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PREVIOUS HALA Fall Seminars

2008 Fall Seminar Program Co-Chairs were Marlene Lubowicz and Rebecca Stutzman, CP.

HALA's annual fall (all day) seminar was held on Friday, November 14, 2008, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., with registration beginning promptly at 8:30 a.m. The meeting took place in the Carlsen Center Room 234 (Lunch inclusive onsite) at the Johnson County Community College, College at Quivira, Overland Park, Kansas.

.6 CLE Credit was approved by the National Association of Legal Assistants for attendance at this event.

The seminar program included:

"Using Electronic Evidence During Trial: All the Help You Need" presented by Robert "Bob" Bennett. TBC Video was created to provide video services and trial support to law firms in the Kansas City area. In the last 20 years, the company has grown from one videographer to include eight full-time videographers and a trial support staff specialized in computerized evidence presentation. TBC currently has four Sanction trial technicians and full broadcast production capabilities, including high definition acquisition and editing. Mr. Bennett recently launched a private videoconferencing network that allows depositions to be broadcast live anywhere in the world on a secure internet server. This allows co-counsel, experts and staff to view the proceedings without incurring travel costs. Mr. Bennett's seminar presentation included step-by-step presentation of trial materials and their effective utilization, all of which was well received by the group.

Beth Warrington and Lisa D. Montgomery of the Kansas Bar Association presented "Casemaker Training: A Great Tool for Kansas Cases." Ms. Warrington is the publications and marketing administrator of the KBA, overseeing publication of the legal handbooks, maintaining the KBA website, and a frequent contributor to the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association. They walked the seminar attendees through the access and research tools in Casemaker and, more specifically, how to use the wealth of FREE legal research information easily obtained at the site, all being a perk of membership in the KBA.

The seminar's afternoon sessions began with a presentation of "Kansas and Missouri Workers Compensation: What Every Paralegal Should Know." M. Joan Klosterman and Thomas G. Munsell chaired this session. Ms. Klosterman, a founding member of Morrow, Willnauer & Klosterman, has specialized in Workers Compensation for the firm for the past 20 years, focusing her practice on the representation of Employers and Insurers in Kansas and Missouri. Mr. Munsell is also with Morrow, Willnauer et al, with the majority of his practice for the defense. This very experienced team gave the seminar attendees a thorough overview of what to expect when working as a paralegal in the area of Workers Compensation in the states of Kansas and Missouri, including any recent updates.

The last seminar presentation was "How the Recent Election Will Affect the Economy and You" and was presented by Ken Eaton, CFA, CFP, of Stepp & Rothwell. Mr. Eaton's designation as a Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Planner, as well as a principal of a premier "fee only" financial planning and investment advisory firm in the Midwest, enables him to comment on taxes, investments, and the economy through articles in local and national publications on a constant basis, as well as providing comprehensive and unbiased financial advice to over 150 wealthy families in 23 states. After Mr. Eaton's presentation overview of today's financial market and its current financial health status, he fielded an extensive question/answer session from seminar members as to "what is really happening today and how should we react accordingly." This session brought the seminar to a great conclusion!

Prior to dismissal, Anita Tebbe, J.D., Facilitator of the Paralegal Program at the Johnson County Community College and Honorary Member of HALA, was recognized and gifted for her gracious support to the HALA organization and its members.

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2007 Fall Seminar Program: Joan Polifka, Debbie Rau, and Milly Cundy, CP, Seminar Co-Chairs:

The second all-day CLE-approved seminar sponsored by the HALA organization was a great success! The event was held at Johnson County Community College's Carlsen Center on November 9, 2007, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and played to a full house!

The seminar program included:

Attorney Michael E. Baker's presentation of "The Paralegal's Role in Electronic Discovery." Mr. Baker brought his particular skill of records information management to the group, stepping the attendees through the many intricacies of document collection and review in bet-the-company litigation, where millions of documents are at stake.

The Honorable Michael B. Buser, Kansas Appellate Judge, gave a very informative and entertaining presentation of "You Be the Judge," guiding the paralegals through two United States Supreme Court cases of interest, presented in a highly interactive style. In addition to learning important concepts of constitutional law, the participants learned about the process of Supreme Court decisionmaking.

Christina Jordan and Gary Kretchmer, both of Johnson County Domestic Court Services, presented "Resolutions in Handing High Conflict Divorce Case/Resources for High Conflict Divorce Cases" to the group. Attendees were guided through breakout sessions on handling difficult client traits and situations, as well as utilizing skills for high conflict families.

Closing speaker Jeff Lanza of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, brought his intriguing message to the seminar of "Cyber Security: Keeping Safe in an On-line World." Agent Lanza stepped the group through updated safety tips regarding computer communication, internet safety for kids, identity theft, predator traits and tactics, social networking, social engineering, phishing scams, protecting your computer information, and the importance of monitoring your credit report.

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2006 Fall Seminar Program: Joan Polifka, Seminar Chair, orchestrated the first all-day seminar for paralegals in the area on Wednesday, November 1, 2006, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., held at the Carlsen Center, Room 224, Johnson County Community College, College at Quivira, Overland Park, Kansas. HALA's first all-day seminar was quite an undertaking, and Joan did a magnificent job in bringing it about! The CLE-approved seminar was very well attended! The program included:

Compliance with Electronic Forms of Advertising
Presented by Jasmine Abdul-khalik, J.D.

Eminent Domain and Condemnation
Presented by Joseph R. Borich, III, J.D.

What to do When an Employee Yells 'Take this job and ...'
(Employment Law Issues)
Presented by Linda Scott-Skinner, J.D.

Ethics Rules Meet Boston Legal: Can You Really Do That?
Presented by John Kilroy, J.D.

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At HALA's Thursday, November 3, 2005, 12 noon - 4 p.m., 2005 Fall Seminar, which was held at the KU Regents Center, in Overland Park, Kansas, the CLE-approved program centered around the well-known fact that life is full of questions -- and the seminar attendees received many answers! Seminar Chair, Sharon Chatburn Wood, CP, guided the interesting program presentations through the following questions:

Does the Kansas Power of Attorney Act govern all powers of attorney?
Is there required language for a POA document?
What are the duties and obligations of the attorney in fact?
What powers are precluded?
Does the power survive the principal's death?
Matthew H. Hoy, J.D. (1 hour CLE)

Questions:
Kansas Open Records Act? What's that?
What agencies are subject to KORA?
What is the procedure for requesting records under KORA?
How is KORA enforced?
Cynthia Dunham, J.D. (1 hour CLE)

Questions:
Tort reform in Missouri?
How will this affect litigation in Missouri?
What procedures have changed?
Are the court clerks still processing all those cases filed at the last minute?
Chris Gaughan, J. D. (1 hour CLE)

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HALA's 2004 Fall Seminar was a success, thanks to Seminar Chair Sharon Chatburn Wood, CP. The Fall Seminar, sponsored by the Heartland Association of Legal Assistants (HALA) took place on November 4, 2004, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel in Overland Park, Kansas. Topnotch speakers, vendors and paralegals all gathered to enjoy a delicious dinner, great door prizes and legal education.

The CLE-approved program consisted of the following presentations:

"Landmines for Your Boss in Immigration Law" presented by Kathleen Harvey, J.D.

"U.S. Supreme Court in Review" presented by the Honorable G. Joseph Pierron, Jr., Kansas Court of Appeals.

What our organization is also excited about is that the seminar was a profitable fund-raiser!

Our hope had been for the seminar to help HALA to grow both as an organization and as a positive force within the community.

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