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President's Message
by Holly Silver  

As another year, and my tenure as your President, comes to a close, I would like to thank you for having given me the opportunity to serve on FPA's board of directors. I hope the Association has served you well by bringing to you some quality continuing education, job opportunities and social networking.

Most recently, the Skills Saturday, on November 14, 2009, was a morning packed with practical information and generous tips to improve the paralegal's awareness and eff ectiveness. Th e morning started with a comprehensive presentation by paralegal, Donna Howard, on the management of cases and preparation for trial. Ms. Howard provided a fascinating talk with many examples from personal experience on how to be an invaluable paralegal, both before and during trial. Next, paralegals, Donna Parrish and Sharon Glisson, teamed up to provide a thorough discussion of two essential skills: time management and billing. From their vast experience in the paralegal profession, both civil and governmental, we participated in a very interesting and helpful discussion on these topics, including how to set and reach both work and billing goals. Last, we were privileged to have the accomplished attorney, Todd Baxter, give a fascinating presentation concerning ethical communications in the law offi ce. Included was an enlightening discussion about the challenges of maintaining confi dentiality, particularly in this electronic age with the risks that come with e-mail communications. Further, Mr. Baxter gave a timely talk regarding the advantages and pitfalls of social networking. Many tips and do's & don'ts made this entire educational seminar very valuable.

I have included in this newsletter some photos from our Holiday Social that took place on December 4th. We had a great time, and it was especially fun to get to know some new members of our association better!

Th ank you to the superb members of the 2009 Board: Sharon Glisson, Lisa Quiroz, Lisa Eakins, Donna Parrish, Claudia Stempien and Pat Salazar. You have been a great a team, and wonderful women to spend time with!

It has been my honor to serve you, and with much pleasure I pass the torch to your new President, Sharon Glisson. I know Sharon has great enthusiasm for the paralegal profession and excellent ideas and ambition for FPA. Let us get involved and make this upcoming year our best yet!

Here’s to much success and reward to all of you in 2010.