The Legal Easel - Springfield Area Legal Support Professionals

The Legal Easel
NEWSLETTER OF SPRINGFIELD (MO) AREA LEGAL SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS
July 2009
VOLUME 49, ISSUE 2
President’s Message
By Lori Everhart, PP, PLS
DO YOU KNOW WHAT I DO? I didn't!
Taking Root in this group has made me "dig" deeper into how this
association works. I have spent the last month learning as I go, but
also trying to study up on what roles we all play to make our group
successful. I found out that as President, I "shall not voice an opinion during a meeting of the membership or of the Board of Directors
as to any issue being discussed" unless I pass the gavel to the Vice
President. This means that for you, as members, I am here to "soak
up" your ideas and opinions as you "pour" them out on me. I will
strive to guide our group into making decisions that are best for our
membership as a whole, while abiding by the Rules and By-Laws of
the SALSP, NALS of Missouri and NALS.
Inside this issue:
Board Members
Community Service
Calendar
2
Governor’s Report
Committees
3
Please feel free to contact me at any time with your
thoughts or concerns and I will do my best to help
you in any way I can.
Membership Report
Article
4
Certification Report
August Community
Service
Tech Tip
5
Grow by Education — Monthly Meeting Notice
Articles
6
Employment
Opportunities
Birthdays
7
Article
8
Article
Booster Club
9
Meeting Minutes
10
Advertising
11
DATE
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 @ 5:30 p.m.
LOCATION
Fire & Ice Restaurant
(Ramada Oasis Convention Center)
2546 N. Glenstone
(North of Kearney on East side)
522-7711
MENU
SPEAKER
www.oasisfireandice.com
See website above
Cheryl Sciranko
Safety Council of the Ozarks
1
SALSP
Board of Directors
2009-2010
President
Lori Everhart, PP, PLS
(417) 869-9999
lori.everhart@hkrlawoffice.com
Vice President/Membership
Lorie Rupar, PP, PLS
(417) 883-8200
lrupar@pfjmlaw.com
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
July
14
SALSP monthly meeting and CLE
17-19 NALS Region 6 Meeting
30
Taste of the Ozarks (community service)
Taking Root in Our Community ...
COMMUNITY SERVICE Report
TASTE OF THE OZARKS
BIG BROTHERS/BIG SISTERS
July 30th at University Plaza Convention
Secretary
Kristen Monrotus, PLS
(417) 883-8200
kmonrotus@pfjmlaw.com
Treasurer
Jennifer Martin, PLS
(417) 863-6400
Jennifer@frvlaw.com
Governor
Amy Owens, PLS
(417) 883-8200
aowens@pfjmlaw.com
Parliamentarian
Janet Higdon, PLS
(417) 883-2102
jhigdon@trdlp.com
Executive Advisor
Christy Wittmaier
(417) 863-6400
Christy@frvlaw.com
We will assist the Big Brothers/Big Sisters with registration, bid sheets, runners, raffle and flower sales, silent
auction and live auction during an evening of great food
from local restaurants, exceptional silent and live auction
items, a raffle for $25,000 and huge fun!
Some of the local restaurants participating are: Metropolitan Grill, Emack & Bolio's, Springfield Brewing
Company, Fedora Social House, Fire and Ice Restaurant
and Bar, Parlor 88, Quincy Magoo's, The Bleu Olive,
Maria's Mexican Restaurant,
Argentina Steak House,
Trolleys Level II,
The Grotto, Touch, Flame, Gilardi's Ristorante, Ocean Zen
Pacific Rim, 5 Spice China
Grill, Bijan's, Rivals Casual
Grille, Boomers - Campus
Sports Bar and Restaurant, and
San Francisco Oven/Fog City
Coffee.
For more information, contact President Lori.
To chair this committee, please contact
President Lori.
This is a very rewarding committee!
2
SALSP
Committee Chairs
2009-2010
GOVERNOR Report
By Amy Owens, PLS
Bar Liaison
Melissa Sharples, PP, PLS
863-6400
Lori Everhart, PP, PLS
869-9999
The following is updated information regarding upcoming state, regional, and national conference:
Bosses’ Night
Kristen Monrotus, PLS
Janna Dampier, PP, PLS
883-8200
July 17-19, 2009
NALS Region 6 Meeting-We The People- will be held at
the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel, 2 Riverfront Place,
North Little Rock, Arkansas. Registration fee is $125
and room rates are $89/$99. The room block cut off date
was June 24, 2009 and the hotel number is 501-3719000. Be sure to identify yourself as a member of
NALS-Region 6. The event will include a tour of the
Clinton Library on Friday afternoon. You can purchase
an optional trolley pass with your registration. Trolley
stops include one block form the hotel, multiple stops in
the River Market area, and the Clinton Presidential Library. The deadline for registration is July 10, 2009.
September 18-19, 2009
Boss of the Year
Lorie Rupar, PP, PLS
883-8200
Certification
Paula Zerrer, PP, PLS
Community Service
Court Observance
Jennifer Martin, PLS
863-6400
Courtesy
Georganne Hallemeier, PP
883-8200
Finance
Christy Wittmaier
863-6400
NALS of Missouri Fall Membership Meeting will be History Book
held in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Lorie Rupar, PP, PLS
883-8200
October 8-11, 2009
NALS 58th Annual Education Conference & National
Forum will be held in Irvine, California. If you are considering this conference, I would encourage you to start
planning now! You can visit www.nals.org for more details.
Job Bank
Georganne Hallemeier, PP
883-8200
Legal Easel Editor
Melissa Sharples, PP, PLS
863-6400
Legal Secretary of the Year
Amy Owens, PLS
883-8200
Legal Training Course
Janna Dampier, PP, PLS
Nancy Ketron, PP, PLS
Kristen Monrotus, PLS
883-8200
Membership
Lorie Rupar, PP, PLS
883-8200
Nominations/Elections
Christy Wittmaier
Program
Nancy Ketron, PP, PLS
881-0332
Sonya Collins
887-1155
Public Relations
Seminar
Website
Lisa Tanner, PP, PLS
831-8607
3
MEMBERSHIP REPORT
By Lorie Rupar, PP, PLS
While recently working on updating the roster, I noticed that our membership number has dropped from 33 to
31. Unfortunately, I believe our numbers will drop again in the next few months. My question is this-what
can we do to retain our current members? Our members are brilliant, so I know we can find an answer. My
challenge still stands- that each member invite at least one co-worker or legal support professional to one
monthly meeting this year and to share our website address (www.salsp.org) with others in the legal community.
Let's not wait for potential new members to seek us out. If you know someone who might have an interest in
our association please let me know. I will forward a membership package to their office and a personal invitation to them to join us at the next monthly meeting.
I would like to personally invite all current members to attend our next monthly meeting on July 14, 2009. We
miss you, want you back and want you to know you are important to our association. I hope to see all 31
members at the July meeting!
Greene County Safety & Justice Roundtable Report
Springfield Municipal Court
Purpose: Provide a forum for the just, fair and expeditious resolution of cases filed in the City of Springfield,
Missouri under the ordinances and charter of the city.
Types of Cases: City ordinance prosecutions and administrative hearings. Punishment range: up to
$1,000.00 fine, up to 180 days in Greene County jail.
Number of Cases: Average for past 6 years is 52,466 per year, 16% of which are parking.
Self-Imposed Time Goals: to resolve DWI and BAC cases within 270 days, and all other cases within 120
days, all from the date of filing by the prosecutor.
Arrest Warrants: 14,227 active, 1376 issued in December 2008, Springfield only, not Greene County.
Employees: Two full-time judges, 4 part-time judges, approximately 30 staff, including a court administrator,
court clerk, probation officer, computer system administrator, accounting services representative, probation
collections officer, deputy clerks, file clerk and data entry clerk.
Budget: $1.5 million - $1.4 for personnel, $100k for operations and services.
Building History:
1856
1873
1915
1920
1953
1972
1993
- 1873
- 1915
- 1920
- 1953
- 1972
- 1993
-
Court house (now Heers building)
Police station (College & Patton)
319 Boonville
Back to police station at College & Patton
City Hall (Chestnut & Boonville)
300 E. Central
625 N. Benton
Needs: Building, phone system, night court staffing, MULES connection, bailiff radios, trainer/file auditor
position, parking ticket employees.
4
CERTIFICATION Report
By Paula Zerrer, PP, PLS
NALS mailing deadline
for September exam is
August 1, 2009!
ALS and PLS
applications may be
done online, but the PP
application must be
signed and mailed.
Taking Root in Our Community ...
COMMUNITY SERVICE Report
SALSP IS ACCEPTING
DONATIONS OF
CEREAL DURING THE
MONTH OF AUGUST
TO BE
DONATED TO THE
OZARKS FOOD HARVEST .
If you wish to make a donation only and not
participate in the month-long drive, please
bring your cereal donations to the monthly
meeting on August 11,
2009.
*All items to be donated must be in
their original, unopened packages
near the expiration date on the
package.
Need an innovative way to create trial or mediation exhibits, or just fun posters?
Rasterbator is a free tool that turns any image into a huge poster. While you can
have fun with pictures of family, friends or your pets, or monsters in your living
room window for Halloween, for work purposes you could also use this app create
a sign or to blow-up a chart or graph.
Rasterbator gives you two ways to blow-up images: You can upload an image to the Rasterbator site or you
can download a Rasterbator app to your computer.
Rasterbator gives you a blown-up image that you can print on multiple sheets of paper. Assemble these
sheets in the proper order on your wall and viola, see yourself larger than life. You will have to do some
trimming if your printer can’t print to the very edge of each sheet.
A word of warning, you will gain a new appreciation of the cost of printer cartridges as printing large posters
will consume large amounts of ink. Printing black-and-white posters might be a cheaper option, and printing
on a laser printer is probably an even cheaper option.
Go to: http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator
Have fun with this cool app!
5
Mailbox — Home to Ants and Wasps?
The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Many readers of The Old Farmer’s Almanac contributed the following advice on
how to rid yourself of these pests!
Clear out the nests first. Wash the inside and out with liquid disinfectant, then
again with vinegar. Place 10-15 dryer sheets in a nylon bag and place in the
back of the box. Others contributed that moth balls work well too, but wouldn’t
you rather have the fresh scent of dryer sheets! The dryer sheets last approximately 3 months. Other suggestions included grits or corn meal, or spraying
anything wood, such as mailbox post, decks, porches, etc. with cedar oil.
Good luck and have a “pest free” summer!
Navigating the Circuit Clerk's Office
from Steve Helms, Greene County Circuit Clerk
1. If at all possible, don't wait until the last minute to file your pleadings. In the Associate Division, files are
sent to the appropriate Division two days before a hearing is scheduled.
2. If your hearing date is within a week, fax or have a runner hand deliver your pleadings or documents, mail
can get delayed.
3. If you need more than 2 files pulled in the morning, get a fax account so you can send in an early pull request and have them waiting for you. (You may also charge copy charges to your account and of course, this
allows you to send pleadings via the fax, instead of a runner.)
4. Have your filing sheet filed out for all new cases.
5. Have your case number(s) with you.
6. Service with a smile - Life is stressful enough and our office has an expectation that we treat you, our customers courteously and with a smile. It sure is nice to have reciprocal treatment. (By the way, the majority of
you do this, thanks!)
Please let me know how we are serving you and your clients. There is a suggestion box in the lobby area or my
email is steve.helms@courts.mo.gov.
6
Legal Secretary-entry
level position at Stark
Law.
Contact Dawn at
stark_law@sbcglobal.net
Evans & Dixon, LLC is seeking an
experienced and certified paralegal/secretary for its workers compensation and civil divisions. Two
years experience required, with
work comp/civil experience preferred. Send resume and salary
requirements to Shari Lockhart by
fax at 882-4927.
Jack Henry & Associates is seeking a paralegal for in-house corporate legal department
to provide support in the form of basic legal
research, review and drafting of legal documents, correspondence and contracts, drafting of memoranda, discovery, and other
phases of litigation and general file management.
Requirements in clued: three years experience in transactional and corporate support
(or reasonable equivalent). Legal Assistant
or Paralegal certificate required; Associates
or Bachelors degree preferred. Apply online
at www.jackhenry.com/careers.
Bass Pro Shops Legal Department. Support to General Counsel responsible to
manage litigation files, prepare written summaries of regulations and proposed
legislation, conduct research, statutory agent relationship and service of process, draft
contracts and assist with corporate entity requirements. Requirements include:
associates degree in paralegal studies from an ABA approved program, and three or
more years experience as a paralegal working in a corporate or transactional practice.
Bass Pro Shops offers a competitive salary and benefit package. Send resume in
confidence to clocke@basspro.com.
Blanche Brasser, PLS
June 21
Kristen Monrotus, PLS
Janna Dampier, PP, PLS
Jennifer H. Martin, PLS
Lori Rupar, PP, PLS
Amy Owens, PLS
Juanita A. Lee, PLS
Lori Everhart, PP, PLS
July 7
July 19
July 21
July 25
July 27
July 27
July 31
7
Reply to All: To Click or Not to Click?
By: Casi Gilliam
You just received an e-mail from your company's
CEO, declaring that Fridays are no longer casual-dress
day. Furious, you fire off an e-mail to your best office
bud that reads something like this:
"Do you believe this nonsense? What a load of bull!
We give these monkeys-in-suits four days of our hard
work every week, and now they want us to dress like a
bunch of penguins all five days of the week. What a
joke!"
Then, you realize something. You didn't hit the
"Forward" button - you hit the "Reply to All" one...all
of the recipients of the e-mail, including the CEO.
You just essentially called the CEO a monkey in a
suit! Good luck talking your way out of that one.
Granted, the Reply to All button has its advantages,
but it must be used carefully. Generally speaking, anyone in an office setting should follow this golden rule:
Consider anything you type and send via e-mail to be
public record that may be published to everyone in the
office, including the president of your company. If
what you write isn't appropriate following that rule,
then you shouldn't send it via e-mail.
The Pros
The following are the pros of the Reply to All option:
When multiple people need to be included in a trail of
emails because they all have a vested interest in the
topic, or when you need to notify others that you're
working on a specific task, the Reply to All button is a
wonderful tool. It will eliminate the need to send the
same email out to 10 or 100 different people - you can
send it to everyone with one click.
Everyone involved in a topic or issue that's discussed
in an e-mail can be updated with one person's response.
A True-Life Horror Story
If you click Reply to All by accident, the results can
be disastrous. Here's an example that happened at my
company recently: An e-mail user mistakenly chose
"System User DL" to put in the "To:" field. The user
meant to contact someone to help her with an issue she
had in one system application
However, she didn't realize that
"DL" stood for "distribution list."
The first problem was that any user could select this
list; it should've been hidden or reserved for specific cases only. This list was made up of more than
10,000 people, many of whom were busy physicians. The body of the e-mail said something like,
"Please help me. I don't understand how to get into
this application." Ten-thousand people couldn't help
her out but, boy, were they upset at the events that
followed!
Other users actually clicked on the Reply to All
button and sent messages to the effect of, "Please
remove me from this list. This does not pertain to
me." Then, others responded to those e-mails, saying: "Please stop e-mailing me! This e-mail is a
mistake." Those emails swarmed 10,000 employees
of a major hospital system for hours! Eventually,
the e-mail box was shut down and the e-mails
stopped. The hospital-system executive committee
actually met to address this issue and create new
policies pertaining to the use of distribution lists
and Reply to All.
The Take-Home Message
The moral of the story? Don't click Reply to All
unless you truly feel that what you have to say will
be pertinent to everyone you're about to e-mail.
Also:
Stop before you click, and be sure you're clicking
on the correct button. Then, review the people in
the "To:" field. Never select Reply to All when
someone has already replied to all! The only way a
mess like that can be resolved is if everyone realizes someone made a mistake and stops clicking
that button.
Slow down, use common sense, and review the recipients in your "To:" field. If you follow this advice, you shouldn't have any issues using the Reply
to All option in your e-mail application.
© 2008-2009 OfficeArrow, LLC
8
Every once in awhile you have "one of those days" ... you
know the kind I'm talking about...you're on your way to
work and the bright red "check engine" light comes on in
the car and your stomach lurches. In the middle of typing
up a long document for your attorney, the computer
freezes. You have no choice but to turn it off and then
you can't recover the document. The phone rings -- and
by the caller ID, you know this is the same guy who's
already called three times today who needs to "talk to my
lawyer" and just doesn't get it that your boss represents
more than one person at a time and your boss is in trial.
You're feeling a little stressed.
So, here's some "good" news. The other day, the National
Bureau of Economic Research announced that way back
in December of 2007 we were "officially" in a recession.
It took those folks eleven months to figure that out and
come to that conclusion.
Here's some more "good" news for you. The American
Psychological Association recently released results from
a poll they conducted that notes that eight out of ten people surveyed said the primary source of their stress was
the economy.
I think that most of us know there's a
direct correlation between having a
high level of stress and illness, right?
You don't have to wait to hear from
the National Bureau of Economic
Research or the American Psychological Association to decide you're
stressed out because the country is in
a recession and the economy is
hemorrhaging.
In just a few minutes, you can find out how sick and tired
you are and how sick and tired you're going to be. Take the
Life Events Stress Test at the link below. Don't forget, all
these life events are for things that have happened to you in
the previous twelve months -- and there's a bonus! You get
12 BIG points for just being around for last year's Christmas time!
http://www.peninsulabehavioralhealth.org/pbhlifechange.cfm
Printed with permission by The Legal Pad, a blog of The
Missouri Bar Lawyer Referral Service
Show your support, join the official
SALSP
“Booster Club” !!
For just $5 your name will be added to the list below as evidence you are “taking root” and
supporting your chapter beyond chapter dues!
Diane Kennedy, PP, PLS
Lorie Rupar, PP, PLS
Jennifer Martin, PLS
Kristen Monrotus, PLS
Janna Dampier, PP, PLS
Janet Higdon, PLS
Lori Everhart, PP, PLS
Melissa Sharples, PP, PLS
To join, simply send $5 with “Booster Club” in the memo to: Jennifer Martin, PLS, Treasurer, c/o
Fredrick, Rogers & Vaughn, P.C., 1518 E. Bradford Parkway, Springfield, MO 65804; or, you
can give me $5 at any meeting.
9
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING OF THE
SPRINGFIELD AREA LEGAL SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS
The regular monthly meeting of the Springfield Area Legal Support Professionals was held on
June 9, 2009, at the Fire & Ice Restaurant in Springfield, Missouri.
President Lori Everhart, PP, PLS, called the meeting to order at 6:48 p.m. There was a quorum present.
Amy Owens, PLS, led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance and read the Code of Ethics.
The minutes of the April 14, 2009, meeting, were approved as distributed at the meeting. There was no correspondence.
President Lori Everhart, PP, PLS, presented the 2009-2010 Committee Roster for approval. Melissa Sharples, PP, PLS, moved that
the Committee Roster be approved as printed. The motion was seconded and passed.
Treasurer Jennifer Martin, PLS, presented the treasurer's report. A copy of the treasurer's report will be filed for review.
The following bills were submitted for reimbursement: Kristen Monrotus, PLS, for the History Book and embellishments - $78.56;
Lorie Rupar, PP, PLS, for the Web Hosting Fee - $119.50. Jennifer Martin, PLS, moved that the foregoing bills be paid or reimbursed. The motion was seconded and passed.
Treasurer Jennifer Martin, PLS, moved that the proposed budget for the 2009-2010 year be approved. Motion seconded and carried.
Lorie Rupar, PP, PLS, Vice President and Membership Chairman, reported 31 current members. Lorie discussed membership drive
ideas and challenged members to bring one non-member guest to a regular monthly meeting this year.
Governor Amy Owens, PLS, reported that the Region 6 Meeting will be held in North Little Rock, Arkansas, July 17-19, 2009. The
NALS of Missouri Fall Membership Meeting will be held in Jefferson City, September 18-19, 2009. The 58th Annual Education
Conference and National Forum will be held October 8-11, 2009, in Irvine, California.
Amy Owens, ALS, collected Chapter Achievement forms from members regarding their involvement and activities within the chapter. Governor Lorie Rupar, PP, PLS, will tally the results and submit the SALSP Chapter Achievement form for competition.
Bar Liaisons Melissa Sharples, PP, PLS and Lori Everhart, PP, PLS, announced the intention of involving the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association Board Members whenever possible on projects.
President Lori Everhart, PP, PLS, reminded the membership that the Community Service Chair position is still vacant. July's community service will be Big Brothers/Big Sisters Taste of the Ozark event on July 30th, 2009. August's community service will be a
cereal drive for Ozarks Food Harvest. September's community service will be assistance to the family of Hayden Stanley. More information for each project will be forthcoming.
In the absence of Finance Chair Christy Wittmaier, President Lori Everhart, PP, PLS, announced that there is additional information
being gathered for the sale of items on the website.
Melissa Sharples, PP, PLS, editor of The Legal Easel, announced that the deadline for the July issue of The Legal Easel is June 19,
2009.
Kristen Monrotus, PLS, announced that the 2009 Legal Training Course will be held from September 28-November 12, 2009.
Classes will be every Monday and Thursday at St. John's Hospital. Costs will include the books and study guides and will be $225
for members and $250 for non-members. Kristen Monrotus, PLS, moved that the tuition for the 2009 Legal Training Course be
$225 for members and $250 for non-members. Motion seconded and carried.
President Lori Everhart, PP, PLS, announced that the Continuing Legal Education/Seminar Chair position is still vacant.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:41 p.m.
___________________________________
Kristen Monrotus, PLS
Secretary
10
Advertising Rates for The Legal Easel
The Legal Easel is distributed on a monthly basis to SALSP members, comprised of legal secretaries, paralegals, legal assistants, and other legal support professionals.
Non-member Print Rate
w/ Website Link
Member Print Rate w/
Website Link
$100.00
$75.00
1/2 Page
7” w x 4.75” h
$75.00
$50.00
1/4 Page
3.5” x 4.75” h
$50.00
$35.00
1/8 Page
3.5” W x 2.375” h
$35.00
$20.00
Advertising Rates
Full Page
7” w x 9.5” h
Advertisements will be run in 12 monthly issues of The Legal Easel. Advertisements should be in color, cameraready, or available in .jpg or .pdf form. A link to advertiser’s webpage from SALSP’s website will be added on
the SALSP “Links” page. Advertisers will receive a complementary electronic version of The Legal Easel for
each issue the ad is published.
For an advertising contract and more information, contact Melissa Sharples, at 863-6400,
email at melissa@frvlaw.com.
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Have You Changed Jobs, Moved…..
or by
...or simply need to update your membership contact information?
To make sure you receive your newsletter and special announcements from SALSP,
please let us know when your contact information changes. Please contact
Lorie Rupar, PP, PLS
lrupar@pfjmlaw.com
Pratt Fossard Jensen & Masters
883-8200
3432 Culpepper Court, Suite A
Springfield, MO 65804
11