President's Message
by Charlene Bullock  

We're off to a great start and a wonderful, busy year. The new officers and directors met on January 12 for the annual planning and budget meeting. The Board approved several projects that I wanted to see reinstated as well as new programs I would like to get off the ground during my tenure as president this year.

I am looking forward to getting to know those members I have never met, to getting our members more involved in the projects we assist in each year, to getting our members out to the meetings so we can get to know each other better, to network when we need assistance, to giving to the community at large, and to continue working with the legal community on various projects throughout the year. Somewhere among all of our members are people with talents other than their legal ability that are needed for our various committees, i.e., someone who has artistic capabilities to make signs, or name tags, or posters, or to write articles for our quarterly newsletter; someone who is good with a paint brush; someone who loves to sew. If you have a talent that you share with family, friends or co-workers, we want to know about it. Your talent and help could be invaluable to your association.

Among those projects that were approved by the Board are $200.00 scholarships-one to a student enrolled in the Fresno City College Paralegal Studies Program and the other to a student enrolled at the San Joaquin College of Law Paralegal Program.

It is also important for SJALA to give to the community at large as well as working within the legal community. In that vein, the Association has taken the Marjaree Mason Center under its wing this year in the hopes that many of our members will get involved and assist throughout the year in providing some love, labor, talent, clothing, household goods, and cash donations to the Center. Tim Reese, Director of the Center, will join us at our March membership meeting to inform us of all the projects that not only all of us can do, but also the legal community and law firms can do, to help those men, women and children who pass through the center each year.

As I am sure most of you are aware, the Legislature enacted into law last year the definition for paralegals/legal assistants as those persons who work directly for law firms, attorneys, corporations, and governmental or administrative agencies. Legal Document Assistants are defined as those who provide services directly to the public. The California Alliance of Paralegal Associations (CAPA), our state paralegal organization, is moving forward to notify all California district attorneys of Business & Professions Code sections 6400 and 6450, as well as to notify all lawyers and law firms throughout the state of the new laws and their effect on the legal community. CAPA is also working diligently to obtain providers and programs to assist its members and other California paralegals in obtaining the necessary courses required to obtain their MCLE requirements under the new law. This will be an important year for California paralegals working to be recognized as the professionals that we are in assisting our bosses each day.

There are many exciting events coming up this year that you will want to attend either simply to socialize or to jump in and help out. The annual Fresno County Bar Association picnic at the Dennis Coombs ranch in Madera county will be held in May. We always need members to help set up, serve the food, and assist the Bar in this great event. The annual CAPA conference for paralegals from all over california will be held in Burlingame on June 22. This is always a first-class event and well worth attending. It is always a great time to get some education, meet new people, and have a great weekend away. The State Bar conference will be held in Monterey in October. CAPA has a booth at the Conference and assists in the registration of the attendees. SJALA is planning a joint educational seminar with Sequoia Paralegal Association and the Kern County Paralegal Association to be held in Visalia on October 19 which will offer an ethics section and other courses for MCLE credits. The seminars keep getting better and better each year, and the joint seminar will be ea great way to get involved with our closest associations in making education fun and affordable at the same time. All of these events are a wonderful time to meet paralegals from around the state.

I hope to see all of you at the first meeting of the year in March. Please take the time to stop and introduce yourself. Your association cannot exist without each and every one of you. You are important to us. We want to see you, to hear from you, to get yu involved, to get those great ideas you have, and to see your happy, smiling faces sitting across the table from us. For those of you who have indicated a desire to be involved in some of our committees, the Chairperson will be in touch with you as the events you indicated an interest in helping with get nearer.

Let's make 2002 a really great year for you and for your association.