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Instructor Spotlight: Alonzo McLeod, LDA
IMPORTANT: Nominations and Proxies
Elkins #3
Conference Registration and Agenda
CONFERENCE SPONSORS
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The California Association of Legal Document Assistants was established in August 1986, and was formerly known as "California Association of Independent Paralegals" (CAIP). CALDA is the premiere organization for legal document assistant professionals.

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August 22, 2011 

INSTRUCTOR SPOTLIGHT: ALONZO MCLEOD, LDA 

Dear CALDA Members,

I just had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Alonzo McLeod, LDA.  Mr. McLeod will be teaching a class on Evictions at this year's Conference (Class #1, Friday, 10/14, 10:20am), and he enlightened me on some interesting facts and statistics regarding the subject:

 - Bay Area Legal Aid of Oakland handled 46% more eviction cases in 2010 than it did in 2009.

-  The Contra Costa County Sheriff's office handled 16% more eviction cases in 2010 than in 2009, not including foreclosures.

-  Apartment rents have risen an average of 12.6 percent in the Bay Area in the past year, according to RealFacts, a Novato apartment rental research company.

These days, many people who have less money to spend are putting off preparing their living trusts and are even delaying divorce because it's hard to picture life without two incomes to pay the bills. The facts and stats he presents definitely make me look forward to hearing his class on evictions, as I do not currently offer this service, and it seems that I obviously should.  Evictions would be a good way to shore up business in this troubled and unpredictable economy. 

If you already offer evictions as a service, you will surely benefit by listening to the methods and procedures of a seasoned and experienced professional such as Mr. McLeod.

Mr. McLeod has been a CALDA member since 2002.  He specializes in unlawful detainers, civil actions, living trusts, wills and conservatorships.  He volunteers for the "LDA in the Library" program in the Hayward branch of the Alameda County Law Library.

After hearing his class, look forward to receiving about 60 pages of material you can take home to enhance your practice.

Check out Al's bio, and the rest of the Conference instructors' bios here: INSTRUCTOR BIOS

I can't wait to see you all at the Conference!

Good luck everyone,

Ian Duncan
Legislative Chair


ELECTIONS AND PROXY INFORMATION
This year's election will take place on October 14, 2011 at the Doubletree Hotel.

1. NOMINATIONS PROCEDURE
Use this form to make your nominations for open officer and Board positions:
NOMINATIONS FORM
NOMINATIONS INSTRUCTIONS

The Nominations Form must be turned in no later than YESTERDAY!.  Please send in your form if you haven't already done so.

2. PROXY FORM  Seasoned members will undoubtedly have noticed a difference in the appearance of the proxy and manner in which it is presented this year.  In previous years a proxy was sent out prior to the AGM containing a list of nominees.  Members who did not plan to attend the AGM were asked to mail in their proxy indicating how they would like to vote.  Unfortunately this method was unfair to those members who were nominated from the floor at the AGM as they did not have the benefit of those proxy votes.  So that all nominees have an equal opportunity to be voted on to the Board we are asking that members who do not plan on attending the AGM designate on their proxy another member who plans on attending the AGM to vote on their behalf.  A list of nominees will be posted on the website shortly. If you do not know a member who is attending you can designate the Secretary to vote for you.

Please don't hesitate to contact Carol Ludlow if you have any questions.

You can find the PROXY form here: PROXY FORM


PLEASE send in your proxy form as soon as possible if you might not be attending the Conference.

 

ELKINS UPDATE #3

[NOTE: This article is the third in a series of articles about proposed legislation and court rules resulting from the Elkins Task Force study. Judge Mark Juhas, the Keynote Speaker at the October 14-16 CALDA Conference, will be discussing the implementation of these changes.]

 

Get ready for change! On January 1, 2012, the following will occur:

 

Family Code section 3042(h) states: "the Judicial Council shall, no later than January 1, 2012, promulgate a rule of court establishing procedures for the examination of a child witness, and include guidelines on methods other than direct testimony for obtaining information or other input form the child regarding custody or visitation."

 

You will want to obtain a copy of this rule as soon as it becomes available, and hand a copy to any clients with custody issues. Check your local court rules as well on January 1, 2012, for further changes in these same areas. Empower people with as much knowledge as possible going into this process.

 

FYI!!! From FCS to CCRC - Family Code section 3183 - This section outlines rules for mediators, and as of January 1, 2012, once the mediator makes a recommendation, the process shall be entitled "child custody recommending counseling" and, the mediator shall be referred to as a "child custody recommending counselor."

 

It's a mouth full, I'm sure there's a good reason in there somewhere for this change in terminology, a good question for Judge Juhas!

 

California Rules of Court, rule 5.83 will be adopted, effective January 1, 2012 and will be known as the Family Centered Case Resolution. "This rule establishes processes and procedures for courts to manage cases from initial filing to final disposition." This will include court review of all Family law cases within 180 days from the date of initial filing, and every 180 days thereafter. This rule is full of provisions that help guide the self-represented through both simple and more complex case management. You will want to familiarize yourself with these very substantial changes and keep your eyes out for major local rule changes as well. Of course this new rule will include new judicial council forms, specifically FL-172 (Case Information - Family Law) and FL-174 (Family Centered Case Resolution Order.)

 

Given the amount of work this system will require of the courts, I am most anxious to see if the courts might now consider plastering the CALDA poster all over the place! Additional new language includes the following: "Nothing in this rule prohibits an employee of the court from reviewing the file and notifying the parties of any deficiencies in their paperwork..." Wow!

 

I can't say it enough: You won't want to miss this conference! The Elkins material I am drawing from will be included in your class materials.

 

Connie Crockett, LDA

CALDA Conference Chair


Conference Registration, Agenda and Biographies
REGISTRATION
Click here to go straight to the Conference registration page:
http://www.calda.org/Conference/Conference.asp

Click here for the 2011 Conference Brochure!

AGENDA
The Conference Agenda is posted to the CALDA Website!  This year's convention presenters will include attorneys, two judicial officers, and of course, your fellow LDAs. 

Class subjects will include:

Unlawful Detainers
Estate Planning
Tips on Essential Forms
Guardianships
Incorporations
Social Security Advocacy
Bankruptcy
Dissomaster
Beginning Family Law
Mediation
Deeds
Family Law Ex Parte Orders
Probate
Avoiding UPL

And of course, our Keynote Speaker will be Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, Mark Juhas.

Just go to http://www.calda.org/Conference/materials/CALDA_2011_Agenda.pdf to check out the complete agenda.

BIOGRAPHIES
Conference Bios are available at http://www.calda.org/Conference/materials/CALDA_2011_Conference_Bios.pdf.

This year's Conference is sponsored by Essential Forms, Pennbrook Insurance, and Legal Secretaries, Inc.  Click one of their links to the left to learn more about them!