Belinda Martinez selected as inaugural chairperson for Broward Bar Paralegal Section

Broward County Bar Association formed a Paralegal Section at their Board of Directors Retreat on Friday July 22, 2011. Belinda Martinez of Becker & Poliakoff is the inaugural chairperson. This follows a new trend started by the Florida bar with the Florida Registered Paralegal Program. Since this program officially recognized Paralegals as contributing members local bar associations have taken notice. The Dade Country Bar Association last year decided to allow Paralegals to officially become members in their association.



Linda McGrath Cruz, Chair of the Dade County Bar Association's Florida Registered Paralegal Committee had the following to say about this development:

In the past, if a paralegal wanted to get involved in an organization, their option was to join a legal support or paralegal association. In todays legal community, they more frequently have the opportunity to join their local bar association. Instead of networking with strictly paralegals or other support staff, paralegals now have the opportunity to network with all aspects of the legal community. 

This networking is a significant benefit for paralegals who are looking to advance their career, land their dream job or simply want to branch out into other fields. Paralegals can enjoy the camaraderie of fellow paralegal members and learn from their experiences, as well as gaining valuable insight from attorneys, judges, administrators or other legal professionals who attend these events, that they would not have access to at a paralegal association event. There aren't that many opportunities for paralegals to sit at the same table as attorneys and judges and be treated as an equal. Also, many paralegals find that CLE events offered have a higher level of professionalism and include higher quality information. 

 More details to come...