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In
1955, a group of 13 legal secretaries decided to establish a local association
for legal secretaries. With the help of Judge Arthur C. Lesher Jr., Florence
Sandy and Patricia Nelson formed an association to be known as "Attorneys'
Secretarial League." Application was made to the Secretary of State
for a charter. While corresponding with the Secretary of State and the
Attorney General in complying with the rules of the formation for the
association, an ad was noticed in a secretarial publication regarding
a national association of legal secretaries. The group wrote for information
about the national association and learned of the newly formed Texas Association
of Legal Secretaries. After notification in the Houston newspapers, 13
legal secretaries attended the first public meeting in an assembly room
in the Chamber of Commerce Building on November 15, 1955. The group decided
at that meeting to join the Texas Association of Legal Secretaries and
thus become a member of the National Association of Legal Secretaries
(now NALS, Inc.). The Houston Association of Legal Secretaries (HALS)
received its charter from NALS as Chapter No. 0055 on January 25, 1956,
with 33 charter members.
Patricia Nelson served as the first Houston ALS president and was followed
by Florence Sandy in November 1956. Sandy's term only lasted six months
because of a change in NALS' bylaws requiring all local associations to
change their fiscal year to begin on May 1 and end on April 30.
Notable early chapter firsts:
- Legal education course speaker-Gibson Gayle, Jr.
- Day in Court-October 1957
- Hosted two conventions in the same week-April 18-19, 1959-NALS Annual Spring Board Meeting (Friday) and Texas ALS Annual Convention (Saturday and Sunday) at The Shamrock Hilton
- Annual Appreciation Banquet-February 27, 1964, Petroleum Club (1963-64 Boss of the Year-Willard B. Wagner)
- Legal Secretary of the Year-1970-71 (Beatrice Follis)
In the late '90s, members of HALS and GHLSA began visiting each other's meetings and events frequently and realized how much they had in common, such as their continuing education and certification programs and their supporting vendors, and that combining their strengths would be advantageous to both group. Over a two-year period, the possibility of a merger was discussed by HALS President Rita Alesi and GHLSA President Helene Wood. A meeting was held in early 1998 between the two executive committees and merger plans were worked out. The plans were submitted to the two memberships and approved by both. In April 1998, after sixteen years of separation, the two chapters merged and Pamela S. Tipton, PLS, was installed as the first president of the newly re-formed Houston Association of Legal Secretaries.
On January 13, 2004, the members of Houston ALS voted to change the chapter name to Houston Association of Legal Professionals in order to meet the challenges of a growing and diverse membership. The official Houston ALS logo was retired and a new one created for Houston ALP. See the official Houston ALS logo below.
