AAfPE 36th National Conference Recap
By Tonya Wade, Executive Director
The American Association for Paralegal
Education’s (AAfPE) 36th National
Conference, held October 18-21, 2017, at
the Sheraton Uptown in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, was a time of enchantment in the
Land of Enchantment! Almost 200 people
attended the conference — 96 percent of
whom rated the conference as meeting or
exceeding their expectations.
The optimal place for benchmarking
with other institutions and learning new
and improved ways to assess program
effectiveness, the conference was preceded
by a workshop on “The Digitally Literate
Attorney.” Tim Thames, legal technology
manager at Richard A. Harpootlian Law Firm
and adjunct faculty at Midlands Technical
College, and attorney Bill McSorley,
program director at Midlands Technical
College and AAfPE southeast regional
director, partnered to share best practices in
teaching e-discovery to students, developing
curriculum on e-discovery that incorporates
the ethical requirements for technology
competency, and locating local e-discovery
vendors who can appear as guest speakers,
among other topics. Not only did the
workshop receive high praise for its content
and presenters, but it was also approved for
CLE credits in several states.
Formal educational sessions kicked off
on Thursday, October 19. Conference chairs
Ethel Badawi (The George Washington
University) and Tiffany Johnson (University
of Memphis), along with the conference
committee, assembled a program that
recognized the changes to both the education
of paralegal and legal studies students
and the increasingly digitally-driven legal
profession itself. More than 25 educational
sessions were presented by paralegal and
legal studies educators as well as thought
leaders in the field and beyond, all of whom
incorporated research and assessment
findings into innovative ideas related to
both curriculum and instructional method.
Session topics ran the gamut from program
management to pedagogy and instructional
design, to soft skills and student employment,
but the focus was on technology,
culminating in Saturday’s hands-on tech
labs that included: “Meeting the Technology
Requirements of the Legal Profession,” “The
Next Generation of Word Processing: Google
Docs,” “The Power of PowerPoint,” and
“Unleashing Your Social Media Guru with
HootSuite.”
The conference also afforded attendees
the opportunity to go more in-depth into
the exchange of information and ideas by
connecting with other faculty and program
directors, both inside and outside of the
educational sessions. A revamped AAfPE 101
session provided a foundation for engagement
via a fun “Family Feud”-style format.
The opening evening reception on
Wednesday, October 18, was the first of
several opportunities to network in a social
setting. The next day’s networking luncheon
included a keynote address by the Honorable
Nan G. Nash, chief judge of New Mexico’s
Second Judicial District Court. Judge Nash is
active in the alternative dispute resolution
community, teaching ADR-related courses
66 QQ44 -- 22001177 wwwwww..PPaarraalleeggaallTTooddaayy..ccoomm
as an adjunct professor at the University of
New Mexico School of Law for over 20 years.
She also serves as chair of the Supreme Court
Access to Justice Commission and recently
completed an eight-year term on the New
Mexico Judicial Standards Commission.
“The Albuquerque Experience: Eats, Elixirs,
and Entertainment,” held on October 19,
featured a complimentary taco bar and ice
cream station, as well as a cash bar with live
entertainment in the form of salsa dancing
lessons. The next night, attendees had the
opportunity to explore the interesting and
colorful Anderson-Abruzzo International
Balloon Museum while enjoying food
and drinks with friends and colleagues.
Although windy weather scrapped a planned
balloon glow, attendees were still able to
take advantage of a one-of-a-kind photo
opportunity.
The inaugural Teaching Competition 2.0
also made its debut this year. Nicknamed
“Educator’s Choice,” the competition merged
AAfPE’s traditional and “Cyber Idol” (i.e.,
online) competitions, since even traditional
courses rarely do not have some kind of online
presence in today’s teaching environment.
Each competitor was allowed to present in any
style he or she chose to highlight a successful
teaching method and potentially win money
in the process! This year’s sponsor, Cengage
Learning, generously upped the purse to $750.
The winner of the $500 first prize was Ellen
Boegel (St. John’s University), with the $250
second prize going to Cynthia Traina Donnes
(Tulane University).
Cengage was one of several vendors
Attendees at AAfPE’s 2017 Conference
AAfPE 2017-2018
Board of Directors
supporting the conference. Other vendors
exhibiting included Carolina Academic
Press, Clio, LexisNexis, the National Society
of Legal Technology, Thomson Reuters and
Wolters Kluwer. NALA – The Paralegal
Association and the National Federation of
Paralegal Associations also exhibited at the
conference.
The AAfPE National Conference is the
only national educational event dedicated
specifically to paralegal and legal studies
educators, and, as such, represents the
best opportunity to satisfy the professional
development required by the ABA
Guidelines for Approval of Paralegal
Programs. Mark your calendars now to
attend next year’s conference October 31–
November. 3, 2018, at Gurney’s Newport
Resort & Marina in Newport, Rhode Island.
Information about this event, membership
in AAfPE, and more, can be found online at
www.aafpe.org.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ROUND-UP
/www.aafpe.org