CALSPro - California Association of Legal Support Professionals

Are you continuing to educate yourself?

Posted March 30, 2012 in Education, Membership

Education for knowledge sake is great as a solid foundation; however, it is the actual application of that education in action where the benefits are garnered.    An educated server will be more efficient and productive as a result; and therefore more successful, spending less time and effort to accomplish greater results. The saying “work smarter, not harder” exemplifies this. An educated Process Manager, Dispatcher, Proof Preparer, etc. will also save time and effort when applying that knowledge to everyday situations by heading off potential errors and correcting them before efforts or resources need to be expended to re-do or otherwise fix that problem.

As Herbert Spencer noted, “The great aim of education is not knowledge but action. “

The CALSPro Continuing Education Committee is in action and will be presenting our CCPS Workshop and Exam on April 14, 2012 at the Quality Inn in Natomas. The CCPS Workshop is designed to cover all of the topics that will be included on the CCPS Exam such as:

• Tools of the Trade
• What makes a good report
• The 3 essential elements of service
  • Identify party
  • State General Nature
  • Leave in Close Proximity
• Monetary jurisdictions
• Venues
• Statutory time limits
• The 4 basic ways a Summons and complaint can be served
  • Personal service
  • Substituted service
  • Certified mail Service
  • Service by Publication
• Reasonable diligence
• The codes every process server should know
• The service of ORAPs (a.k.a. OEX’s)
• Subpoenas
• Small Claims Actions
• Writs
• Unlawful Detainers (including Prejudgment Claims and 3 day notices)

Data Integration: The Future of Attorney Services

Posted March 23, 2012 in Membership, Technology

A mere two decades ago, landlines and paper were the dominant forms of communication. Business tasks required human involvement at every stage. As keyboards replaced typewriters, the pace of the business world accelerated. Pagers and mobile phones became familiar sights, enabling contact between the office and field.  Over the years, toaster-sized batteries shrank into iPhone and Androids. According to a recent Pew Research Center report, nearly half of American adults are Smartphone owners. Computers are in our pockets, homes, and vehicles, and the attorney service industry has access to new capabilities that did not exist a few years ago.

Communication is evolving at an unprecedented rate and data integration technology is at the core of this transformation. Data integration allows users to see a unified view of data from different locations and sources. When information was primarily conveyed on paper and the almighty FAX ruled the workplace, the system was only as accurate as the humans maintaining it. Revolutionary advances in cloud computing and web services are empowering businesses to work smarter, not harder.  Collaboration and partnerships are the new norm and the desire to expand and network is more pronounced than ever before.

Attorney service companies would be wise to look into data integration. Technology is changing at a rapid rate, and those who fail to adapt will be left behind. How can a company using old human-powered systems stay relevant when their competitors can complete identical tasks with a few clicks? Data integration allows companies to share data with their clients in real-time to complete tasks as commonplace as checking status that can be accomplished immediately using the client’s own program.  Sharing jobs with other attorney service companies instantly and directly is now a reality. How about when you forward a job to an affiliate? You would normally send an email with instructions, only to have your client re-enter the same data. With data integration, you can send the work order directly into your affiliate’s system.  Data integration makes it possible for a single software package to streamline the operations of an entire attorney service company, and to smoothly manage a job from beginning to end.

Attorney service companies should find out what kind of programs their clients are running, as there may already be web services or other tools available to make data integration possible.   As the industry begins to shift to new technologies such as E-Filing and GPS integration, and  cloud computing; companies who are quick to embrace the inevitable tide of change will be in a stronger position.  Data integration makes companies more marketable and effective. Who doesn’t want to save time, money, and significantly reduce the potential for errors?

Dennis Chaples
www.TristarSoftware.com

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Benjamin Franklin

Posted February 11, 2012 in Education

When the economy challenges you to find a worthwhile investment, wise men have said throughout the years to invest in yourself.  Your dedication to this noble profession can truly be augmented by a commitment to being the very best you can be.  That being said, this is a great time to enhance your education, and if appropriate to invest in further educating your staff and servers at a CALSPro CCPS Workshop.  While you are benefiting by absorbing knowledge that will return dividends in smarter servers, more efficient use of time, and ultimately more revenue; you can also bolster the positive light in which you and/or your company is viewed by earning your CALSPro Certified Process Server (CCPS) designation.  More and more law firms are seeking higher caliber servers handling their work, and you can meet that demand by becoming CCPS and encouraging your staff and independent contractors to do the same.

“There is no better investment that companies can make than in the education and development of their own people.” Tony Robbins

The 1^st CCPS workshop of the year will be held in San Diego on Saturday February 25, 2012.  The registration form is available here:

Workshop & Exam San Diego

Tentative Continuing Education 2012 Calendar (exact dates, when finalized, will be posted to our events page):

April 14 – Sacramento (Quality Inn – Natomas)

May 19 – Visalia

June 30 – Los Angeles

July 28 – San Jose

August 18 – Orange County

September 8 – Inland Empire

October 5 – 7 Anaheim (Annual Conference review and CCPS Exam only)

Nov 3 – Oakland / San Francisco Area

We are excited about the educational opportunities for you and look forward to seeing you soon.

Membership Renewal Due Now!

Posted January 26, 2012 in Membership

If you have not already submitted your membership renewal form, it became delinquent on 1/15/2012. Your renewal must be received no later than Wednesday, February 1, 2012 to avoid the possibility of your membership being forfeited.

There are two special offers for upgrading your 2012 membership:

1)         Individual members will receive a $100 discount when adding, or   upgrading to a Company Membership.

2)         Renewing Company Members will receive a $100 discount for each new Individual Membership added to their Company membership.  There are no limits as to how many new members you can add to your Company membership.

Enjoy the added benefits of a company membership and/or invest in your key personnel and your business by having them join and participate with the association.

Please consider upgrading your membership this year.

Special Incentive from CFC/Top Priority

You will be pleased to see new very affordable CALSPro pouch rates starting February 1, 2012.  As an added incentive to join the pouch program, all new* pouch participants in 2012 will receive an additional discount of 15% applied to their first months bill.

*  A Member who had discontinued pouch service prior to 2012 and re-starts pouch service in 2012 will also be eligible to receive the first month 15% discount, provided there was no balance due from their previous participation.  More Information About Our Pouch Program Here…

CALSPro Pouch Lowers Prices

Posted January 24, 2012 in Membership

The CALSPro Board of Directors is pleased to announce new, much lower pricing and added benefits for the CALSPro Pouch Service with our vendor, Top Priority/CFC effective February 1, 2012.  Please note that service charge prices have been substantially reduced, the daily weight allowance has been increased, and the overweight charge has been slashed by over 50%.

The new rates and weight allowances are as follows:

• Twice a day (AM-PM) Service will be decreased to only $375.00/month
• Once a day (Swap) will be only: $195.00/month
• There will be no charge for the first 10 pounds (up from 7 lbs. previously).
• The overweight fee is being reduced to only 64 cents per pound (down from $1.32)
• In addition, the fuel surcharge has been zeroed for the current market price of regular unleaded up to $3.85/gallon, and thereafter .0065 for every ten cent incremental increase.

This represents about a 35% savings over your current base price.  A typical company with one office, daily swap and no overweight will save a minimum of $1,000 per year. That is twice the cost of a CALSPro Company Membership.

With this kind of savings, once a day participants can now consider shifting to twice a day, company members can consider adding staff as individual members and also enhancing their listing and everyone can convert the savings into additional advertising for increased business in 2012.

Optional Tracking Feature

CALSPro members will also be able to print an individual bar-coded tracking slip online (as desired) and attach it to their envelope or zipper pouch instead of writing an E – Code.  At the 1^st sorting center, and each service hub along the line haul, the bar code will be scanned so that you can track the internal movement of your envelope online.  This is at no additional cost to the member.

Additional services at very competitive rates provide extra savings throughout the year

Let the power of your CALSPro membership provide additional benefits and savings throughout the year on all of your shipping and delivery needs.   Top Priority/CFC offers overnight courier service from CALSPro pouch participants to any California business address the next day (some zip codes are excluded). That’s right, not to just other CALSPro members, but to most business addresses throughout California, eliminating your need to use higher priced overnight services.

You will be able to overnight envelopes and boxes at rates that you will really love.

Envelopes ship for a $5.49 flat rate; which is much less costly than FedEx or USPS overnight.  Top Priority/CFC will issue pre-paid, bar-coded stickers for you to take advantage of this special pricing.

Boxes up to 20 lbs. are shipped for only $7.99 ($0.49 for each additional lb. over 20).

For boxes, Top Priority/CFC will issue pre-printed tracking slips (like Fed-ex or UPS) and bill your account monthly. When you have items ready to ship simply call the pouch company for a special pickup or just place the items beside your outgoing bag.  The item(s) will be delivered the next day.  This program is planned to start mid February allowing for setting up each participant with on-line access.  More details will follow in the weeks to come.

What is Dispute Resolution?

Posted December 9, 2011 in Membership

The Dispute Resolution Committee (formerly Arbitration and Grievance) is here to serve the membership. We have reworked and simplified the process, but as the title indicates, our primary focus is to help members resolve differences. If someone were to ask me what I find to be the most common dispute between members, hands down my response would be non timely payment for services rendered. This subject is specifically addressed in our Code of Ethics:

“Prompt payment of all statements is mandatory. Unless you have made other arrangements, all bills should be paid no later than the tenth of the month following presentation of the statement. Do not expect other firms to carry you on their books beyond the normal thirty (30) day period. Late payments can work financial hardship on other firms. Do not forget that credit is a courtesy and should never be abused”.

In this day and age, times are tough for many members and bills can stack up quickly.   If you find your company in a position where making payments is difficult, I would suggest to take an open and honest approach. Don’t ignore emails or dodge phone calls. Oftentimes, this is the basis for the complaint made to our Committee, a lack of communication. More often than not, if you let your affiliate office know that money is tight, but that a payment will be made by a certain date and then you actually pay as you promised, your fellow CALSPro members will work with you, continue to complete your work in a timely fashion and by doing so, a true dispute may be avoided.

Jeremiah Jones
Dispute Resolution Chairman