Statewide Paralegal Summit to Be Held on Penn College Campus

Two alumni of Pennsylvania College of Technology's American Bar Association-approved legal assistant/paralegal studies major are at the forefront of a statewide roundtable to be held Sept. 13 on the college's main campus in Williamsport.

Among the organizers of "The 2008 Pennsylvania Summit on the Paralegal Profession," to be held in the Thompson Professional Development Center, are Rebecca J. Buttorff, who received her associate degree in 1996 and is a practicing paralegal with a Williamsport law firm, and George R. Roles, who graduated from the baccalaureate program in 2004 and now attends law school.

Buttorff, a Registered Paralegal through the National Federation of Paralegal Associations Inc. since passing the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam in 2000, also chairs the statewide alliance and is president of the Lycoming County Paralegal Association.

"The Pennsylvania Summit on the Paralegal Profession gathers a wide range of legal professionals, including representatives from the national paralegal associations, attorneys and paralegal educators from across the state, to discuss key issues in the paralegal profession," said Kevin R. Derr, professor and department head for legal assistant/paralegal studies in the college's School of Business and Computer Technologies. "The sponsoring Keystone Alliance of Paralegal Associations has been a moving force in organizing and advancing the profession throughout Pennsylvania and has done an exemplary job promoting the summit. Pennsylvania College of Technology is proud to be the host site for this important event."

Among the day's discussion topics will be the alliance's certification credential for paralegals in Pennsylvania, a program that aims to establish a uniform standard of professionalism in the field and provide attorneys and the public with a means of identifying qualified practitioners. The voluntary credentialing program, in the works for about a year, takes effect Oct. 1.

Moderating the roundtable discussion which also will address such issues as technology, mentoring and paralegal education will be Kathleen Smith, coordinator of the paralegal studies program at the Community College of Philadelphia.

Roles said invitations were sent to every bar association in the commonwealth's 67 counties, as well as to a variety of paralegal organizations in Pennsylvania and surrounding states and higher-education institutions with paralegal programs. Fifty to 80 people are expected to attend.

The Keystone Alliance of Paralegal Associationscomprises eight member groups that represent more than 1,400 diverse paralegals throughout Pennsylvania.

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