Carolyn Saenz, Director of Membership
Membership@paralegals.org
December 26, 2001
CINCINNATI PARALEGAL NAMED OUTSTANDING LOCAL LEADER
DynCorp and the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) are pleased to congratulate Kimberly A. Nichols, RP, of Cincinnati, Ohio, on her selection as the 2001 NFPA Outstanding Local Leader. DynCorp sponsors the award annually to recognize an outstanding paralegal who has contributed substantially to his or her local association. The award will be presented in May at NFPA's spring convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, sponsored by the Indiana Paralegal Association.
Nichols, a member of the Cincinnati Paralegal Association, is a litigation paralegal for Kohnen & Patton, L.L.P., where she concentrates on insurance defense litigation. She first held office in her local association in 1992. Since then, she has held numerous offices, including president, and been a member of committees on professional development, newsletter, public relations, CLE, programs, paralegal referral, finance, membership, and Code of Regulations. Nichols earned her PACE Registered Paralegal credential in 1998 and now assists with PACE study groups for her local colleagues. During her term as president, Nichols developed a management tool known as the Perpetual Calendar that current committee chairs and board members continue to utilize.
Tammy Leary of the local association nominated Nichols for the national honor. Leary points out that Nichols has been selected for the local Outstanding Member Award twice: in 1995 and again in 2000. Upon receiving the award the second time, Nichols noted, "The more you put into the association, the more you will benefit."
Nichols holds an associate of arts degree in legal assisting from the University of Cincinnati and a bachelor of arts in paralegal studies from the College of Mount Saint Joseph, where she is now an adjunct instructor. She is a long-time advocate of continuing legal education for paralegals, teaching seminars for her local association, the Institute for Paralegal Education, and Professional Education Systems, Inc. In 1997, she was co-chair of the Ohio Statewide Forum, a full-day educational seminar for all Ohio paralegals.
Previous winners of this prestigious award are Margaret S. (Mickey) Dick of the Western New York Paralegal Association, Pat Coleman of the Illinois Paralegal Association, Deborah Baer McKinney, RP, of the Cincinnati Paralegal Association, Karen Belcher, RP, of the Georgia Paralegal Association, and Lesley Cox, RP, of the Indiana Paralegal Association.
Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, DynCorp is a contractor that provides litigation support to government and commercial clients. It also performs traditional litigation support nationwide for the Department of Justice.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, NFPA is a non-profit professional organization representing more than 15,000 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.
