|
As incoming Chair of the Division, I am proud to introduce to you the newly-elected officers and directors of the Legal Assistant Division for 2003-2004. These talented professionals will
continue the LAD tradition of service to its members, to the Bar, and to the Community.
Region I Director Denise Adkins -
Serving her second term as the Division's first director for Box Elder, Cache, Rich, Morgan, Davis and Weber Counties, Denise is from Ogden where she has worked for 9 years for Ted Godfrey, Esq. She specializes in collections law of which she has 17 years of experience. Denise serves as the Education Chair in Northern Utah and is presently working to increase awareness and involvement in the LAD in that area.
Region II Director Bonnie Hamp, CLA -
Bonnie Hamp is a paralegal with the Litigation Practice Group at Holme Roberts & Owen LLP which represent clients locally, nationally and internationally in a wide range of business, financial employment, tax, securities, intellectual property, environmental and complex litigation matters. Bonnie began her legal career in 1978 and has achieved her Certified Legal Assistant's "CLA" certification from the National Association of Legal Assistants. She recently concluded her second term as the NALA Liaison for the Legal Assistants Association of Utah. Bonnie will begin her second term as Director of for Salt Lake, Tooele and Summit Counties as well as Secretary for the Legal Assistant Division. She also serves on the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee for the Utah State Bar and is a member of the UPL's legislative committee. She is married to Richard Hamp, an attorney with the Attorney General's Financial Crimes Unit.
Region IV Director Suzanne Potts -
Suzanne has been a legal assistant for over 15 years, working primarily in family law and civil litigation. She has been employed by Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough in St. George, Utah, for the last six years. Suzanne is a mediator having completed basic Mediation Training through the Utah State Bar, Alternative Dispute Resolution in 2001. She is a past member of LAAU, having served as the Southern Regional Director. She is currently a member of the Legal Assistants Division of the Utah State Bar and is serving her second term as the director for Carbon, Sanpete, Sevier, Emery, Grand, Beaver, Wayne, Piute, San Juan, Garfield, Kane, Iron and Washington Counties. She presently serves on the Ethics and Membership Committees of the Division. Suzanne is very active in the community and is a volunteer mediator for the Juvenile Court Victim Offender Mediation Program.
Director at Large Ann Bubert -
Ann has worked as a Legal Assistant for approximately 10 years. For the first 9 of those years, she worked in the areas of estate planning, probate, tax and corporate law. She currently works in the area of insurance defense. Ann is a graduate of the University of Utah. Ann has enjoyed working with the Legal Assistant Division since it's inception. She has served as Secretary, Finance Officer, Education Chair, and Bar Commission Liaison, and served as Chair of the Division for the 2000-2001 year. She has also served on various Bar committees. She is currently the Professional Standards Chair for the Division.
Director at Large Tally Burke -
Tally has been employed by Kruse Landa Maycock & Ricks for the past nine years. Her initial position with KLMR was as the receptionist. She was attending the Salt Lake Community College. It was immediately clear to management of KLMR that Ms. Burke's talents were better suited to the firm in the area of law office management, where she worked for three years. She is currently working for the senior partner in the corporate and securities area of KLMR, where she is extremely satisfied. In 1996, Tally received her Legal Assistant Certificate. In 1997, she earned her Associate of Applied Science, with a major in Paralegal Studies, from the Salt Lake Community College. She is teaching Paralegal Procedures at the Salt Lake Community College, and is looking forward to the challenge and opportunity of working with excited new legal assistant students. She is a member of NALA, the Legal Assistant's Association of Utah, as well as LAD. As Finance Officer, she is looking forward to continuing her involvement with LAD and promoting legal assistants. Tally serves as the Long-Range Planning Chair as well as our Finance Officer.
Director at Large Deb Calegory -
Deborah (Deb) is a certified paralegal who has worked in the legal field for 22 years. She received her paralegal certification through the American Paralegal Association in 1986. She currently works for the law firm of Durham Jones & Pinegar in St. George (formerly Snow Nuffer). She works in the areas of real estate; litigation; and business. Deb has been active in the Legal Assistant Association of Utah, having served as the Southern Region Education Chair during 1995-1996, and as the Southern Region Director in 1996-1997. She was a charter member of the Legal Assistant Division of the Utah State Bar ("LAD") when it was formed in 1996, and has maintained an active role in LAD since its inception. Deb was the Chair of the LAD during 2001-2002. She is currently serving the Division as Parliamentarian and is the Chairman for the Website and Bylaws/Standing Rules Committees.
Director at Large Robyn Dotterer, CLA -
Robyn worked for Dunn & Dunn in the area of insurance defense prior to her taking a position with Strong & Hanni where she works with Paul Belnap. Robyn works primarily in the areas of insurance defense and bad faith litigation. Robyn achieved her CLA in 1994 and is a past President of LAAU. This is her second term as a Director at Large and she will chair our Utilization Committee and serve as liaison to the Young Lawyer's Division.
Director at Large Shawnah Guthrie -
Shawnah currently works for Clifford Dunn in St. George. She has worked for Mr. Dunn for nearly 10 years. Her primary duties include managing all civil litigation cases including discovery, drafting motions and orders, trial preparation, witness interviews, deposition scheduling, etc. She also prepares tax returns and assists with IRS audits. Before moving to St. George, Shawnah worked in Las Vegas, Nevada for a criminal defense law firm, where she worked on all capital murder cases gathering evidence for trial and gathering mitigating evidence for the penalty phase. She also handled a large caseload of personal injury cases. She has worked in the legal field for 16 years. Shawnah will coordinate the outreach activities and work on developing CLE opportunities for our members in the St. George Region.
Director at Large Cynthia Mendenhall - Cynthia is a displaced southerner and describes herself as a "slightly cracked belle." She graduated from the ABA
accredited paralegal program at Louisiana State University in 1990. Cynthia was the first LSU student to do an internship within the court system in Baton Rouge as a clerk for Family
Court Judge Jennifer Luce, firmly establishing that internship resource for future students. Cynthia works in family law with David Dolowitz and Dena Sarandos at Cohne, Rappaport &
Segal, P.C. She is the current Education Chair for the Division and a member of the Utah State Bar's Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee. Cynthia is an avid golfer, reader, and an
award winning spinner and weaver.
Director at Large Thora Searl -
Thora attended 1 year at Weber State University and has 28 years of experience in the legal field. She worked as a legal assistant to William Thomas Thurman at McKay, Burton & Thurman for 22 years and currently works as a Judicial Assistant to Judge Thurman at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah. This is her forth year as a Director of the Legal Assistant Division of the Utah State Bar, serving as the Division's Elections Chair. She enjoys camping, live theater and her 12 grandchildren.
Bar Journal Representative Danielle Davis -
Danielle is a paralegal with Strong & Hanni law firm where she specializes in insurance defense litigation. She has worked as a paralegal for over 10 years with experience in insurance defense, personal injury, bankruptcy, construction litigation, adoption, collections, and family law. She received her paralegal certificate from Westminster College. Ms. Davis is a former President, Education Chair, Parliamentarian, and Newsletter Editor for the Legal Assistants Association of Utah (LAAU). She has served on the Governmental Relations and Licensing committees for the Utah State Bar and is currently serving as the Bar Journal Committee Representative for the Legal Assistant Division of the Utah State Bar. She enjoys being involved with LAAU and LAD and recognizes the importance of member participation as it relates to the future of the legal assistant profession in Utah.
Bar Liaison Peggi Lowden, CLA-S - Peggi is a litigation paralegal with the Salt Lake City law firm of Strong & Hanni working in the area of insurance defense. Peggi
received her paralegal studies certification of completion from Santa Ana College (ABA Approved) and her A.S. degree in social sciences from Salt Lake Community College. She is a past
paralegal educator and currently serves as a guest speaker at local colleges and CLE seminars on topics about paralegal duties and ethics/professional standards. She has served as a team
member for the ABA to review curricula for paralegal programs seeking ABA Approval. She is a member of the Legal Assistant Division of the Utah State Bar (LAD), the National Association
of Legal Assistants (NALA), and the Legal Assistants Association of Utah (LAAU). She is a past chair of the LAD and serves as its liaison (Ex Officio) member of the Board of Bar
Commissioners of the Utah State Bar. Peggi is serving her second term as a lay member of the Utah Supreme Court Ethics and Disciplinary Committee.
And finally,
Chair Sanda Kirkham, CLA -
Sanda is a paralegal with the law firm of Strong & Hanni working primarily in the areas of insurance defense, personal injury, construction litigation and products liability. She received her paralegal certification from the School of Paralegal Studies, Professional Career Development Institute with a specialty in litigation. She achieved her CLA designation in 1998 from the National Association of Legal Assistants. She served as the Division's first Bar Liaison, sitting as an ex officio member of the Board of Bar Commissioners of the Utah State Bar from 1996 to 2000. She also served as Bar Liaison to the Legal Assistants Association of Utah from 1995 to 2000. She served on the Legal Assistant/Paralegal Advisory Committee for Utah Valley State College and currently serves as a guest speaker at the local colleges about paralegal duties and responsibilities. She has presented seminars for HalfMoon LLC regarding civil litigation practice for paralegals and has taught preparatory courses for the Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) certifying examination. She was Co-Chair for the committee of the First 100 CLA's in Utah reception and celebration. Sanda currently sits on the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee and the Governmental Relations Committee of the Utah State Bar.
|
