2010-2011 Leadership Elections: Candidate Bios

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Below are the bios for the candidates for the 2010-11 NALS of Arizona officers. The ballots will be mailed to all voting members by October 20, 2009 and will be due back to the Nominations & Elections Chair postmarked no later than November 16, 2009.

Candidate(s) for: President-Elect

Anne Jack, PP, PLS - NALS of Yavapai County

Candidate(s) for: Secretary

Kerie Trindle-Byrne - NALS of Phoenix

Kerie Trindle Byrne has been working in the legal field for over twelve years. She worked her way up the ranks from file clerk to paralegal, and is therefore well versed in all aspects of serving as legal support staff. She joined NALS in January of 2008. Since becoming involved in NALS, Kerie quickly began serving wherever needed and was awarded the NALS of Phoenix New Member of the Year Award for 2008. Kerie attended her first NALS Regional Conference this year in Las Vegas and was reenergized for service to NALS. In addition to her duties as NALS of Phoenix director of education for the past year and a half, Kerie began writing monthly articles for the Findings of Fact, attended the NALS State Conference held in Tucson in May, served on the Half-Day in Court committee and membership drive committee and served as chair of the holiday party committee. Kerie also served on the NALS of Arizona Education Committee. Kerie’s greatest assets are her commitment to education, enthusiasm for the legal profession and her devotion to people. She looks forward to continuing her involvement with NALS of Phoenix and NALS of Arizona.

Dawn Fountain, Cert LDP, PLS

Dawn E Fountain, Cert LDP, PLS has been in the legal field since 1993 and a member of NALS since 2005. She has served on national committees (Membership, Textbook, and Education) for NALS; state board (Director of Membership); local level (Director of Membership and Director of Education). She has written several articles for NALS publications and also has taught numerous OLSG classes as well as WebED class.

Dawn currently works from home as a certified legal document preparer. She has worked in the areas of civil litigation, family law, bankruptcy, intellectual property, criminal, etc and now uses those skills learned in her own business.

Dawn was born and raised in Florida - and is the proud parent of an Army Solider and a Freshman in high school (honor student), and has another daughter who is almost 13. Dawn has a wonderful husband, Rick "Big Hunk" Fountain. She loves spending time with her chihuahuas, gardening, and shopping.

Candidate(s) for: Treasurer

Audrey M. Saxton, PLS - NALS of Tucson & So. AZ

Professional and Technical Experience: Audrey has been employed as a litigation secretary in the Tucson office of Lewis and Roca LLP since 2007. The law firm is an "AV rated" firm with offices in Phoenix and Tucson, AZ, Las Vegas, Reno and Minden, NV, and Silicon Valley, CA. Audrey provides paralegal and secretarial support to three partners, including one senior managing partner, focusing primarily in the areas of complex commercial and real estate litigation and insurance defense. She also provides backup support for two partners and one associate working in the areas of civil litigation, employment law, and bankruptcy.

Prior to her work at Lewis and Roca, Audrey was employed as Legal Advertising Manager at The Daily Territorial, a property of Wick Communications, from 2004 to 2007. She supervised data-entry, accounting and public record reporting staff while at The Daily Territorial. Audrey was responsible for ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of legal notice publication, overseeing and revising an operating budget of over $1 million annually, and for the bidding and maintenance of Pima County legal notice publishing contracts.

Audrey began working in the legal support arena in 1999, and her prior experience includes work as an office manager, a bookkeeper and an executive assistant for a law office, a business consulting firm, an archaeological office and an automobile dealership, just to name a few. She even worked for a brief time as a Correctional Officer at the ASPC-Eyman complex in Florence, AZ.

Audrey has extensive experience with varied bookkeeping and timekeeping softwares, including QuickBooks, ADP Payroll Systems, TimeSlips, and CarpeDiem, in addition to her knowledge of accounts payable/receivable practices, and familiarity with general bookkeeping and budget reconciliation.

NALS Experience: Audrey currently serves as Abstract Editor and Technology Chairperson for NALS of Arizona (since 2009) and as Abstract Editor and Website Administrator for NALS of Tucson & So. AZ (since 2007). She has been a member of NALS since 2006, at which time she quickly tested for and obtained her PLS certification and presently has plans for taking the PP certification exam in March 2010.

Personal Info: Audrey is an Arizona native and has resided in the Tucson area most of her life, excepting a brief 1˝ years in the Anchorage, AK area from 2003-2004. She has two teenage daughters, Kaitlyn and Moira.

Candidate(s) for: Director of Membership

Carol Campbell, PP - NALS of Phoenix

I am pleased to have been nominated for the position of Director of Membership for NALS of Arizona. The following is a short biography of my journey to Phoenix, Arizona.

I grew up in Pontiac, Michigan, and married Tim Campbell in 1981. I graduated from Detroit College of Business with a bachelor of business administration degree in 1995 and worked for Henry Ford Health System from 1979 to 1999. During my employment, I had the opportunity to work in several positions within the organization, the last being Medical Office Coordinator to the Medical Director of one of the large satellite outpatient clinics.

In 2001, Tim accepted a position within his company in Baltimore, Maryland. We lived in Annapolis, Maryland, and served as a sponsor family to four United States Naval Academy midshipmen – a truly wonderful experience! We maintain contact with all of “our kids” as they work through their careers in the Navy. While living in Maryland, I worked for the Maryland State Medical Society as a peer review coordinator, and a paralegal in the medical malpractice department at the law firm of Wharton, Levin, Ehrmantraut and Klein.

New employment possibilities provided us an opportunity to move to Phoenix, Arizona, in November 2004. A move to Phoenix had always been a dream of ours as we had vacationed here, have extended family here, and love the desert! In January 2005, I was hired at the law firm of Bowman & Brooke and worked in the nursing home litigation and medical malpractice groups. In October 2007, the medical malpractice group moved their practice to the firm of Jardine, Baker, Hickman & Houston. I was part of the group that moved. We currently enjoy a very active, busy legal practice in our new firm.

I joined NALS in 2007 after meeting Karen McElroy, PP, PLS, who encouraged me to attend my first meeting. The NALS of Phoenix members are a great, committed group of people. My life has been enriched by all of the experiences I have had interacting and working with many of you in the past two years. For the last year, I have served as the Secretary/Treasurer for NALS of Phoenix.

My hobbies include reading and hiking. I recently hiked the Grand Canyon. It was an awe-inspiring and empowering experience. If elected, I look forward to serving as your Director of Membership.

Christine Clayton, PLS, CERT - NALS of Tucson & So. AZ

Old things are new again. Someone recently said that to me and that’s definitely what it looks like. For those of you who know me, you understand. For those of you who don’t know my background, enjoy the read.

Started in the legal field in 1982 after graduating with a 4.0 GPA from Tucson College of Business. Within a month of graduation, joined NALS and enjoys a lifetime membership.

Has held every office on the local level, except treasurer, and has held some offices a few times including President, VP, and Secretary. Has also held state offices several times including Secretary and VP. Has served on numerous committees on all three levels of our association. Honored as a recipient of the Award of Excellence two times on both the state and local level.

Curtailed involvement with NALS to spend a significant time with my two daughters during their high school years. KC and Brianna were very involved in sports and were working toward their goals of becoming college athletes. Both daughters achieved those goals.

In 2006, became co-owner of Verbatim Reporting & Transcription pursuing a life long dream to become a court reporter. Holds certifications as both a certified electronic transcriber (exceeding 98.5 percent accuracy) and as an electronic reporter with the American Association of Electronic Reporters & Transcribers (AAERT). Spent two years traveling across the U.S. performing electronic/digital court reporting duties for various governmental agencies.

Co-owning a business taught me a tremendous amount -- what to do and what not to do. That being said, left my one-half of the business to my former partner, returned to the paralegal industry, and now am working as a paralegal and is also growing my own reporting/transcribing business. My ultimate goal is to return working my own business, only.

I believe our association is at a crossroads where old and new are colliding. I believe that steps need to be taken to help rebuild our association to the large association it once was, promote our education, and the benefits of membership both to young students coming out of school and to those currently in the legal field who are now looking for a way to set themselves above others in the industry. NALS of Arizona will have growing pains and it is not going to be easy, but as a member who is now one of the “seasoned members”, I welcome the opportunity to serve as your Director of Membership and look forward to working with, playing with, and having a blast with my old friends and new friends to be.

Candidate(s) for: Director of Education

Brenda Reid, PP, PLS - NALS of Phoenix

Brenda J. Reid, PP, CP, is a transplant from California who has lived and worked in the Phoenix, Arizona area since 2004. Brenda has been in the legal field for over 23 years (since 1985). She is a relatively new member of NALS (since March, 2008). She is currently Director of Certification for NALS of Phoenix. Brenda was an active member in the Legal Secretaries Association in California for the many years she lived and worked there.

Brenda has her A.S. degree in Network Administration and a Paralegal Certificate from Barclay, College, Sacramento, California. She obtained her NALS Professional Paralegal designation in September 2008, and her NALA Certified Paralegal designation in May 2009. Brenda Reid is an Assistant Paralegal at Fennemore Craig in Phoenix, Arizona.

Brenda is a professional who is very dedicated to family, work and pursuing higher education. She is currently a member of the Text Development Committee, and she has served on the Marketing Committee for the NALS Region 7/8 Conference, Las Vegas, NV (2009). She served on a curriculum development panel for Maricopa Skill Center located in Phoenix, Arizona, to help develop their legal administrative assistant program (2009). She currently organizes and facilitates the NALS of Phoenix study course in preparation for certification exams. She is a regular contributor to the NALS of Phoenix Findings of Fact with her Swift and Simple Grammar Refresher articles. She is committed to helping all legal professionals meet their educational goals.

Brenda will be attending the National Conference in Irvine, California in October 2009.

Besides spending time with her family, Brenda enjoys many pastimes including crochet, hiking, camping, travel and enjoys riding her Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Candidate(s) for: Director of Marketing

Vernelle Collins, PP, PLS - NALS of Phoenix

Bio Presently Unavailable