NALS of Arizona ... the association for legal professionals
2009 Award of Excellence Winners and Finalists -- Profiles of Excellence
At the May 2010 NALS of Arizona Annual Awards and Appreciation Banquet, I had the distinct pleasure of awarding the NALS of Arizona Award of Excellence and recognizing the two runners up for that Award.
The NALS of Arizona Award of Excellence is the highest honor bestowed upon one of its members. Members meeting certain criteria are nominated by other members and then fill out a comprehensive application form. The applications are judged by non-NALS members of the legal community. During the 2009 Award of Excellence selection process, as with every year, the judges found it difficult to choose the winner and the scores were very close.
However, only one member can win the NALS of Arizona Award of Excellence for 2009. Because even being considered as a finalist for the Award is such an honor and everyone who was nominated and judged deserves recognition, I would like to recognize the runners up for last year’s Award of Excellence.
The runner up finalists – in alphabetical order – were:
2009 Award of Excellence Finalist
Brenda Reid, PP, CP
Brenda has been a member for a relatively short amount of time, but has been very involved in NALS of Phoenix since joining. In addition, she continues to serve on a NALS national committee and is serving her community by her work as the founder/CEO of a non-profit organization whose goal is to assist ex-offenders (felons) to re-enter and become productive, contributing members of society.
Brenda got her start in the legal support field when her high school offered career track education such as carpentry, food services, and secretarial, so that students who didn’t want to attend college right away could actually get a better paying job than if they didn’t have the training. Brenda took the secretarial track and had an awesome instructor/mentor who encouraged and supported her. She was able to obtain a job in the insurance industry beginning three days after her graduation date. Brenda worked for a very intelligent and business savvy woman who had been a nurse but who now ran the department responsible for review of medical claims, so Brenda was exposed to medical terminology, physicians, insurance, and the legal aspects of insurance all at the same time. It was interesting and Brenda loved it. One day she saw an advertisement on the television regarding the growing paralegal profession and understood how that might integrate well with her other job related skills, so she took courses. Because she was married with two young children, Brenda decided she wasn’t going to be able to get an actual paralegal job in her city and didn’t want to drive the 1-2 hours each direction to either San Francisco or Sacramento where she could get that kind of work. So her first job was with a sole general practitioner who also focused on entertainment law (they had a local Jazz festival and he would work on contracts for all the local entertainers who would work during the festival). Her first attorney also had been appointed as the defense lawyer on a capital criminal (death penalty) matter and Brenda was able to get some experience in appellate work among all the other types of cases he took on. It was the beginning of a long, interesting career. Brenda says that she is really looking forward to all the future opportunities she might have and what she might learn along the way.
Brenda’s 10-second elevator speech about NALS and what it has done for her would be:
“NALS provides opportunities for education, networking, service, leadership, meeting new friends and having fun.”
The most rewarding part of Brenda’s day-to-day job is having so many talented and intelligent people as mentors (just within her practice group) and knowing there are so many other mentors in her firm whom she haven’t yet gotten to know.
If Brenda could change one thing in the field generally it would be that although she believes
e-filing is a great step in the right direction, she would like everyone to agree to adopt standardized local rules and standardized forms in every jurisdiction, Brenda thinks that would be a huge step in saving the legal support professionals’ time and the clients’ money.
Brenda’s career goals are to continue to learn and grow within her practice area and within the leadership of NALS both locally, statewide, regionally, and nationally; NALS provides a great opportunity for service. Brenda sees herself continuing to take educational seminars, webinars, and classes and has been thinking about resuming online college courses to obtain her Bachelor’s Degree (Brenda has her Associates in Network Administration). Education and learning are important to Brenda and she loves to share her enthusiasm for it with others. Brenda says she has enjoyed being the Director of Certification for NALS of Phoenix and helping to re-establish the Certification Study Course. She is very proud of the fact that she had a 100% pass rate last time around for those who participated in the course and took the exam. She is also pleased to be the Education Director for NALS of Arizona and is looking forward to providing great education statewide and being the liaison for the chapter education directors and continuing to work with the Text Development Committee on the national level to produce the best and most useful texts to help everyone who will be taking their certification exams prepare.
2009 Award of Excellence Finalist
Audrey M. Saxton, PLS
Audrey has been a member since 2006 but has done amazing things for NALS of Tucson and So. AZ and for NALS of Arizona during that time. She is, of course, a true asset to NALS of Arizona as editor of The Abstract and a true website guru.
Audrey got started in the legal field in 1999, when she took a job as a law office manager and bookkeeper for a small firm. She had managerial experience and figured that running a law office was no different than other businesses where she had run the business office. Then about a year into the job, the firm lost one of their paralegals and the attorneys were in a pinch. One said “Hey, you’re smart. You could easily do this.” With about two hours of training, Audrey was off and running. The rest, she says, is history.
Audrey’s short elevator speech about NALS and what it has done for her would be:
"NALS is not only a professional 'trade' association, but it’s also a valuable resource for networking, education and opportunities for community service. I can gladly say that my involvement in NALS has taught me to stretch myself, pushing my own self-imposed social limitsand networking myself... Through certification, I have learned that being good at your job, and also having the certification to prove it, is something to be proud of and strived for. And through our chapter’s community service efforts, I have learned that doing good in the world is all about heart. The rewards, which you can’t see in your wallet, are invaluable."
The most rewarding part of Audrey’s day-to-day job is the people she works with and the freedom they give her to challenge herself personally, professionally, and in her NALS endeavors. She says she is blessed to work with supportive, intelligent and accomplished attorneys. The resources and tremendous store of knowledge and experience of the other staff (legal secretaries and paralegals, project clerks and office services staff) has taught her daily how to do her job even better.
If Audrey could change something in the legal support field generally, she would love to erase the invisible divide between those who love their titles and feel superior over others because of them and those who are team players and just do the job presented them regardless of title. In this day and age, with the lines between job responsibilities having been blurred (legal secretaries doing paralegal work, and vice-versa), what sense does it make for those with a “bigger title on the food chain” to romp around with a superior attitude, when in the end it is all about the results of the team effort, not the individual.
As for Audrey’s career goals, she says for now she is happy “doing my 8, then hitting the gate” -- but that’s not to say that after she has accomplished the task of graduating her two teenage daughters from high school and shipping them off to college, she won’t just enroll in the university right along with them to finish up that higher education herself. Being a mom has been Audrey’s primary education, but maybe a business degree, and then maybe a law degree -- who knows? But to think a little more short term, Audrey would say she would just get through the task of studying to add PP to her PLS certification, and then she’ll go from there.
And the winner is ...
The NALS of Arizona Award of Excellence is the highest honor bestowed upon one of its members. Members meeting certain criteria are nominated by other members and then fill out a comprehensive application form. The applications are judged by non-NALS members of the legal community. During the 2009 Award of Excellence selection process, as with every year, the judges found it difficult to choose the winner and the scores were very close.
However, only one member can win the NALS of Arizona Award of Excellence for 2009. Because even being considered as a finalist for the Award is such an honor and everyone who was nominated and judged deserves recognition, I would like to recognize the runners up for last year’s Award of Excellence.
The runner up finalists – in alphabetical order – were:
2009 Award of Excellence Finalist
Brenda Reid, PP, CP
Brenda has been a member for a relatively short amount of time, but has been very involved in NALS of Phoenix since joining. In addition, she continues to serve on a NALS national committee and is serving her community by her work as the founder/CEO of a non-profit organization whose goal is to assist ex-offenders (felons) to re-enter and become productive, contributing members of society.
Brenda got her start in the legal support field when her high school offered career track education such as carpentry, food services, and secretarial, so that students who didn’t want to attend college right away could actually get a better paying job than if they didn’t have the training. Brenda took the secretarial track and had an awesome instructor/mentor who encouraged and supported her. She was able to obtain a job in the insurance industry beginning three days after her graduation date. Brenda worked for a very intelligent and business savvy woman who had been a nurse but who now ran the department responsible for review of medical claims, so Brenda was exposed to medical terminology, physicians, insurance, and the legal aspects of insurance all at the same time. It was interesting and Brenda loved it. One day she saw an advertisement on the television regarding the growing paralegal profession and understood how that might integrate well with her other job related skills, so she took courses. Because she was married with two young children, Brenda decided she wasn’t going to be able to get an actual paralegal job in her city and didn’t want to drive the 1-2 hours each direction to either San Francisco or Sacramento where she could get that kind of work. So her first job was with a sole general practitioner who also focused on entertainment law (they had a local Jazz festival and he would work on contracts for all the local entertainers who would work during the festival). Her first attorney also had been appointed as the defense lawyer on a capital criminal (death penalty) matter and Brenda was able to get some experience in appellate work among all the other types of cases he took on. It was the beginning of a long, interesting career. Brenda says that she is really looking forward to all the future opportunities she might have and what she might learn along the way.
Brenda’s 10-second elevator speech about NALS and what it has done for her would be:
“NALS provides opportunities for education, networking, service, leadership, meeting new friends and having fun.”
The most rewarding part of Brenda’s day-to-day job is having so many talented and intelligent people as mentors (just within her practice group) and knowing there are so many other mentors in her firm whom she haven’t yet gotten to know.
If Brenda could change one thing in the field generally it would be that although she believes
e-filing is a great step in the right direction, she would like everyone to agree to adopt standardized local rules and standardized forms in every jurisdiction, Brenda thinks that would be a huge step in saving the legal support professionals’ time and the clients’ money.
Brenda’s career goals are to continue to learn and grow within her practice area and within the leadership of NALS both locally, statewide, regionally, and nationally; NALS provides a great opportunity for service. Brenda sees herself continuing to take educational seminars, webinars, and classes and has been thinking about resuming online college courses to obtain her Bachelor’s Degree (Brenda has her Associates in Network Administration). Education and learning are important to Brenda and she loves to share her enthusiasm for it with others. Brenda says she has enjoyed being the Director of Certification for NALS of Phoenix and helping to re-establish the Certification Study Course. She is very proud of the fact that she had a 100% pass rate last time around for those who participated in the course and took the exam. She is also pleased to be the Education Director for NALS of Arizona and is looking forward to providing great education statewide and being the liaison for the chapter education directors and continuing to work with the Text Development Committee on the national level to produce the best and most useful texts to help everyone who will be taking their certification exams prepare.
2009 Award of Excellence Finalist
Audrey M. Saxton, PLS
Audrey has been a member since 2006 but has done amazing things for NALS of Tucson and So. AZ and for NALS of Arizona during that time. She is, of course, a true asset to NALS of Arizona as editor of The Abstract and a true website guru.
Audrey got started in the legal field in 1999, when she took a job as a law office manager and bookkeeper for a small firm. She had managerial experience and figured that running a law office was no different than other businesses where she had run the business office. Then about a year into the job, the firm lost one of their paralegals and the attorneys were in a pinch. One said “Hey, you’re smart. You could easily do this.” With about two hours of training, Audrey was off and running. The rest, she says, is history.
Audrey’s short elevator speech about NALS and what it has done for her would be:
"NALS is not only a professional 'trade' association, but it’s also a valuable resource for networking, education and opportunities for community service. I can gladly say that my involvement in NALS has taught me to stretch myself, pushing my own self-imposed social limitsand networking myself... Through certification, I have learned that being good at your job, and also having the certification to prove it, is something to be proud of and strived for. And through our chapter’s community service efforts, I have learned that doing good in the world is all about heart. The rewards, which you can’t see in your wallet, are invaluable."
The most rewarding part of Audrey’s day-to-day job is the people she works with and the freedom they give her to challenge herself personally, professionally, and in her NALS endeavors. She says she is blessed to work with supportive, intelligent and accomplished attorneys. The resources and tremendous store of knowledge and experience of the other staff (legal secretaries and paralegals, project clerks and office services staff) has taught her daily how to do her job even better.
If Audrey could change something in the legal support field generally, she would love to erase the invisible divide between those who love their titles and feel superior over others because of them and those who are team players and just do the job presented them regardless of title. In this day and age, with the lines between job responsibilities having been blurred (legal secretaries doing paralegal work, and vice-versa), what sense does it make for those with a “bigger title on the food chain” to romp around with a superior attitude, when in the end it is all about the results of the team effort, not the individual.
As for Audrey’s career goals, she says for now she is happy “doing my 8, then hitting the gate” -- but that’s not to say that after she has accomplished the task of graduating her two teenage daughters from high school and shipping them off to college, she won’t just enroll in the university right along with them to finish up that higher education herself. Being a mom has been Audrey’s primary education, but maybe a business degree, and then maybe a law degree -- who knows? But to think a little more short term, Audrey would say she would just get through the task of studying to add PP to her PLS certification, and then she’ll go from there.
And the winner is ...
2009 NALS of Arizona Award of Excellence Winner: Tara Hughes, PP, CP
Tara has been a member of NALS of Phoenix for four and a half years, and jumped in with both feet. She is currently serving as President of NALS of Arizona and Webinar Subcommittee Chair for NALS.
Tara got started in the legal support field when she was attending community college and sort of “found” the legal secretary program. She had always wanted to work in an office setting, but a legal office sounded fun to her. So Tara enrolled in the program and graduated with her A.A.S. Legal Secretary in May 1996.
For her short elevator speech about NALS and what it has done for her, Tara would say:
"NALS has done so much for me, both personally and professionally. Through NALS, I have become certified and continue to educate myself on every aspect of the legal field. NALS has allowed me to travel throughout the country and meet some of the best friends I have ever had. The networking opportunities that are available through NALS are superior to those in any other association. I am able to reach out to any NALS member across the country and get referrals to other attorneys and/or information on filing, documents, service, etc., that would take me hours to research and find. I am involved in other associations and I truly believe that NALS is THE association for legal professionals."
Tara says that the most rewarding part of her day is helping people. Unfortunately, in family law, it happens rarely, but there are those extraordinary cases that really confirm why it is she does what she does.
If Tara could change anything in the field generally it would be that she would like to take the focus off of titles and put it more on teamwork. Without each one of the players, attorney, paralegal, legal assistant, legal secretary, clerk, we could not do what we do. Each person brings a unique and important piece to the puzzle and if we could look past the title to what that person can bring to the table, we would be able to serve the clients better.
As for Tara’s career goals, she would like to continue to do well in her current job. She really enjoys what she does and working with the wonderful people at her firm. She would also like to study for and take the RP exam.
Tara got started in the legal support field when she was attending community college and sort of “found” the legal secretary program. She had always wanted to work in an office setting, but a legal office sounded fun to her. So Tara enrolled in the program and graduated with her A.A.S. Legal Secretary in May 1996.
For her short elevator speech about NALS and what it has done for her, Tara would say:
"NALS has done so much for me, both personally and professionally. Through NALS, I have become certified and continue to educate myself on every aspect of the legal field. NALS has allowed me to travel throughout the country and meet some of the best friends I have ever had. The networking opportunities that are available through NALS are superior to those in any other association. I am able to reach out to any NALS member across the country and get referrals to other attorneys and/or information on filing, documents, service, etc., that would take me hours to research and find. I am involved in other associations and I truly believe that NALS is THE association for legal professionals."
Tara says that the most rewarding part of her day is helping people. Unfortunately, in family law, it happens rarely, but there are those extraordinary cases that really confirm why it is she does what she does.
If Tara could change anything in the field generally it would be that she would like to take the focus off of titles and put it more on teamwork. Without each one of the players, attorney, paralegal, legal assistant, legal secretary, clerk, we could not do what we do. Each person brings a unique and important piece to the puzzle and if we could look past the title to what that person can bring to the table, we would be able to serve the clients better.
As for Tara’s career goals, she would like to continue to do well in her current job. She really enjoys what she does and working with the wonderful people at her firm. She would also like to study for and take the RP exam.
* * *
You can see that these incredible women do exemplify all that is great about NALS of Arizona. Congratulations to each of them. They each definitely make NALS of Arizona a better organization and be on the lookout for many exciting things to come from these extraordinary women.
You can see that these incredible women do exemplify all that is great about NALS of Arizona. Congratulations to each of them. They each definitely make NALS of Arizona a better organization and be on the lookout for many exciting things to come from these extraordinary women.
