks. That year’s Chair, Tina Dadio, hosted the first online annual meeting for the division. We thought that 2021 would bring better tidings, but Stephanie Durham-Rivera also found herself hosting an online annual meeting. Both chairs during the pandemic did an amazing job leading the division in uncharted waters, and their dedication during that time should be applauded.
This year, Chair Shawana Almendarez has led the division out of 2021 and back into some form of familiarity. Division leadership has worked hard in the past two years to bring innovation, transparency, and virtual networking to its members. We are excited to get back to some sense of normalcy and to bring what we have learned over the past two years to the table.
It might feel like the new normal is to sit down at your computer in your pajamas and fuzzy socks with a coffee mug in hand and watch a CLE or meet over Zoom with colleagues and friends. And while this option has opened so many new and wonderful opportunities for careers and friendships over the course of the pandemic, we must not lose the importance of in-person communication. For those who may be unable to attend because of work, geographic location, finances, or family commitments, we are delighted to still provide an online option for both the annual meeting and the continuing education portions of the May 6 event. However, we do encourage paralegals, legal assistants, and paralegal students to attend in person if possible.
Yes, it may feel a bit different to be in a crowd again, especially if you are a natural introvert. But, let us remember that the purpose of the Paralegal Division is personal and professional development and networking. Sometimes those things require us to push ourselves beyond our comfort zones so that we can grow as individuals, leaders, and professionals, and to expand our career opportunities. Consider approaching your employer to find out if your registration and hotel could be covered. Many firms will pay these fees, especially if their paralegals are certified.
The 2022 Annual Meeting is called “Transcending Today’s Paralegal.” The focus for the division’s leadership this year has been to educate the division’s membership about North Carolina’s underserved and marginalized populations and empower paralegals to do their part as legal professionals. The division’s CPE Committee has worked tirelessly for months to identify and engage legal professionals from across the state who embody the same values and have a passion for educating others about these important issues. The North Carolina State Bar has approved six (6) hours of continuing paralegal education (CPE) for the following agenda:
- Current Trends in E-discovery
- Creating a More Trauma-Informed Court System in North Carolina
- Bridging the Access to Justice Gap with Nonlawyers (Parts 1 & 2)
- Becoming a Disability Advocate: Educate, Equip, Power
- Paralegal Ethics 101
The annual meeting will be held at the newly renovated Holiday Inn in Wrightsville Beach which is adjacent to Wilmington. Standard rooms can be booked at a nightly rate of $169, and $189 for oceanfront rooms. These rooms must be reserved before April 13 to lock in this rate. Click here to reserve online with group code PDA or call (877) 424-2449. Click here to register for the in-person live or live webcast CPE sessions before April 15 to receive a 10% discount. In-person participants are invited to attend a social hosted by the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee on the evening of May 5 to finally see some familiar faces again and meet some new ones. We hope to see you there!
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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.