President's Message
by Deborah Badigian  

June – a month filled with graduations, weddings and the start of many vacations. Half the year gone already. Have you completed or even started the goals you set for this year? Have you completed your continuing education for the year? If not, this month is filled with many events in which you can participate. Have a look through this Newsletter at the various activities available to you.

FPA held its first General Membership Meeting of the year on March 16, 2005 at Smugglers Four Points Sheraton. Attorney Lee Jacobson of the law firm of Jacobson, Hansen, Najarian and McQuillan spoke on “Mediations: What Are They? What Part Do Paralegals Play In Preparing For Mediations?” and provided each attendee with a detailed outline of his experience and knowledge. For those of you who could not attend, I would just like to remind you that FPA videotapes our guest speakers, when permitted, and that the video tapes are available for your viewing. If you would like to learn what valuable knowledge Mr. Jacobson passed on to our FPA members and attendees, please contact Mah-Mood Sultan or myself and we will arrange for you to view the presentation and review the outline provided as well. I feel we can never have enough knowledge in the legal profession, even if it is not directly related to our everyday activities. Take advantage of the opportunities available to you. In regard to FPA’s General Membership Meeting normally held in June, this meeting has now been scheduled for July as there are quite a number of functions already scheduled for June. Details will follow.

By now, I hope you have received your Certificates of Membership in the Fresno Paralegal Association. If you have not received yours, or there is an error in your name, please contact me as soon as possible and a new one will be issued.

As I previously stated, one of our goals for this year is to promote FPA in our community to provide an awareness of our organization and what services we offer. As such, we have mailed to the legal community a letter outlining our services with enclosures of a copy of our tri-fold brochure, a rolodex card for keeping for future reference, and an Application for Membership. We have received a positive response to this mailing and will mail another promotional package within the next month to include the continuing educational requirements for paralegals and an example of paralegal utilization/job structure. In preparation for these promotional activities, FPA now has pens available, an updated version of the tri-fold brochure, and rolodex cards. The tri-fold brochure outlines FPA’s history and goals and has been updated to reflect our new name. Should you need any pens, copies of the brochure or rolodex cards to help promote the association, please contact me.

Again, a quick reminder that you are welcomed to attend the Board of Directors meetings. Our next Board meeting will be on July 13th at the CalTrans building in Manchester
Center at 6:00. If you are can, please come and participate. If you would like to contact me, please email me at BadigianPhoto@earthlink.net, or telephone me at 431.2762.

Deborah Badigian, President
Fresno Paralegal Association