final october 2014 - miller nash graham & dunn · required by utcr 21.070(3) to be filed...

Paragram Oregon Paralegal October - November 2014 Association Volume XXXV, Issue 3

Publisher: MaryAnn Ivie, RP Editor: Sherry Rainey

P.O. Box PO Box 28264, Port land, OR 97228 www.oregonpara legals .org , [email protected]

President’s Message By Brenna C. Dickey, OPA President and Corporate Section Chair See You at the Beach! I can't believe it's already been a year since I became OPA's president.

We certainly have had a fantastic year, and I have really enjoyed serving OPA's members. I have learned a lot and hope to continue to become a better leader for you.

I hope you will join me, OPA's leaders, and your paralegal peers, at

the Oregon Paralegal Association's 35th annual convention, which will be held from October 24, 2014 to October 25, 2014 in Seaside. Our annual convention co‐chairs, Kelley D. Chaney, RP and Joyce S. Kent, RP and their committee have put together a fantastic program of CLEs to enhance our legal careers. For more details about the convention or to register, go to www.opaconvention.com.

The Honorable Daniel Stidham will be OPA's Keynote Speaker. Judge

Stidham was a public defender in the “West Memphis Three” 1993 murder case. For more information about the case, go to: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three.

We are also looking forward to having other great speakers and will

continue the celebration of OPA's 35th anniversary. We have invited all of OPA's past presidents to join us for a special celebration of OPA's history and the growth of the paralegal profession.

And, of course, we will have our amazing legal service providers in

attendance to let us know what is new and available to us to ensure we have great resources available to enhance our services to our clients.

I look forward to seeing you soon in Seaside!

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

1 President’s Message

2 Specialty Group News

2 Rules Watch

3 Additional Washington Corporate Entities

5 SOPP & CLE Program Committee

6 Oregon E-Court Filing

8 Ethics of Dropbox

9 The Certification Train is Leaving the Station – Do You Have Your Ticket?

13 NFPA Report

16 Sustaining Member Profile: Darrel Dyer l

18 Annual Meeting

Registration Form

Last Chance to register!

OPA’s 35th annual convention is Friday, October 24, 2014, to Saturday, October 25, 2014, in Seaside

The Paragram

SPECIALTY GROUP NEWS

Estate Planning/Administration Specialty Group The Estate Planning/Administration Specialty Group meets the third Tuesday of every other month. At our September meeting, Katherine L. West of Wyse Kadish LLP presented on probate litigation. The next meeting will be at noon on Tuesday, November 18, 2014, at Stoel Rives LLP, 900 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 2600. Parmie Van Dyke, Washington County Probate Commission will speak on Washington County Court’s probate procedures, preferences and requirements. For more information, email [email protected] or [email protected].

Litigation Specialty Group The next meeting will be at noon on Thursday, October 16, 2014, in the 9th Floor Conference Room at 1000 Broadway Building. 1000 SW Broadway. The topic will be “Working Smarter Through the Deposition Process “ presented by J.C. Talbot of Naegeli Deposition and Trial. To confirm your attendance for this meeting, send an email to [email protected]. Please indicate in the subject line OPA: Litigation Specialty Group Meeting

RULES WATCH STATE COURT MANDATORY E-FILING BEGINS DEC. 1, 2014 For the 11 circuit courts currently using the Oregon eCourt Case Information (OECI) system, mandatory eFiling will begin Monday, December 1, 2014. For circuit courts that are not yet using

the OECI system, the mandatory eFiling will begin 60 business days after the OECI go‐live date. Most – but not all – documents will be subject to mandatory eFiling. Documents that are currently required by UTCR 21.070(3) to be filed conventionally -- including initiating documents in criminal and juvenile delinquency cases -- will not be subject to mandatory eFiling at this time. On September 29, 2014, the Chief Justice promulgated out-of-cycle UTCR amendments through Chief Justice Order (CJO) No. 14-049 regarding eFiling. See the full order at On September 29, 2014, the Chief Justice promulgated out‐of‐cycle UTCR amendments through Chief Justice Order (CJO) No. 14‐049 regarding eFiling.

The Paragram

Additional Entity Conversions Now Available in Washington By: Brenna C. Dickey

On June 12, 2014, a new law went into effect in Washington regarding entity conversions. Previously

entity conversions were not available in Washington for most entities (the sole exception was regarding the conversion to or from a limited partnership). However, during the 2014 Washington legislative session, Senate Bill 5999 was unanimously passed allowing certain types of organizations to restructure their form under Washington law.

The new Washington law allows for conversion of a foreign or domestic profit corporation, limited

liability company, business trust, joint venture, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability limited partnership, or limited liability partnership to and from a foreign or domestic profit corporation, limited liability company, business trust, joint venture, general partnership, limited liability limited partnership, limited partnership or limited liability partnership. The entity types that are not allowed to

convert are entities such as nonprofit corporations or governmental and quasi‐governmental organizations. Under the new law, a plan of conversion must be approved by all of the members of a limited liability company converting to another entity type. For Washington domestic corporations, a plan of conversion must be adopted by the board of directors and approved by the corporation's voting shareholders.

The filing fee is $190.00 ($10.00 Articles of

Conversion filing fee, plus $180.00 new entity origination fee. For a link to the cover sheet, go to: http://www.sos.wa.gov/ assets/corps/ConversionCoverSheet.pdf. Expedited service is available for an additional $50.00 fee. The Washington Secretary of State will not be providing a form of Articles of Conversion.

The Revised Code of Washington ("RCW")

23B, RCW 25.15, RCW 25.10, and RCW 25.05 will be revised to include the provisions of SB 5999. For additional details regarding these changes, go to: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013‐

14/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5999.SL.pdf.

The Paragram

The Paragram

SOPP & CLE PROGRAM COMMITTEE 9/13/2014 Summer CLE Event By: Michele Davis, CP SOPP (South of Portland Paralegals) and the CLE Program Committee joined efforts and held a CLE and networking event in Salem, Oregon, on Saturday, September 13, 2014. Those in attendance spanned from Salem to Waldport and beyond. Some of those in attendance were not members of OPA, so this was also a valuable opportunity to network with others in the industry. First, OPA wants to extend a huge thank you to our sponsor of this event: Unisearch. The ladies who

joined us from Unisearch were Shawn Linan, Shari Stoutenburg, and Loretta McCool. Thank you to Unisearch and their staff for sponsoring and joining us for our event. We had to two educational and informational CLESs. Both of these presentations were informative. Summaries of each CLE follow this article. As always, if there is a particular topic or speaker you are interested in hearing from or want to participate on the CLE Program Committee, please contact Michele Davis.

Program Sponsors from Unisearch

Christina Ruff and Michele Davis

The Paragram

OREGON E-COURT FILING: FILE AND SERVE; EARLY ADOPTERS; HOW IT WORKS AND WHAT YOU NEED; HIGHLIGHTS OF UTCR,

Presented by Daniel Parr (Office of Education and Training with the Oregon Department of Justice). The presentation focused on the software program Odyssey in order to help paralegals navigate the e‐Court

filing system. We learned about Oregon eCourt; how it works (File and Serve); filing fees; how to get started; and UTCR Chapter 21.

E‐filing is only available in Clatsop, Columbia, Crook, Jackson, Jefferson, Linn, Multnomah, Tillamook and

Yamhill County Circuit Courts. Mandatory e‐filing begins on December 1, 2014, and the plan is that it be mandatory within six weeks after each county conversion, with all Oregon Courts using e‐filing by mid‐2016.

Some of the basic rules include:

Mandatory e‐filing is for all active members of the Oregon State Bar.

If you can e‐file the document you MUST e‐file the document (ex parte issues will continue as the present traditional method).

Searching and bookmarking capabilities for each case filed.

Filing fees auto‐populate for your convenience (there are no additional fees for File and Serve).

Currently, only credit cards or debit cards are accepted for e‐filing fees.

Other matters that are filed conventionally include: o Contempt case initiation; o Criminal and juvenile delinquency case initiation; o An amended complaint that increases the filing fee; o A notice of appeal from a justice court or municipal court; and o Documents required by law to be filed in original form.

A benefit to using Odyssey over OJIN is in the streamlined way that the type of case is chosen. For example,

if you have a civil matter that is based on contract statutes, you choose from one of the four subcategories: contract, specific performance, money action or declaratory judgment. Another benefit specifically for Multnomah County filings is their nine categories (civil, criminal, domestic relations, juvenile, landlord tenant, mental health, probate and small claims).

Until future notice, e‐courts will only retain hard copy filings for a maximum of 30 days before shredding. One thing to keep in mind is with large e‐filings. The maximum file size is 25 MB. If a file is too large, you will

need to break it into smaller documents or, for example, every 20 pages. It is important to use the same filing code and to indicate that the submission is 1 of 3.

Some of the local rules to stay current on include: UTCR 21.140 (mandatory e‐filing); UTCR 21.040 (document

formatting and Proposed Order/Judgment signature/date line; and UTCR 21.120 (document retention [changing from 10 years to 30 days]).

The Paragram

The Paragram

Ethics of Drop Box and Other Cloud Storage Services By Dee Crocker, Practice Management Adviser with the OSB Professional Liability Fund. This presentation focused on The Ethics of Cloud Computing. One the biggest known cloud

computing services is Drop Box, which may or may not be protected. If you use Drop Box, or another service, how do you know your client’s data is protected?

Is cloud computing ethical? See Rules 1.1, 1.6(c) and 5.3. See also Oregon Formal Opinion No.

2011‐188 (https://www.osbar.org/_docs/ethics/2011‐188.pdf). Ms. Crocker gave an excellent tool in the form of 25 issues and questions for discussion with a

potential vendor. They include: 1) what is the security protocol; 2) what training is done; 3) documentation; 4) new features; 5) integration; 6) current usage; 7) encryption of data; 8) service level agreement; 9) liability; 10) safeguard data; 11) access to data; 12) server location; 13) data breach; 14) notification of data breach; 15) notification of subpoena service; 16) content disclosure; 17) backup; 18) company history; 19) copy data; 20) data residence in US; 21) disposition of data; 22) what if the customer stops paying [is data held hostage]; 23) length of service; 24) rates; and 25) incidental costs.

Risk management in the cloud requires using firewalls, anti‐virus, anti‐malware, backup, and updates of operating systems.

The Paragram

The Certification Train is Leaving the Station – Do You Have Your Ticket? ByLindaOdermott,RP®

2014 seems to be the year of paralegal certification. There is so much activity surrounding certification that I feel like I just boarded a train that has departed the station and it has started to climb the hill – chuga, chuga, chuga, chuga, choo, choo! Once we get to the top, the train will become a screaming locomotive racing towards a destination off in the distance. As OPA’s Certification Ambassador, I wanted to share with you some of the most interesting of these discussions and encourage you get a ticket for the certification train.

The National Association of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) has two agenda topics related to the

Paralegal Core Education Exam( PCCE™) and the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE®), which will be voted on at the NFPA annual convention in Dallas, Texas, this month. The first agenda topic relates to expanding the eligibility requirements to sit for PACE® to include eligibility by holding a CRP™ credential for two years or more and meeting other requirements. The second agenda topic helps to redefine CLE

Requirements for PACE® and PCCE™ to state that those candidates in good standing with both RP® and CRP™ credentials may use the same CLE hours to honor both credentials.

The Washington State Bar Association’s (WSBA) Limited License Legal Technician (LLLT) Program was rolled out in 2014 based upon Rule 28. The LLLT Program offers a limited time waiver for the CORE education requirements of the LLLT program if a paralegal has current

credentials from either the Certified Paralegal (CP) Exam offered by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA), the PACE® conducted by the NFPA, or the Professional Paralegal (PP) Exam conducted by NALs, the Association for Legal Professionals. An additional requirement for the waiver is 10 years of substantive law‐related experience in the last 15 years. The deadline to apply for the limited time waiver is December 31, 2016, with a deadline to use the waiver for a LLLT license of December 31, 2018. For more information about Rule 28 and the Washington LLLT program, go to www.wsba.org/lllt.

Continued on Page 10

The Paragram

Continued from Page 9 Locally, the Oregon State Bar (OSB) started researching these issues last year when they created the

LLLT Task Force, of which I am a task force member. The Task Force is currently working on a final draft report to submit to the OSB Board of Governors (BOG). The current draft includes language that if the BOG recognizes or creates a LLLT program, there will be a paralegal certification requirement and a limited time waiver, similar to WSBA’s.

New York and California have been looking towards the Pacific Northwest to lay the tracks and plow

through these legal issues. On November 30, 2012, the Task Force to Expand Access to Civil Legal Services in New York submitted to the Chief Judge of the State of New York a report containing a new initiative to examine the contributions that non‐lawyers can make to bridge the gap in the access to justice issue by creating an Advisory Committee to study the role of non‐lawyers with a focus on the Washington State Rule 28. To read the report, go to http://www.nycourts.gov/ip/access‐civil‐legal‐services/PDF/CLS‐TaskForceREPORT.pdf. California has also gotten on board by creating its own Task Force to explore solutions to the justice gap; including discussions about the Washington Rule 28 and specifically the LLLT issue. For more about their task force, go to www.calbar.ca.gov.

We have a trainload of NFPA certified

paralegals in Oregon and Southwest Washington including our members: Samantha K. Blair, CRP™, Cynthia L. Bryan, RP®, Leisa K. Bulick, RP®, CLA, Melanie M. Carvalho‐Sage, RP®, Kelley D. Chaney, RP®, Kathryn M. Flaxel, CRP™, Sandra J. Galati, RP®, Palma A. Gigliotti, RP®, Karen L. Hammer, RP®, MaryAnn R. Ivie, RP®, Joyce S. Kent, RP®, Beth L. King, RP®, Kristen Koepping, RP®, Julie M. Lycklama, RP®,

Julianne M. Maguire, RP®, Kathleen K. Miller, RP®, Natalie J. Nelson‐Sander, RP®, Linda K. Odermott, RP®, Sena A. Richichi, RP®, Angie M. Rubschlager, CRP™, Karen A. Russell, RP®, Karen Smitherman, RP®, Diane L. Thompson, RP®, CP. OPA is offering two certification scholarships; the winners of which will be announced during the business meeting of the Annual Meeting in Seaside on October 25, 2014.

I want to personally give you your ticket to get on board this certification train by inviting you to

attend the Informational First Meeting for Study Groups on Saturday, November 8, 2014, from 10 a.m. to noon or the Certification Workshop on Saturday, February 21, 2015, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Don’t be left behind at the station. For more information, contact me at. [email protected] or 503.691.3016.

The Paragram

The Paragram

OPA Thanks its Sustaining Members Sustaining members as of September 26

BEOVICH WALTER AND FRIEND COURT REPORTERS

MILLER NASH LLP

BRIDGES REPORTING AND LEGAL VIDEO, INC. NATIONWIDE PROCESS SERVICE, INC.

CASE FORENSICS PARASEC

DTI GLOBAL, INC PHYSICIAN DIRECT SERVICES INC.

FREE LANCE INVESTIGATIONS LLC PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE

IMPARTIAL REGISTERED AGENT SOLUTIONS INC.

INSIGHT LEGAL INVESTIGATION SCHMITT REPORTING & VIDEO, INC.

LIBERTY MUTUAL STOEL RIVES LLP

LNS Court Reporting SUMNER COLLEGE

MARKOWITZ, HERBOLD, GLADE & MEHLHAF PC T‐SCAN CORPORATION

NAEGELI DEPOSITION & TRIAL UNISEARCH

The Paragram

NFPA Report By Joyce S. Kent, RP 2014 NFPA Convention At the September 16, 2014, National Affairs meeting we discussed the candidates, the proposed

Bylaw Amendment (dues increase of $5.00), the Agenda Topics ((1) Pro Bono Service Administrative Hours, (2) PCCE and PACE CLE requirements, (3) PCCE to PACE requirements, and (4) State of the Paralegal Profession), and the Discussion Topic (Proxy Voting). OPA received notice that Lynne‐Marie Reveliotis will be nominated from the floor for Vice President and Director of Positions and Issues and Theresa Prater, RP® will be nominated from the floor for the office of Secretary and Director of Operations.

Coordinators and Committee Members Needed The commencement of the submission of coordinator letters of interest is now officially open for

available coordinator positions. A list of all coordinator positions and descriptions of the coordinator positions are on NFPA’s website. We encourage everyone to submit an interest form for one of these positions. The coordinator interest form is on NFPA’s website.

1. All positions are open (with the exceptions of the elected positions of ABA Approval

Commission Representative and Education Coordinator, the ABA Pro‐Bono Liaison (which is a three‐year term in which the current coordinator was appointed in 2011), the Convention Coordinator (which is a two‐year term first appointed last year) and the Nominations Coordinator (which is appointed at the winter board meeting)).

2. You do not have to be a delegate to be a coordinator. 3. If you are currently a coordinator and wish to remain in that position, you must fill out the

coordinator interest form each year (unless your position has a term longer than one year, in which case you would submit during the appropriate timeframe your position is available). All new interested coordinators must also fill out an interest form and all candidates are to provide resumes along with their submissions.

2015 NFPA Joint Conference Jeannie Lihs is the chair of the 2015 NFPA Joint Conference. OPA will be hosting this meeting on

from May 1‐3, 2015, at the Standard Insurance Center Auditorium. The proposed schedule is: Friday, May 1, Regulation Conference (8 a.m. registration opens; 9 a.m.‐5 p.m.); Saturday, May 2, Certification Conference (8 a.m. registration opens; 9 a.m.‐5 p.m.); and Sunday, May 3, Leadership Conference (8 a.m. registration; 9 a.m. ‐ 5 p.m.). The tag line is “See Your Careers and Leadership Blossom.” OPA is planning social events for both Friday and Saturday evenings for conference attendees, special guests, and local members who want to meet and network with national representatives and leaders.


The Paragram

Continued from Page 13 NFPA Website Discussion Boards Members now have the option to subscribe

to receive email when a topic gets a reply or a new topic is posted. Those who are in leadership roles, such as treasurers and delegates, will continue to receive announcements as you have in the past. This new subscription feature only affects whether you are emailed the discussions after such announcements are made.

Note this subscription feature is merely a

notification ‐ to participate in a discussion you must sign in to the website and visit the Discussion Boards section found in the Members Only menu. Replying to a notification e‐mail will not reply to the discussion.

The Paragram

Congratulations

Perla X. Caballero-Hoblit Perla passed the Paralegal Core Competency Exam

Thomas Holmes Tom passed the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam

The Paragram

Sustaining Member Profile: Darrel Dyer Title: Client Relations Manager Company: Beovich, Walter & Friend Inc.

Q: How long have you been with Beovich,

Walter & Friend? A: Just over 7 years with BWF, 17 years in

the court reporting industry. Q: Describe the most fun you have had

while working on a case or project. A: The fun for me is providing a solution for

a complex problem with a lot of challenges that a client has and having the project come off perfectly. For example, putting together back‐to‐back depositions of witnesses in different areas of the country with videographers connected by videoconference to attorneys and the court reporter at our office. I did a day of those recently involving New York, Los Angeles, and San Diego locations and us – lots of contacts, details and coordination involved for that one. It’s fun when everything goes great.

Q: What was the funniest moment you ever had at work? A: Not funny at the time, but kind of funny now ‐‐ breaking up an almost fist fight over nothing between two out‐of‐state attorneys during a deposition in our office while protecting our court reporter, her computer, and her stenographic machine. Q: What do you do when you need to clear your head? A: Go to the coast and tune in to the ocean. Q: What do you most like to do when you're not working? A: Now that it’s football season, going to a sports bar and watching games with other fans. Q: What is the most surprising thing about you that you don't think OPA members know about you? A: (1) That I have worked as a paralegal, and (2) that I have directed award‐winning high school marching bands. Q: Name one or more people, either living or from the past, whom you would like to invite to a dinner party. A: Jerry Spence, Sharon Stone, Brett Favre, Madonna, Heather Locklear, Mario Andretti and King Gambrinus.


The Paragram

Continued from Page 16

Q: Who are your favorite writers? A: Other than the contributors to the Paragram ‐‐ Phillip Margolin and John Grisham. Q: Who is your greatest hero of fiction, either in film or in literature? A: Other than the background emergency room doctor in the first Twilight movie, James Bond. Q: What accomplishment are you the most proud of? A: Being a positive influence on my daughter, who is now a sergeant in the Army. She served two tours of duty entertaining troops on an airbase in Afghanistan, and she is now stationed at Fort Lewis McChord doing music, including the lead singer in their rock band. Q: What is your favorite TV show? A: Diners, Drive‐Ins and Dives. Q: If you weren't working at Beovich, where would you most like to be working? A: Being a star in Hollywood. Q: What is your very favorite food? A: Other than cheese, steak & lobster. Q: What food do you always avoid? A: Healthy vegetables like cauliflower.

2014 OPA CONVENTION REGISTRATION

For more information, see www.opaconvention.com

Questions contact: Kelley Chaney, RP @ 503‐515‐9248 or [email protected]

Mail your completed form with check to: OPA 2014 Convention, P.O. BOX 28264, PORTLAND, OR 97228 ‐OR‐

□ Check here if you paid via Paypal and email your registration form to: [email protected]

Personal Information Is this your first OPA convention?

__ Yes __ No Name_________________________________________________ Certification_____________________Member Association*_________________________ Daytime Phone________________________Employer___________________________________________ Email*__________________________Mailing Address______________________________________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip_____________________

*Note: Member rates apply to members of OPA and NFPA. Email address will be used to confirm registration and to provide information about downloading the program materials.

Registration Fees

Early (before 9/12)

Regular (before 10/13)

Late Registration (after 10/13) Add $20

Member Rate (includes meals)1 $150 $179 $199 Member – Friday only (includes meals)1 $125 $125 $145 Member – Saturday only (includes meals)1 $79 $79 $99 Non‐Member Rate (includes meals) 1 $210 $210 $230 Non‐Member – Friday only(includes meals)1 $150 $150 $170 Non‐Member – Saturday only(includes meals)1 $100 $100 $120 Student Rate (includes meals)1 $79 $79 $99 Student – Friday only (includes meals) 1 $50 $50 $70 Student – Saturday only (includes meals) 1 $50 $50 $70 Friday Dinner & 70’s Party1 $40 $40 $60 GUEST ‐Friday Lunch and Keynote Speaker

Guest/Name(s)__________________________________ $30 $30 $50 GUEST ‐ Friday Dinner & 70’s Party

Guest/Name(s)__________________________________ $40 $40 $60 Individual CLE Registration (will not receive meals) Check complete registration below

Student Regular Non‐Members

□$10 □$20 □$30

Please identify the session(s) you will attend and total in the appropriate column to the right :

TOTAL ENCLOSED (OPA provides a $10 per person discount if registering three or more members at the same time.) Please mail your check payable to OPA to OPA 2014 Convention, P.O. BOX 28264, PORTLAND, OR 97228.

$____________

I understand that OPA may photograph and/or videotape the 2014 OPA Annual Convention, and I acknowledge that my image may be captured in such photos and/or videos. By attending the OPA 2014 Annual Convention events, I grant OPA my permission to use such images in educational and promotional activities without further acknowledgment and without compensation to me.

Substitutions, Cancellations and Refunds: If after registering a scheduling conflict occurs, you may send a substitute. Requests for substitution or

cancellations must be submitted to OPA in writing by email or regular mail. Cancellations postmarked on or before October 13, 2014, are subject to a $50 fee. Cancellations postmarked after October 20, 2014, will forfeit all fees.

1 Group meals are catered by the hotel and include breakfast, am break, lunch and pm break on Friday, and breakfast and am break on Saturday, but DOES NOT include the Friday Dinner & 70’s Party. ** Be sure to register for the Friday evening event separately.