Susan J. Martin, RP
2001-2004 PACE Coordinator
PACE@paralegals.org
(978) 475-9100
May 1, 2001
CENTRAL CONNECTICUT PARALEGAL ASSOCIATION SETS THE PACE
The National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) is pleased to announce the selection of the Central Connecticut Paralegal Association (Central Connecticut) as recipient of the first PACE Ambassador Award. The award was initiated to recognize an NFPA member association that has made superior efforts in developing its local PACE Ambassador program to promote the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE) to its members and its legal community. The award will be presented annually at the NFPA Spring Convention.
Central Connecticut's Joseph Zebzda, RP, accepted the award from Diane Soroko the PACE Coordinator at the 2001 Spring Convention in Washington, DC. Central Connecticut was actively promoting PACE before the PACE Ambassador program began. Central Connecticut currently has PACE Co-Ambassadors for PACE: Sharon Mason, RP, and Michelle Walters Fournier, RP. To date, 25 members of Central Connecticut have passed PACE.
Since 1997, the Central Connecticut association has sponsored 15 PACE study groups in which approximately 70 Central Connecticut members participated. Central Connecticut offers an annual ethics seminar to help members prepare for the exam and recently offered a seminar on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Central Connecticut publicizes not only its own review courses, but all review courses within Central Connecticut's geographic area, online courses, and PACE conference calls. NFPA's PACE Study Manual has been offered for sale at each of Central Connecticut's CLE events, and Central Connecticut has developed its own outstanding bank of study materials. Central Connecticut sends letters of congratulation to employers of its members who pass PACE and publicly acknowledges new RPs at its annual Employer Appreciation Luncheon, thus commending the paralegal and making the employer aware of PACE, if it is not already a supporter of the exam.
Originally formed in 1979 as the Greater Hartford chapter of the Connecticut Association of Paralegals, Central Connecticut was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in 1982. It serves paralegals in the area in and around Hartford, Connecticut. For more information on Central Connecticut, visit its web page at http://www.paralegals.org/CentralConnecticut.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, NFPA is a non-profit professional organization representing more than 17,000 paralegals in the United States and Canada, NFPA is the national voice and the standard for excellence for the paralegal profession through its work on the issues of regulation, ethics and education.
