We had a great May luncheon. Barbara Spearman opened the meeting and announced that the next board meeting will be held at Collins and Lacy on May 16, 2012 at 12:30 p.m.
The Pro Bono committee thanked all who participated in the Hog Day event at Welcome Elementary. We have received many words of thanks from the students and the school for the work that we did.
The next Pro Bono committee event is a Suit Dive to benefit Safe Harbor. Please check your closets for any suits or other business attire that you no longer wear. We will also be collecting general toiletries such as hair brushes, toothbrushes, cosmetics, shampoo, conditioner, etc. When a lot of these women escape to Safe Harbor, they often leave with only the clothes on their backs.
As a reminder, Barbara Spearman announced that nominations for Paralegal of the Year are open and the nomination form can be found on the SCUPA website.
In addition, SCUPA is renewing their efforts to involve Greenville Tech student with our organization. A lunch was held on April 27, 2012 with John Bell and Elizabeth Mann of Greenville Tech to discuss options to get the students involved. This project will fall under the umbrella of the mentor committee. If you are interested in serving on the committee and helping out with this project, please contact Barbara.
Deborah Lawrence of Huseby, Inc. was our guest speaker and provided an interesting presentation on current trends affecting paralegals.
As we all know, the economy has hit law firms hard and they have been very slow to recover. Deborah indicated that many firms stopped offering pay raises and bonuses and are just now starting to bring them back. Many paralegals still employed are often doing the work of 1.5-2 paralegals themselves. Firms are also engaging in what Deborah termed "the dumbing down of paralegals" by limiting them to clerical work while associates and other attorneys do the work previously done by paralegals. By doing so, firms are ineffectively utilizing paralegals. Clients especially in the insurance industry are already trying to combat this by auditing bills and requesting that firms redistribute workload to the appropriate professional.
In this difficult job market where frustration levels are so high, Deborah recommended staying current on the biggest trends affecting the paralegal field such as technology, e-discovery, and the use of social media in litigation.
She recommended that we keep learning, keep networking, keep working on our efficiency, and be proactive about keeping our skills up. She suggested taking free CLEs and webinars which are often provided by legal vendors. Many of these deal with e-discovery which is a really hot topic right now.
She also suggested that we maintain an up to date LinkedIn page and to keep it separate from Facebook. She also recommended being careful about what we tweet on Twitter. Recruiters will often check these sites and may cold call you for an interview if they like what they see. She said we should be making friends and building relationships, but she warned us not to keep score if we don't see a job offer come out of our networking.
Deborah also touched upon several hot legal careers for non-lawyers: E-Discovery Professional or E-Discovery Project Manager, Legal Consultants, Mediator, Court Reporter, Jury Consultant, Compliance Specialist, etc.
In sum, Deborah encouraged us to keep our heads up in this difficult economy and to keep working to better ourselves and our skill sets.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The SCUPA Scoop: Hog Day update
SCUPA participated in Hog Day 2012 with a project at Welcome Elementary. We were faced with a huge project which we managed to complete just time and with great results. Thanks and appreciation from the students and staff members of the school have been pouring in. Here are a few highlights of the project!
Monday, May 7, 2012
SCUPA Seminar Save the Date!
SCUPA announces its 17th Annual Seminar for Legal Professionals on
~ Friday, October 5, 2012 ~
Save the Date!
Our event will be held at the EMBASSY SUITES HOTEL, 670 Verdae Boulevard, Greenville, South Carolina
We will continue to update our website with additional information.
Please visit us at www.scupa.org.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The SCUPA Scoop: Seek & Snap Participation!
Several of members of SCUPA attended the Let There Be Mom Seek & Snap event on April 15, 2012. Karen and husband, Chris Hall; and Marianna and husband, Travis Ray participated in the Seek and Snap Scavenger Hunt as the SCUPA team.
Karen and Chris Hall
Marianna and Travis Ray
Tiffany Davenport and daughter, Cammy, together with George and Dorothy Huskey were volunteers.
Tiffany Davenport
Dorothy and George Huskey
Cammy Davenport
We are informed that this was the event's largest turnout and had about 30% more teams than in the past. From all appearances, the event was a huge success. A great time was had by all!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The SCUPA Scoop: Vol. 8
We had great success at our Bring a Friend luncheon today and welcomed many prospective members. We hope to see many of you soon at future events. Anyone interested in joining SCUPA, may contact Marianna Ray at membership@scupa.org.
On behalf of the pro bono committee, Dorothy Huskey announced that she will still accept last minute volunteers for the Let There Be Mom Seek and Snap. Those interested should contact her as soon as possible. In other pro bono news, Daysha Bonner announced that she has signed us up to work on a science garden for Welcome Elementary. We will be planting a garden, mulching some beds, and possibly assembling a picnic table. There will be something for everyone to do and it is a wonderful way to make a meaningful impact on our community. Those still interested in volunteering may do so by the end of this month.
Marianna Ray announced on behalf of Barbara Spearman that nominations for Paralegal of the Year are open as of today. Nomination forms can be found on the front page of http://www.scupa.org/. Nominations will be accepted through October 15, 2012 and the winner will be announced at the next luncheon. Please submit your completed forms to Barbara Spearman.
Several members will be meeting with attorney John Bell of Greenville Tech on April 27, 2012 at 11:45 a.m. at City Range on Haywood Road to discuss ways to get SCUPA and the students in the paralegal program more involved. If you would like to attend and contribute, please let Barbara Spearman know so we can have a head count.
Gary Ramaeker of Greenville Tech provided a great presentation on the internship program at Tech. He emphasized the importance of the program because an internship is a great way for a student to get actual law office work experience. Prospective interns need to have a minimum B grade average and must be considered the 'cream of the crop.' Gary takes several factors into account in determining who should be included in the program: grades, helpfulness to others, reaction during crisis situations, willingness to mentor others, attention to detail, compassion, and interest in the community.
Once a student is accepted into the program, they are given a list of 25 participating law offices to which they may apply. Students are also allowed to apply to firms outside the program. There is no obligation for the firm to hire the student following the interview.
During the course of the internship, the student will work 135 hours per semester based on the needs of the firm. The program just asks that the firm allow the students to do typical paralegal work such as summarizing records, answering phones, filing, and attending trials.
At the end of the semester, the firm must simply fill out a one page evaluation outlining the student's strenghts, weaknesses, and any recommendations for the future.
Gary advised that those students not picked for the internship program will not be left out in the cold. They are investigating a program called Virtual Law Office which will have videos and projects to perform to show them what work in a real law office would be like.
Following his presentation, we learned that several of our members and guests were graduates of the internship program. If you or your firm is interested in learning more about the program or interviewing a paralegal intern, please contact Gary at (864) 250-8255 or Gary.Ramaeker@gvltec.edu.
On behalf of the pro bono committee, Dorothy Huskey announced that she will still accept last minute volunteers for the Let There Be Mom Seek and Snap. Those interested should contact her as soon as possible. In other pro bono news, Daysha Bonner announced that she has signed us up to work on a science garden for Welcome Elementary. We will be planting a garden, mulching some beds, and possibly assembling a picnic table. There will be something for everyone to do and it is a wonderful way to make a meaningful impact on our community. Those still interested in volunteering may do so by the end of this month.
Marianna Ray announced on behalf of Barbara Spearman that nominations for Paralegal of the Year are open as of today. Nomination forms can be found on the front page of http://www.scupa.org/. Nominations will be accepted through October 15, 2012 and the winner will be announced at the next luncheon. Please submit your completed forms to Barbara Spearman.
Several members will be meeting with attorney John Bell of Greenville Tech on April 27, 2012 at 11:45 a.m. at City Range on Haywood Road to discuss ways to get SCUPA and the students in the paralegal program more involved. If you would like to attend and contribute, please let Barbara Spearman know so we can have a head count.
Gary Ramaeker of Greenville Tech provided a great presentation on the internship program at Tech. He emphasized the importance of the program because an internship is a great way for a student to get actual law office work experience. Prospective interns need to have a minimum B grade average and must be considered the 'cream of the crop.' Gary takes several factors into account in determining who should be included in the program: grades, helpfulness to others, reaction during crisis situations, willingness to mentor others, attention to detail, compassion, and interest in the community.
Once a student is accepted into the program, they are given a list of 25 participating law offices to which they may apply. Students are also allowed to apply to firms outside the program. There is no obligation for the firm to hire the student following the interview.
During the course of the internship, the student will work 135 hours per semester based on the needs of the firm. The program just asks that the firm allow the students to do typical paralegal work such as summarizing records, answering phones, filing, and attending trials.
At the end of the semester, the firm must simply fill out a one page evaluation outlining the student's strenghts, weaknesses, and any recommendations for the future.
Gary advised that those students not picked for the internship program will not be left out in the cold. They are investigating a program called Virtual Law Office which will have videos and projects to perform to show them what work in a real law office would be like.
Following his presentation, we learned that several of our members and guests were graduates of the internship program. If you or your firm is interested in learning more about the program or interviewing a paralegal intern, please contact Gary at (864) 250-8255 or Gary.Ramaeker@gvltec.edu.
The SCUPA Scoop: Announcement from Harvest Hope
As many of you know, Harvest Hope Food Bank is one of the many organizations in our community that SCUPA strives to serve each year.
Harvest Hope is teaming up with Walmart’s “Fight Hunger” campaign. Harvest Hope has the tremendous opportunity to win a million dollars to help fight hunger in our community, BUT you must vote for the Greenville/Mauldin area on their website. The below information has all the links that are needed for voting in all social media applications. You can vote once every 24 hours, too.
If there are any questions, please feel free to call or email Suzanne Rhoades of Harvest Hope at (864) 281-3995 ext 3103 or srhoades@harvesthope.org.
Voting Instructions:
Dear Harvest HOPE Friend,
Help us win $1 million to fight hunger in the Upstate!
When: April 9 – April 30, 2012
How:
1. Shop at your local Walmart store and purchase selected brands of ConAgra, General Mills, Kellogg’s and Kraft products. A portion of these purchases goes directly to helping us fight hunger in the Upstate.
2. Follow this link: http://apps.facebook.com/walmartfighthunger/profile/1411?src=vote_share to vote for the Greenville-Mauldin community! Communities that receive the most votes are eligible to win up to $1 Million dollars to help feed hungry people in their communities.
3. SHARE this link: http://apps.facebook.com/walmartfighthunger/profile/1411?src=vote_share with your friends and ask them to vote for the Greenville-Mauldin community too!!
Sample Facebook Posts
Vote for the Greenville-Mauldin community http://apps.facebook.com/walmartfighthunger/profile/1411?src=vote_share to win $1 Million to feed the hungry!
I’m fighting hunger. You can too! Vote for the Greenville –Mauldin community in Walmart’s Fighting Hunger Together Campaign.
Sample Tweets:
Vote for Greenville-Mauldin in Walmart’s hunger relief campaign http://apps.facebook.com/walmartfighthunger #fighthunger
Help Walmart give $1M to the Greenville-Mauldin community to fight hunger http://apps.facebook.com/walmartfighthunger#fighthunger
Sample Email:
Dear Friends,
Starting April 9 and continuing through April 30, 2012, Walmart is providing their customers and the general public with ways to join in the fight against hunger! Walmart, alongside four of the most recognizable food brands in America—ConAgra, General Mills, Kellogg’s and Kraft—will be fighting hunger together and helping Walmart’s customers support their local food banks. As part of the program, select products in Walmart stores will help customers generate meals to feed hungry families across the nation. By purchasing those products, customers can give back to nonprofits fighting hunger.
Walmart is also launching a Fighting Hunger Together Facebook campaign encouraging the public to help them select one community to receive $1 million and 20 runner-up communities to receive $50,000 to fight hunger. The funds will be distributed among several organizations in the most supported communities. As one of Walmart’s partners, Harvest HOPE Food Bank could potentially receive a portion of those funds, but only if our community votes!
Please check out Walmart’s in store partnership and support Greenville-Mauldin by voting for our community on http://apps.facebook.com/walmartfighthunger/profile/1411?src=vote_share
Thank you for your continued support.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
The SCUPA Scoop: Let There Be Mom Reminder
The deadline for volunteering at the Let There Be Mom fundraiser - Seek and Snap - is tomorrow. I need a headcount of all volunteers no later than 10:00am tomorrow morning. Additional information regarding shifts will be forth coming but if you know which shift you would prefer, please let me know. As a reminder, the date is Sunday, April 15, 2012 from 12:00 until about 5:30/6:00pm. Please email me at dorothy.huskey@mgclaw.com. I will be providing all volunteer names to the event coordinator so be sure to give me the email address you prefer being used.
This is a great cause and should be a lot of fun to work.
Thank you,
Dorothy Huskey, CP
Chairperson, Pro Bono Committee
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