The Philadelphia Association of Paralegals' (PAP) annual education conference was held on Friday, Sept. 29, at The Pennsylvania Bar Institute with a luncheon at The Crystal Tea Room, both located in The Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia.

This year's conference theme was “Paralegals Soar to Great Heights.” This all-day event is PAP's largest event which is organized by its education committee. The education committee is comprised of PAP committee chairpersons in various areas of the legal field. The purpose of the event is to provide PAP's members and paralegals throughout the region an opportunity to network while taking advantage of the continuing legal education sessions offered. PAP's goal is to provide the attendees with a vast array of topics to choose from in order to keep them abreast of the changes that affect their practice in the respective areas of law in which they work.

We always have a variety of speakers and this year was no different. Topics included Cyberexposures in health care, the epidemic of distracted driving, expulsion/special education law and social media and the law to name a few.

There were quite a few new and exciting topics this year. For example, there was “Current Trends in Real Estate,” presented by Christopher Preate, who discussed recent changes to Pennsylvania Mechanic's Lien Law, Pennsylvania powers of attorney and the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA).

Our keynote speaker was Holly C. Frey, who serves as a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. As a staff attorney, she conducts research and drafts memoranda, per curiam opinions, and orders for the court in the areas of habeas corpus, mandamus, immigration, civil rights and constitutional law, appellate jurisdiction, and federal civil and criminal procedure. In light of this year's theme, she spoke about her experience in changing her career to become a paralegal and later attending law school to become an attorney.

We were fortunate enough to receive several donations from legal services vendors and business establishments in the region, which allowed us to have several giveaways for our attendees, including a free PAP membership, paralegal credentialing exam scholarship and a free continuing legal education session.

I would like to thank Lyndora Patterson Tiller, chair of our education committee and the members of our education committee, especially Theresa Alexander, Christine Flynn, Vivian Luckiewicz, Tamika Way, Andrea Yannuzzi and Mary Lou O'Connell. Thanks for being my parachute while I'm so busy soaring!

Harry A. Reichner, president of the Philadelphia Association of Paralegals (PAP), is a paralegal at Cozen O'Connor, where he focuses on real estate, finance, corporate and transactional matters for clients ranging from individuals to start-up businesses, privately held companies and publicly traded, multi-national corporations. 

The Philadelphia Association of Paralegals' (PAP) annual education conference was held on Friday, Sept. 29, at The Pennsylvania Bar Institute with a luncheon at The Crystal Tea Room, both located in The Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia.

This year's conference theme was “Paralegals Soar to Great Heights.” This all-day event is PAP's largest event which is organized by its education committee. The education committee is comprised of PAP committee chairpersons in various areas of the legal field. The purpose of the event is to provide PAP's members and paralegals throughout the region an opportunity to network while taking advantage of the continuing legal education sessions offered. PAP's goal is to provide the attendees with a vast array of topics to choose from in order to keep them abreast of the changes that affect their practice in the respective areas of law in which they work.

We always have a variety of speakers and this year was no different. Topics included Cyberexposures in health care, the epidemic of distracted driving, expulsion/special education law and social media and the law to name a few.

There were quite a few new and exciting topics this year. For example, there was “Current Trends in Real Estate,” presented by Christopher Preate, who discussed recent changes to Pennsylvania Mechanic's Lien Law, Pennsylvania powers of attorney and the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA).

Our keynote speaker was Holly C. Frey, who serves as a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. As a staff attorney, she conducts research and drafts memoranda, per curiam opinions, and orders for the court in the areas of habeas corpus, mandamus, immigration, civil rights and constitutional law, appellate jurisdiction, and federal civil and criminal procedure. In light of this year's theme, she spoke about her experience in changing her career to become a paralegal and later attending law school to become an attorney.

We were fortunate enough to receive several donations from legal services vendors and business establishments in the region, which allowed us to have several giveaways for our attendees, including a free PAP membership, paralegal credentialing exam scholarship and a free continuing legal education session.

I would like to thank Lyndora Patterson Tiller, chair of our education committee and the members of our education committee, especially Theresa Alexander, Christine Flynn, Vivian Luckiewicz, Tamika Way, Andrea Yannuzzi and Mary Lou O'Connell. Thanks for being my parachute while I'm so busy soaring!

Harry A. Reichner, president of the Philadelphia Association of Paralegals (PAP), is a paralegal at Cozen O'Connor, where he focuses on real estate, finance, corporate and transactional matters for clients ranging from individuals to start-up businesses, privately held companies and publicly traded, multi-national corporations.