The Paralegal American Association for Paralegal Education Volume 28, No. 2 WINTER 2013 The Future of Paralegal Programs in Turbulent Times: Weathering the Legal Academy’s Perfect Storm See article on page 21 AAFPE 33RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE Las Vegas/Summerlin See you in Las Vegas/ Summerlin, Nevada! The Paralegal American Association for Paralegal Education The Paralegal Educator is published two times a year by the American Association for Paralegal Education, OF CONTENTS 19 Mantua Road, Mt. Royal, New Jersey 08061. table (856) 423-2829 Fax: (856) 423-3420 E-mail: [email protected] PUBLICATION DATES: Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter Service Learning and Retention in the First Year 5 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $50 per year; each AAfPE member receives one subscription as part of the membership benefit; additional member subscriptions The Annual Speed Mock Interview Meeting 9 available at the rate of $30 per year. ADVERTISING RATES: (856) 423-2829 The Perils of Unpaid Internships 12 EDITORIAL STAFF: Carolyn Bekhor, JD - Editor-in-Chief Julia Dunlap, Esq. - Chair, Publications Jennifer Gornicki, Esq. - Assistant Editor The Case for Paralegal Clubs 16 Nina Neal, Esq. - Assistant Editor Gene Terry, CAE - Executive Director Writing in Academia 19 PUBLISHER: American Association for Paralegal Education Articles and letters to the editor should be submitted to The Future of Paralegal Programs in Turbulent times: the Chair of the Publications Committee. Weathering the Legal Academy’s Perfect Storm 21 DEADLINES: January 31 and May 31. Articles may be on any paralegal education topic but, on occasion, a Paralegal Educator issue has a central Digital Badges: An Innovative Way to Recognizing Achievements 27 theme or motif, so submissions may be published in any issue at the discretion of the Editor and the Publications Committee. (A submission may be rejected as well at Observation of Court Proceedings Critical to Student’s the discretion of the Editor and/or Committee.) Understanding of Litigation Processes 30 Articles may be of any length although, generally, submissions should not exceed 1,000 words. The article should be submitted with an appropriate title, the ABA Update 33 author’s biography (3-5 sentences) at the end of the article, and with a recent photo (.jpg at 300 dpi only). Articles should be submitted in Microsoft Word®. It is preferred that articles be double-spaced, 12-point The Battle with Latex: One Law Student’s Brave Journey 34 Times New Roman, and follow the conventions of good English. Please spell and grammar-check articles before submission. Additional editorial guidelines can be found Omniscient Mentor 36 at the AAfPE website (www.aafpe.org). Publication and editing of submissions are within the purview of the Editors, President, and Executive LEX Scholarship Essays 44 Director. The opinions expressed in The Paralegal Educator are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of AAfPE. Paramour Favoritism in the Workplace 57 Articles may be reprinted with the permission of AAfPE. To secure permission to reprint articles, please contact the Executive Director. AAfPE Bytes 61 THE PARALEGAL EDUCATOR WINTER 2013 3 IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER 2014 January 31 March 13-15 Article submission deadline – Northeast Regional Conference The Paralegal Educator Boston, MA January 31 – February 1 February 28 March 27-29 Board of Directors Meeting Essay submission deadline – South Central / Las Vegas, NV LEX Scholarship Southeast Regional Conference April 3-5 Pacific Regional Conference June 6-7 Seattle, WA Board of Directors Meeting Atlanta, GA April 10-12 May 31 North Central Regional Article submission deadline – Conference The Paralegal Educator July August September Calendar AAfPE November 4-5, 8 Board of Directors Meeting Summerlin, NV November 5-8 33rd Annual Conference Summerlin, NV AAfPE 4 WINTER 2013 THE PARALEGAL EDUCATOR BY JEANNETTE ESPINOZA - New York City College of Technology Service-Learning And Retention in The First Year As a first generation American and the first in my family to attend college, the idea of post secondary education brought forth many responsibilities and anxieties. Once I decided to attend college I felt obligated to finish. No one in my family had even finished high school, so graduating from high school, in and of itself, was an accomplishment. After deciding to continue my education, my family provided moral support but very little educational guidance. In college I had very little guidance with respect to course or major selection. My grades indicated that I had proficiency in the Humanities or Liberal Arts. However, by junior year I needed to declare a major and reality set in. I was near the end of my college education and had two choices: either pursue a graduate degree or seek full time employment. I had approached my college education as a true learning experience. I took courses that interested me, and I had varied interests- Psychology, Sociology, Women’s Studies, Literature, Law, and Political Science. Fortunately my university had a social science interdisciplinary major. THE PARALEGAL EDUCATOR WINTER 2013 5 Since I had no guidance in choosing a field of study that internship course, students are only eligible to take the would lead to a career path, I decided to apply to graduate course later in the curriculum. The clinic will afford students school. Since my major was interdisciplinary the graduate an earlier opportunity to gain practical experience while or professional school most appropriate for my helping the community. baccalaureate degree was law school. So I prepared myself to take the entrance examination and applied to law school. RETENTION and SERVICE-LEARNING Thankfully I was accepted. Service-learning2 proposes to integrate academic study The first year of law school was brutal and a and the benefits of community service which in turn promotes retention, “Service-learning should be thought rude awakening. I survived by utilizing my sheer of as a process that creates greater student engagement, stubbornness and refusal to fail, but was very which in turn results in the product of student retention.”3 disillusioned. I felt alienated from the rest of my Retention of students is of particular concern for law school classmates, moreover I felt that I did educational institutions in keeping students on track for graduation. The foremost scholar in retention theory, not have comparable skills and contemplated Vincent Tinto, puts forth reasons why students withdraw not returning. However, I succumbed to familial from college. Succinctly stated, Tinto’s theorizes that pressures to succeed, so I returned. In my second the absence of communities in the academic and social year of study, I was fortunate to choose from integration to college environment is a key reason for departure. Scholarly research has been extensive using an array of internships offered on campus. The Tinto’s sociological theories in further exploring college internships afforded me the opportunity to apply departure, “students who fail to adapt to their new my legal studies skills. I was helping people in the situation, academically or socially feel disconnected from the college and thus leave early.”4 community by applying my knowledge and most importantly I discovered that I actually liked the In a review of literature, Simonet expounds upon law because of its real world application. If it were academic integration, as students’ perception of their academic competency and connection to the academic not for the internships I most likely would have institution resulting in confidence to continue their discontinued my studies. studies. Service-learning seeks to integrate students into the college environment in order to engage them with My law school experience as a student motivates me as a their studies. Simonet puts forth certain outcomes of professor in an undergraduate legal studies program. I teach service-learning: Purpose- students formulate a deeper using real case applications, in an effort to breathe life into more critical understanding of the material; Relevance- the curriculum. I learned from my law school experience the material becomes more relevant in application to that becoming an active participant in my education was key the real world; Meaning- students’ college experience to understanding the curriculum and viewing the material becomes more personally significant; Belonging- students as relevant and interesting. Engagement in my studies was develop on -going relationships within and outside of their a motivational factor in completing my education. academic institution; and Results- students become more In teaching mostly first year courses I have noticed that academically and socially integrated and this improves 3 student attrition rates were high for first semester students. likelihood of retention. The first semester is crucial in most programs of study, in Service-learning has been extensively researched in attaining valuable knowledge to continue in the program. the academic community as to how it impacts student Acknowledging that freshman students in my course may development and how it relates to retention. The National also have similar feelings of alienation, inferiority and Center for Education Statistics recently reported that the disengagement from material that is foreign to them, I average six year graduation rate for all bachelor degree 5 decided to apply for a grant1 to start an on campus law granting institutions is 57%. Of special concern is engaging assistance clinic