Paralegal Perspectives: PAR’s new president begins her term, lays out goals

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My name is Dina Beaudette and I am the 2015/2016 president of the Paralegal Association of Rochester Inc. I have been on the board of PAR for five years – starting out as a director-at-large for a year and a half and then becoming vice president of employment/website, as well as, a co-chair of membership.

I am a paralegal at Merzbach Law Office P.C., where I have been a part of the team for over eight years, concentrating in general corporate and business matters, mergers and acquisitions, commercial and residential real estate, financing transactions and securities. I have two adult children and when I am not working or volunteering my time with PAR, I like to spend time with family and friends, walk trails at Mendon Ponds Park and play volleyball at Hot Shots.

My goals for the upcoming year are to have PAR offer more seminars to our members; update our board job descriptions; scan PAR’s old files to become paperless; and to be more communicative with our members.

I have to say that I did not realize how much work the board of PAR performs until I became a part of it. Every month the board members meet to take care of corporate governance matters (approve the previous month’s minutes and treasurer’s reports, motions, etc.), as well as brainstorm about fundraising ideas, seminar topics, and upcoming events. A lot of time is devoted by the board members when preparing for events.

Until I became part of the board, I also did not realize how much support we receive from our sponsors (Stewart Title, WebTitle, D4, Counsel Press, Avalon, First American, Broom Clean Estate Services, Legal Med, AppealTech, Genesee Regional Bank, Batavia Legal Printing and Employee Relations Associates). They are always willing to provide such items as lunch at a seminar, dessert at one of our events, sponsoring a table at Casino Night, donating gifts to our Kick-Off Dinner and Auction, or giving to our holiday charity. On behalf of PAR, I thank all of them!

Speaking of events and seminars, our 11th Annual Kick-Off Dinner and Auction will be taking place on Sept. 16, at Benucci’s Italian Ristorante in Greece starting at 5 p.m. This is our biggest fundraiser and a lot of fun. We have a few items in hand already that have been donated by various businesses around the Rochester area (thank you!). If anyone is interested in donating to this special event, please contact Debbi King at [email protected].

We are also working on a few seminars: 1) a possible CLE day in collaboration with the Western New York Paralegal Association, 2) the RP-5217 – Equalization form (do’s and don’ts) and the recording of real estate documents in the Monroe County Clerk’s Office and surrounding counties, 3) Real Estate:  New Closing Disclosures (TRID) and 4) the Legal Profession – Where We Are and Where We Are Headed.

If anyone has a seminar topic and is interested in speaking during a lunch or breakfast hour, please contact Patty Sexstone at [email protected].

PAR’s Primary Delegate, Debbi King, and Secondary Delegate, Deb Mabry, of the Empire State Alliance of Paralegal Associations Inc. and National Federation of Paralegal Associations Inc. will be traveling to Lake George for the upcoming ESAPA Fall Meeting with the other New York State delegates on Sept. 18, to discuss the 2016 ESAPA Convention. They will then be traveling to Hawaii on Oct. 8, for the NFPA 2015 Annual Convention and Policy Meeting. A report on those meetings will follow in a future article.

PAR’s Specialty Section Committees will be starting again in the fall and meeting quarterly. The Trust and Estates section will now be chaired by Jane Gorski. Members may email Jane at [email protected] with any questions or topic suggestions. We are pleased to announce that our Litigation section will begin again and will be chaired by Dorine Gartley. She can be reached at [email protected] with any questions or topic suggestions.

I look forward to working with this board, many of whom I have worked with for years, and I encourage the members of PAR to contact me if you have suggestions for seminars, questions or want to get involved.

Dina Beaudette is a paralegal and the president of PAR, and can be reached at [email protected]. Find out more at PAR’s website: www.rochesterparalegal.org.