Texas ALP held its Annual Meeting and Educational Conference May 17—20, 2007, in Arlington, Texas. The following members attended: Marty S. Olson, Director, Laurie Brantley, Deidra Daniels, David DeFranco, Kip Hall, Sondra Heugatter, Linda Hill, Cindy Hillman, Elvester Green, Myra Miles, Pat and Larry Phelps, Linda M. Shaw, and Helene Wood.

Friday morning a Welcome Breakfast sponsored by Texas Legal Directories found your director and other TALP members downstairs for breakfast at 7 a.m.

The CLE seminars were as follows: Ethics presented by Roland Johnson, Esq.; White Collar Crime/Skip Tracing presented by Ralph Freeman; Oil & Gas Law presented by Tim Malone, Esq.; Effective Electronic Discovery presented by Barry Bray; Notary Laws presented by Bob West, Esq.; SEC Litigation presented by Michael Quilling, Esq.; and a fun hour of Jeopardy with a Texas Twist.

Certification Luncheon: Most of the people taking the “walk” were our own HALP members. HALP members who received their PLS certification during the 2006—2007 year were: Elvester Green, Linda Hill, and Cindy Hillman. HALP Members who received their TSC Certification during the 2006-2007 year were: Elvester Green, Linda M. Shaw, and Helene L. Wood. HALP won four awards for its certification programs. We were disqualified for winning any of the PLS awards for three years due to our winning the Clara Lagow Mentor Award last year (we would have won the award for greatest number of PLSs [keep up the good work, Chris]). The following Clara Lagow Awards were given:

PLS
Percentage: San Antonio
Number (3): San Antonio

PP
Percentage: NALS of Amarillo
Number (3): Houston ALP

ALS
Percentage: Houston ALP
Number (11) Houston ALP

TSC
Percentage Arlington
Number (3): Houston ALP

Did you know that there are only nine TSC–REs in Texas and five of them are from Houston?!

The speaker at the Certification Luncheon was the Honorable Bonnie Sudderth. Judge Sudderth gave the following court tips:

   • Visit courts that you deal with (put a face to the name)
   • Remind lawyers to be nice to court personnel
   • Your emergency is not the Judge’s emergency
   • Be careful what you say (Is there anything that we can do?)
   • Never lie: painful truth is better than a convenient lie

She also gave the following unsolicited Life Advice:
   • Keep balance in life: we regret what we didn’t do
   • Laugh at Life

Annual Meeting

The three Legal Professional of the Year Finalists were introduced, with one of them being our own David DeFranco, PLS; Jorie Licking, PP, PLS, of El Paso County LSA; and Leslie G. Stokes, PP, PLS, TSC, of Fort Worth ALP.

We had 21 total voting members in attendance.

The following Standing Rule Amendments passed:

1. Bylaws/Standing Rules Chairman Rule No. 15 D: will now have 30 days after a meeting in which new Standing Rules/Bylaws were passed to prepare a copy of all cumulative amendments or revisions.

2. Clarification of Credentials Chairman Rule No. 17 B regarding ballots for annual meeting;

3. Strategic Planning Rule No. 27 C clarifies that the chair of this committee must have previously served on this committee;

4. Strategic Planning Rule No. 27 D reduces the terms of the committee members in order to encourage more participation on this committee.

5. Strategic Planning Rule No. 27 E (New) puts in writing, by flow chart, the structure of this committee.

6. Scholarship Award Rule No. 35 C (1) clarifies that it is the Texas ALP Scholarship application that must be completed and signed by applicant and sponsoring chapter.

Standing Rule Amendment Number Seven dealing with proportionate fees at TALP meetings was referred to the Governance Task Force.

Kerri McLen, Nominations/Elections chairman reported that 36% of the membership ballots were returned for TALP’s first election by the entire membership. In contrast, NALS only receives 10% —14% back in its entire membership elections.

The Saturday Night President’s Banquet’s theme was “Share the Light of Texas ALP.” Our new Texas ALP President collects lighthouses, so as a lighthouse guides vessels on the water, may Texas ALP be the light for people in our field.

HALP members were hoping that this year’s LPY would be our own David DeFranco, but that was not meant to be. Leslie G. Stokes was named this year’s Legal Professional of the Year.

Since Barbara Suschy would be joining the Past Presidents of Texas ALP, “Coach” Beth Walker introduced the Texas ALP Past Presidents in attendance as part of a ladies’ basketball team. (For those of you who do not know, Barbara is a diehard fan of the Texas Tech Lady Raiders basketball team.) Each president was called by number and a tidbit about the particular “player.” This idea was the brainstorm of Past President Faynell Poe.

Donna Dendy was the installing officer for the installation of the 2007—2008 officers, which are as follows:

President: Cheryl Moseley, PLS, CP, TSC
President-Elect: Leslie G. Stokes, PP, PLS, TSC
Vice President Mary D. Smith, PP. PLS
Recording Secretary: Elizabeth G. Wells, PP, PLS, TSC
Treasurer: Judy Stephenson, PP, PLS, CP, TSC
Corresponding Secretary: Kristy R. Turner, PP, PLS, CLA, TSC-CL, TSC-RE
Parliamentarian: Deidra Daniels, PP, PLS, CLA, TSC

After Sunday morning breakfast and a Leadership Seminar it was time for us to head home.

The Fall Board Meeting will be held September 14–16, 2007, in Amarillo. The Region 6 meeting will be held July 27–28, 2007, in Shreveport, Louisiana. The TALP Winter Board Meeting will be held February 21–25 in Fredericksburg.