The Paralegal Division will hold director elections for even number districts from March 28 through April 14, 2014.  The Director who is elected by the District Active members will serve as a director from June 27, 2014 – May 31, 2016.  This is a two-year term for District Director.  Attached is a document that describes the duties of a district director of the Paralegal Division.  If you are interested in running for a director of the Paralegal Division, please see information below.

Beginning on February 7, 2014 each Elections Subcommittee Chair shall prepare and forward, upon request, the following materials to potential candidates for director in their respective district at any time during the nominating period:

a.                   A copy of the List of Registered Voters for their district;

b.                  A sample nominating petition; and

c.                   A copy of Rule VI of the Standing Rules entitled “Guidelines for Campaigns for  Candidates as Director.”

Each potential candidate must satisfy the following requirements:

a.  Eligibility Requirements. The candidate must satisfy the eligibility requirements of Article III, Section 3 and Article IX, Section 1 A and Section 4 of the Bylaws and Rule V B, Section 5c of the Standing Rules.

b. Declaration of Intent. The candidate must make a declaration of intent to run as a candidate for the office of director through an original nominating petition declaring such intent that is filed with the Elections Subcommittee Chair in the candidate’s district pursuant to Rule V B, Section 5 of the Standing Rules.

c.  Nominating Petition. The original nominating petition must be signed by the appropriate number of registered voters and must be submitted to the Elections Subcommittee Chair in such district, on or before February 27, 2014.

If you are interested in running for District Director, or need further information regarding the election process, contact the Elections Committee Sub-Chair in your District, or the Elections Chair, Shandi Farkas, at Elections@txpd.org.

Serving as a District Director is a rewarding way to give back to your profession and the Division, as well as a wonderful way to develop a network of paralegals from all over Texas.  However, it is also an important responsibility and should be undertaken with a full understanding of the duties required set out below.

2013-2014 District Election Committee Sub-Chairs in Even-Numbered Districts:

District 2:  Meyon Lawson, CP – meyon.lawson@hanson.biz

District 4: Jennifer Fielder Meiners – jmeiners@riewelaw.com

District 6: Michael Akins – makins@pbfcm.com

District 8: Norma Hackler – pd@txpd.org

District 10: Angie Laird, ACP – alaird@obt.com

District 12: Sunnie Palmer – sunnie@zellmerlaw.com

District 14: Javan Johnson, ACP, TBLS-BCP – jj@texasparalegal.us

District 16: Mary LaRue, CP – alarue@elp.com

DUTIES OF PARALEGAL DIVISION DISTRICT DIRECTORS

Overview

Ideally, anyone considering running for District Director should discuss the commitment and involvement necessary for the position with his/her supervising attorney and/or HR director.  Your attorney needs to understand your commitment and support your involvement.  Although absences for work-related matters such as trials are considered excused absences when the PD President is notified in advance, you should make every effort to attend board meetings.  You should give your attorney the board meeting schedule when you receive it and plan with your attorney how your workload will be handled during the four workdays per year you will need to attend PD board meetings.

Directors should at all times maintain the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and self-discipline.

Specific Responsibilities

• Attend three board meetings per year:

June (in conjunction with State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting)

Fall

Winter

There are expense reimbursement guidelines set up for reimbursement of expenses incurred in attending the board meetings.  If those guidelines are correctly followed, then all of your expenses incurred for travel, meals, etc. will be reimbursed, if they are timely turned in to the Treasurer.  There are also expense reimbursement guidelines for other expenses such as copies, postage, etc.

Directors who are unable to attend a particular board meeting and who cancel after the deadline by which the PD Coordinator must guarantee hotel rooms and meals will be responsible for reimbursing the Division for those costs if charged by the meeting facility.  Directors who do not attend a board meeting are also not eligible for reimbursement of previously purchased airline tickets.

All directors will receive a board packet approximately a week prior to the meeting.  It is the responsibility of each director to READ the packet PRIOR to the board meeting and to be prepared to discuss and make decisions.  You should organize your packet into a notebook or on a laptop computer before the meeting.  As a director you have a fiduciary responsibility to the membership and are responsible to the membership for fiduciary decisions made by the Board.

• Prepare written reports prior to board meeting by the deadline set by the PD Coordinator.  Directors are responsible for submitting all applicable reports, including a director report, ad hoc committee report, liaison report, if you are a board advisor, ensuring your committee chair submits a report, and any other reports requested by the president regarding district activities.

• Serve as Board Advisor to a committee, if requested by the president.  Board advisors are responsible for communicating that committee’s charges and board actions related to that committee to the committee chair, working with the committee chair, presenting the committee chair’s report at board meetings when the chair is not present, and preparing motions related to that committee in advance of the board meeting.

• Serve on ad hoc committees as appointed by the President.  Such appointments require the director to work with other committee members and to prepare a report to the Board.

• Serve as a liaison to another organization as appointed by the President.  Liaisons facilitate communication between Division and the organization to which they are assigned, encourage joint projects of mutual benefit as appropriate, and submit reports to the Board.

• Be familiar with the Bylaws, Standing Rules, and Procedures Manual and should bring the current Procedures Manual with them to each board meeting.

• Responsible for appointing committee subchairs in your district, i.e., membership, public relations, continuing education, etc., and communicating regularly with their subcommittee chairs.  Directors should work with their subcommittee chairs to ensure they are working on the charges for their respective committees and brainstorm on better ways to serve our members.    Directors are responsible for the duties of any vacant subcommittee chairs in their Districts.

• Provide a minimum of three hours of CLE per year in your district.  Directors work with their district CEC subcommittee chairs to provide this valuable member benefit.  The CLE may be one event or several events and it is preferable that this CLE not be in conjunction with a local association.

• Maintaining the director’s file which should contain all correspondence, reports, etc. for the two previous fiscal years; current Procedures Manual; anything else required by the President.

• Respond timely to requests for responses and votes.  Because there are only three Board meetings per year, occasionally votes and other business must be conducted via email.

• Follow expense reimbursement guidelines as outlined on the back of the Expense Reimbursement Form.

• Copy the president, president-elect, and PD Coordinator on all Division correspondence, including emails.

• Be responsive to their members and be able to answer questions.  If a Director is unable to answer a particular question, the Director should email the President, President-Elect, PD Coordinator, or other appropriate person requesting an answer, then the Director should respond to the person making the inquiry with the answer.