1. ♦♦ ♦♦
♦ President’s Message
♦ Important Announcement
♦ Needed Full Slate Officers/
Waiver Notice Election Candidacy
♦ Register: Fall Seminar:
November 4 & 5
♦ Second Notice of Annual Meeting
♦ Proxy for Annual Meeting
♦ Election Announcement—
Declaration of Candidacy
♦ NOTICE STUDENTS:
Publishing Opportunity
♦ Scholarship for Students
♦ Award Scholarship for Members
♦ NALA Campus
♦ State & Chapter News
♦ Take These Three Steps for
Career Success
—By: Vicki Voisin, ACP
♦ Association & Chapters :Facebook
♦ Spring Seminar Rotation
♦ Request for Volunteers from Your
Paralegal Advocate Team
♦ 2011 Board Members & Directors
♦ NALA CP/CLA Exam Schedule
♦ Sustaining Members
♦ The Paralegal Advocate Team
♦ Deadlines & Contact Information
Tennessee Paralegal Association
Post Office Box 21723
Chattanooga, TN 37424
♦♦ E-Mail: info@tnparalegal.org ♦♦ Web Site: http://www.tnparalegal.org ♦♦
Greetings TPA Members:
Hope everyone had a great Summer and is ready for
Fall!!
Our Spring Seminar was hosted by our Southeast Chap-
ter. The topics were very informative and we had a
good turnout. I want to thank the Southeast Chapter for
hosting a great seminar.
The NALA Convention was held on July 27-29, 2011.
Tammie Murphy, CLA and I attended on behalf of
TPA. We attended meetings and exhibits and obtained
ideas from other Paralegal organizations to help our as-
sociation grow.
At our Spring board meeting, at the request of the West
TN Chapter Chairperson and its members, the board
voted to hold the West TN Chapter of TPA dormant
for one year in hopes that they could grow their mem-
bership and participation.
Our Fall Seminar will be held November 4-5, 2011 in
Lebanon, Tennessee. Our First Vice President, LaFran
Plunk, is working extremely hard on the seminar.
Please check the website for the registration form and
topics for the Fall Seminar.
Hope to see each of you at the Fall Seminar!
Yours very truly,
Sherri S. Fawver, CP
TPA President

2. Fall Seminar Conference &
Annual Membership Meeting
TIME FOR REGISTRATION
NOVEMBER 4-5, 2011
Holiday Inn Express & Suites
Lebanon, TN
GO TO OUR WEBSITE FOR:
Registration Form
Hotel Accommodations & Reservation Information
Agenda for Conference Seminar
NEEDED
FULL SLATE
OF OFFICERS FOR 2012
NOTICE
WAIVER OF ELECTION DEADLINE
PLEASE COMPLETE DECLARATION
OF CANDIDACY FOR OFFICE OF
YOUR CHOICE ON PAGE 3
& RETURN VIA E-MAIL TO IN-
FO@TNPARALEGAL.ORG
— THANK YOU —

3. SECOND NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING
Notice is hereby given of the Annual Meeting of the Tennessee Paralegal Association to be
held at the Holiday Inn in Lebanon, Tennessee on November 5, 2011. During the Annual Meeting,
the election of TPA officers for the year 2012 will take place.
If you are unable to attend, please forward your proxy vote to: TPA Attn: Annual Meeting –
TPA Secretary via e-mail to info@tnparalegal.org designating who will cast your votes by October
30, 2011 OR you may send your proxy vote with the member who will be casting your vote at
the meeting, to be submitted prior to the election.
__________________________________________________________________
PROXY FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING
OF THE TENNESSEE PARALEGAL ASSOCIATION
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2011
MEMBER’S NAME: ________________________________________________
DESIGNATED MEMBER’S NAME: ___________________________________
_______________________________________
Member’s Signature
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: The slate of officers for our 2012 election
will be posted to members last recorded e-mail by October 16, 2011.
REVISION—DEADLINE EXTENDED & NOTICE ELECTION WAIVED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ELECTION ANNOUNCEMENT
If you wish to run for an office please fill out the below and submit to Attn: Annual
Meeting – TPA Secretary by October 10, 2011 at info@tnparalegal.org
DECLARATION OF CANDIDACY
I, , hereby certify that I am an active member in good standing of the Ten-
nessee Paralegal Association and do hereby declare myself a good candidate for the office of
for the Tennessee Paralegal Association for the year 2012.
If elected, I promise that I will faithfully discharge all the duties of the office for which I am elected.
This the day of , 2011.
Signature

4. NOTICE
PARALEGAL/LEGAL ASSISTANT STUDIES STUDENTS
Looking for written articles from paralegal/legal assistant studies students to publish in
our quarterly newsletters
Basic guidelines: Article/essay can be up to 1 or 2 pages. Topic should be on a current
legal issue, topic, or subject. It can be an essay or informational piece on the chosen top-
ic. Article can be sent by e-mail to info@tnparalegal.org with subject heading “Student
article submission for review to the Paralegal Advocate” – student will need to include
full name, e-mail contact and school attending.
The student, if article is selected, can add to their resume as being selected for publica-
tion in our newsletter & will need to submit final in Word document for publishing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SCHOLARSHIPS
SPONSORED BY TPA
The Lawassa B. Jones Scholarship
(For Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies Major Students)
&
A CP/CLA Exam Scholarship
(For Tennessee Paralegal Association Members)
For more information
GO TO OUR WEBSITE AT:
www.tnparalegal.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please forward any announcements for The Paralegal Advocate to in-
fo@tnparalegal.org Attn: Paralegal Advocate Team
NALA CAMPUS LIVE!
GO TO http://www.nalacampus.com

5. Our Fall Seminar and Annual Meeting is coming up on November 4th & 5th. Please
consider taking an active role in your Association. You can utilize any of the announce-
ments and/or forms in this issue or in the alternative check with any of our Board mem-
bers to see what assistance you can provide that matches your preferences.
Our West TN Chapter always has devoted members that contribute immensely to our
Association and its Chapter. The geographic location in the West provide many chal-
lenges for members to be active in participation of their Chapter membership meetings
and regular scheduled activities as a Chapter. The West Chapter is going dormant for
the next year and hopefully by this time next year a new interest in active involvement
for membership will be present. The small number of West Chapter members are elect-
ing currently to be members At Large.
The Southeast Chapter has begun to have their Lunch ‘N Learn meetings at the Blue
Cross Blue Shield Miller Room in downtown Chattanooga on the third Tuesday of each
month. Attendance varies from 14 to 20 + individuals.
Efforts to match twenty-seven Chattanooga State paralegal students to paralegals for
shadowing was successful. Paul Ray of their Paralegal Studies Program, along with the
students have expressed their appreciation to those paralegals that supported them in
these efforts.
Our new Central Chapter is meeting the challenge of growing their Chapter. Rachael
Reach and Theresa Carrico have been promoting our Association at a number of local
paralegal schools.
Our East Chapter has continued to work on their book drive for the Knox County Jail
Library (a project started at the Public Defender’s office) and assisting with Second Har-
vest. Also, they have been working on a membership drive, including calling current
and recent members to see what more can be offered to our Membership that is not cur-
rently being met.

6. Throughout my career, I have immersed myself in learning.
Because I have always worked as a paralegal, I have primarily attended and spoken at law-
related seminars. Lately I've become interested in time and space organization, so I've been
learning a lot about that, too. I've discovered, though, that it is also important to take ample
time to focus on personal development.
Why? Because it's essential that you work harder on yourself than you do on your job. If you
do this, the job will take care of itself and your life will be successful.
Over the years, I have learned 3 steps for success that I want to share with you. I refer to
these as my "a-has" because they have helped me focus on very important areas of my life
and they have also helped me create a successful career.
1. You are the average of the five PEOPLE you hang around the most. This is a princi-
ple taught by Jim Rohn, whom some call the father of personal development. A light bulb
went off when I heard this. It made me realize that it's necessary to surround myself with peo-
ple I want to be like....people who are success oriented, who have vision, who have spirit and
dedication.
The key is to make a concerted effort to be with people who think big and talk about great
ideas, instead of the headlines of People Magazine, the price of gas (how depressing!), or
how much they hate their jobs and their bosses. Attitudes and levels of thinking are conta-
gious. Beware!
There are tons of great seminars offered both where you live and all around the country. You
have no excuse not to get out there and surround yourself with people who have positive atti-
tudes and like-minded goals.
2. Your ENVIRONMENT must support your goals. Your success depends more on your
environment than you may realize so it's imperative that you give yourself an environment
that supports you at the level you want to attain, not the level you are at now. There are three
areas of your environment that you should give your utmost attention:
 Your physical environment. Do you love your work space? Do you have enough
room to work comfortably? Does this space encourage you to think? Are you surrounded
by things that are beautiful and bring good memories, such an eye-catching piece of art?
We can't all have a gorgeous view from our offices, or even a window, but we can create an
environment that brings us peace and tranquility without spending a lot of money. Little touch-
es like flowers, photos of friends, family or your recent vacation, even an interesting paper-
weight, can make you feel good.
 Your emotional environment. Do you get the support you need from your friends,
family and co-workers? These people are not mind readers. It's up to you to ask for what
you need from them.
I have a great group of friends that I can bounce ideas off, ask for help with problem solving,
and share my successes. Of course, sometimes I just need to vent! If your friends, family and
co-workers can't provide this, you may need to find a career coach or a support group that
will.

7.  Your intellectual environment. It's crucial that you feed your brain with new ideas and up-
to-the-minute knowledge. Are you stimulating your brain every day? If not, you need to find a
way to make this happen...to expose yourself to creative and innovative thinking that will stretch
and increase your brain power. Again, seminars, tele-classes and books/audio programs are
helpful. I really enjoy listening to these on my iPod so I can learn while I take a walk or when I
travel...this makes a long drive, a lengthy wait in an airport, or my time on an airplane zip by. My
personal favorite is downloading books to my iPod from my membership at www.audible.com.
iTunes also has many podcasts and other programs available at little or no cost.
3. Your future is created by your habits. It only makes sense that your daily habits will
create long-lasting effects in your life. The habits you establish today will determine the results
you have tomorrow.
If you want to be healthy and in shape, you must have the habits of a person who is healthy and
in shape. If you want to be a successful paralegal, you must have the habits of a successful par-
alegal. If you want to be a leader, you must have the habits of a leader. None of these things will
happen tomorrow unless you establish habits today that will lead to the results you want.
Your challenge: Visualize YOUR tomorrow. What kind of person do you want to be?
Where do you want your career to take you? Then decide: What new habit can you put into
place now that will make your tomorrow what you want it to be? What can you do today to cre-
ate a work environment that gives you joy? What will you do to surround yourself with people
who will support you and who will be a positive influence? Ask yourself these questions now so
that you can create habits for yourself today that will result in the tomorrow you want.
===================================================================
©2010 Vicki Voisin, Inc.
Do you want to use this article in your newsletter, ezine or Web site? You can so long as you include this entire blurb
with it: Vicki Voisin, "The Paralegal Mentor", delivers simple strategies for paralegals and other professionals to create
success and satisfaction by achieving goals and determining the direction they will take their careers. Vicki spotlights
resources, organizational tips, ethics issues, and other areas of continuing education to help paralegals and others reach
their full potential. She publishes a weekly ezine titled Paralegal Strategies and co-hosts The Paralegal Voice, a monthly
podcast produced by Legal Talk Network. More information is available at www.paralegalmentor.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keep track of our Association & Chapters on Face Book
Tennessee Paralegal Association
East Tennessee Chapter of the Tennessee Paralegal Association
Southeast Chapter Tennessee Paralegal Association
Central Tennessee Chapter of the Tennessee Paralegal Association
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spring Seminar Rotation: Central 2012, West 2013, East 2014, Southeast 2015
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Request for Volunteers to join the Paralegal Advocate Team: We want to put your skills
to work at what you do best. You determine the time commitment. We tell you what we need
and you tell us what you are able to contribute. This is a great for adding to your resume and
opportunity to be more active in your Association while doing what you enjoy.
♦ Authoring articles on legal topics or additional information of interest for our Membership;
♦ Selection of relevant legal articles from various sources & obtaining permission from author
for publication in The Paralegal Advocate;
♦ Requesting individuals in the legal field to write an article for The Paralegal Advocate;
♦Proofreading submitted articles &/or final draft of The Paralegal Advocate for publication;
♦Marketing liaison – reach out to vendors in the legal field to see if they want to advertise in
our newsletter;
♦Creative submissions or standing column is another consideration/opportunity
If you are interested in volunteering to join our Team, please e-mail us at in-
fo@tnparalegal.org Thank you very much. Your Paralegal Advocate Team

8. Contact the officers/board members via our new e-mail address at:
info@tnparalegal.com or directly from our website at www.tnparalegal.org
President: Sherri S. Fawver, CP, Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, Knoxville
First Vice President: LaFran Plunk, West Tennessee Legal Services, Jackson
Second Vice President: Christie L. Gass, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Chattanooga
NALA Liaison: Tammie Murphy, CLA, Toppenberg & Burke, P.C., Knoxville
Secretary: Laysha M. McCullaugh, CP, Fleissner, Davis and Johnson, Chattanooga
Treasurer: Phyllis A. Carter, SunTrust Bank (Retired), Chattanooga
Central Region Director: Rachael Reach, Brewer Krause Brooks Chastain & Burrow, Nashville
East Region Director: Pamela K. Leckey, CLA, Peggy G. Comstock Attorney at Law, Knoxville
West Region Director: Tammy R. Bradford, John D. Hamilton Attorney at Law, Jackson
Central TN Chapter Chair: Theresa Carrico, CP, Brewer Krause Brooks Chastain & Burrow, Nashville
East TN Chapter Chair: Nita Gorman, Gary A. Davis and Associates, North Carolina
S.E. TN Chapter Chair: Laysha M. McCullaugh, CP, Fleissner, Davis and Johnson, Chattanooga
West TN Chapter Chair: Courtney Sydnor, Nix, Patterson & Roach LLP, Jackson
Historian: Susan Westmoreland, CEBS, Horton & Maddox PLLC (Retired), Chattanooga
Parliamentarian: Susan Westmoreland, CEBS, Horton & Maddox PLLC (Retired), Chattanooga
Publication Chair: Laysha M. McCullaugh, CP, Fleissner, Davis and Johnson, Chattanooga
Website Committee Chair: Theresa Carrico, CP, Brewer Krause Brooks Chastain & Burrow, Nashville

9. http://www.nashvillelibrary.info/
http://www.everythingjustso.com/
Remember Our Sustaining Members
Who Support Us!!
Thank You!!
http://gibsonreporters.com/

10. http://www.nadn.org
Remember Our Sustaining Members
Who Support Us!!
Thank You!!
http://www.roanestate.edu/
http://www.utc.edu/

11. Is published quarterly by the Tennessee Paralegal Association, an affiliate of the National
Association of Legal Assistants, Inc. Articles and other information for the newsletter
should be sent to the Advocate Team at the below e-mail address. Please title subject head-
ing “For TPA Advocate.”
info@tnparalegal.org
Or
Tennessee Paralegal Association
Attention: Advocate Team
Post Office Box 21723, Chattanooga, TN 37424
UPCOMING ISSUE
DEADLINES
WINTER: DECEMBER 31, 2011
SPRING: MARCH 31, 2012
SUMMER: JUNE 30, 2012
FALL: SEPTEMBER 30, 2012
SPECIAL REQUEST:
PLEASE SUBMIT TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO DEADLNE, IF POSSIBLE. THANKS!
MESSAGE FROM THE PARALEGAL ADVOCATE TEAM
We would appreciate your contribution to The Paralegal Advocate by submitting articles
of interest to you to be published. Please note the deadlines for each issue and feel free
to provide any information you would like published prior to the deadline.
If you would like to have articles published on specific topics in the Advocate, please
contact us.
— The Paralegal Advocate Team