The Bar Association of San Francisco Paralegal Section Executive Committee (“ExComm”) held its first in-person Paralegal Conference since 2019 on Friday, October 18, at BASF’s brand-new offices. The conference was a resounding success!
The day-long event brought paralegals and legal support staff from various practices together to learn about new trends in legal, develop valuable trial preparation skills, and partake in networking opportunities.
Judge Elaine M. Hammond, United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California, opened the session with a fascinating keynote speech on AI.
The morning session that followed featured a panel of court reporters and a paralegal – Mary Pierce, CSR (Pantera Court Reporters); Jeff Cobb (Cobb and Co.); Stefani Dawkins (Paralegal and Adjunct Professor, West Valley College); and Stephanie Leslie, CSR, CCRR (Regal Court Reporting) – who spoke on the importance of protecting the record and the future of court reporting. This session also included a live demo of court reporting technology, which was highly educational.
After lunch, the conference afternoon sessions broke out into two branches of two sessions each: one track focused on civil trial prep (one session was spearheaded by Mary McCullum, BSN, RN, and the other by Santa Clara County Deputy Public Defenders Avanindar Singh and Daniel Portman) and the other on family law trial prep, discovery, and how to work collaboratively with attorneys (both dynamic sessions presented by Robert Rathmell of Hersh FamilyLaw Practice, P.C., and Karin Buckley of Van Voorhis and Sosna, LLP).
Due to the generous support of conference sponsors One Legal, Pacific Office Automation, GSL Data, Magna Legal Services, and Express Network, the conference was free to attendees and provided for a catered lunch for all and a post-conference happy hour at Barcha.
The conference could not have taken place without the generous support and guidance of many amazing people at BASF, specifically Raquel Cabading, Natasha Kiri, and Justin Bauer. The ExComm is appreciative of their help in putting the conference together.
The next Paralegal conference will not take place until 2026, but the ExComm is always hard at work. Whether it is an educational session, a holiday party, or a series of workshops, the ExComm is constantly planning something to benefit the legal support community at large.
If you or someone you know is interested in joining the ExComm, please contact any of the Board Members listed on the Paralegal Section leadership page.
Javier Morelos is the Firm Administrator at Hersh FamilyLaw Practice, P.C (“HFLP”). Javier has worked in the legal field for over 20 years in various capacities. Javier holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Chicana/o Studies from California State University, Northridge and a Paralegal Certificate from San Francisco State University.