CALSPro - California Association of Legal Support Professionals

CALSPro Area Governor Program

Posted May 22, 2019 in Membership

By Larry Kirlin

Before I even joined CALSPro, I remember hearing stories about CAPPS group campouts, rafting trips and other organized social activities.   Those were the good old days when the Area Governor program was in full swing.

Times changed and the Area Governors faded into memories. Fast forward to July 2017 and our strategic planning meeting.  Our leaders felt that our future depended on renewing some of the best parts of our past. Blammo!  The Area Governor program was raised from the ashes.

Since the fall of 2017, we have had area governors assigned to all regions in California and even a governor for our out-of-state Associate members.  While I don’t foresee monthly meetings happening again, I do see the benefit of having a governor each member can contact if they need assistance.  Some of the governors have taken the program farther and organized picnics and trips to sporting events.  If you subscribe to the CALSPro Facebook page you will have seen the recent posting from an LA Dodgers game.  How fun is that?!

Area governors are posted on the website under the leadership tab.  Contacting your governor is as easy as clicking on their name and sending an email.  https://calspro.org/area-governors/

Get the most out of your CALSPro membership and ask your governor a question today.

When the Going Gets Tough, Be Nice!

Posted April 3, 2019 in Membership

Didn’t your mother ever teach you to play nice with others? Well the same can be said in today’s business world. We rely on our customers to make our businesses successful. The best way to cultivate and grow your relationships with your customers is quite simple, be nice! In an article written by Kathleen Elkins, she explains how entrepreneur Mark Cuban reflects on this underrated skill.

Mark Cuban: ‘One of the most underrated skills in business right now is being nice’

Entrepreneur Mark Cuban owns the Dallas Mavericks, stars on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and is worth an estimated $3.9 billion. If you ask the businessman what it takes to succeed, though, he doesn’t just point to work ethic and negotiation skills.

As Cuban told Vanity Fair in a 2018 interview with the “Shark Tank” cast, a simple skill that anyone can develop can go a long way: “One of the most underrated skills in business right now is being nice. Nice sells.”

He continued: “I went through my own metamorphosis, if you will. Early on in my career, I was like bam, bam, bam, bam, bam — I might curse. I might get mad. And then I just got to the point — I wouldn’t have wanted to do business with me when I was in my 20s.

“And so I had to change, and I did, and it really paid off.”

Science backs his claim that soft skills can boost your career: Studies show that a high level of emotional intelligence, or EQ, can make you wealthy and successful.

As global career development expert Soulaima Gourani tells CNBC Make It, what makes you most valuable is your ability to cooperate and connect with others: “A lot of jobs are going to disappear, but the thing that we will always have that is more important is your emotional intelligence.” She defines that as having a “good understanding of yourself, self-control, empathy and a natural understanding of people’s decisions, needs and desires.”

She adds: “If you can handle people’s diversity — people of a different age, different personalities, or educational backgrounds, for example — and you can handle the conflict that comes with that, you will be the highest paid, most valuable employee in the company.”

To put it bluntly, at the end of the day, “people hate dealing with people who are jerks,” Cuban wrote in a 2014 Entrepreneur article. “It’s always easier to be nice than to be a jerk. Don’t be a jerk.”

A Message From The President

Posted March 27, 2019 in Membership

By Robert Porambo

You may have heard me say how I am truly proud to serve as CALSPro’s president once or twice.  It’s great to give back to an association that has promoted, protected and preserved our industry.  This noble work continues today as your dedicated board of directors and committee chairs continue moving the association forward and are hard at work. 

Your newsletter and website committees are sending out weekly blogs full of relevant and helpful information.  Your education committee recently had its first CCPS webinar which was offered and saw 27 attendees.  A special thanks to Mark Manchester and Andrew Gowing for their efforts getting this new medium off the ground. Our new CALSPro app is up and live for anyone to download through the App Store or Google Play thanks to our technology committee and CALSPro HQ.  It is a great tool for yourself, office and field staff alike. We also implemented on-line registration renewal, focusing on making the registration process easier for all, thanks to your membership committee.

We are also diligently working on new networking opportunities by forming strategic alliances with industry related associations.  We hope that by sharing information with these groups, CALSPro members will see a direct benefit in the coming months.

During our renewal process I heard from a couple members concern that CALSPro was for the “big boys”. As, I sat at this weekend’s board meeting I gave this great thought.  I looked around the room and realized that of the 10 seats of the board of directors, half were seats filled by small companies.  I won’t name them here but encourage you to take a look for yourself and discover how diverse our association really is.  Keep in mind, most large companies started out as small companies.

I am continually reminded that CALSPro is our best form of insurance. If not for the efforts of CALSPro over the past 50 years we may not have an industry.  CALSPro has defeated numerous adverse legislative bills that would have been disastrous for our industry.  CALSPro is the ultimate watchdog who has your back.

I would ask that, should you have any questions or concerns about the association, the direction of the association or other CALSPro related topics, to reach out to you area governors.  The area governors, members of the board of directors and your executive board would all love to hear from you.

I am looking forward to a great rest of 2019. 

Our Newest CALSPro Members

Posted March 6, 2019 in Membership

We would like to send out a very special thank you to our new members who just joined this year. We truly appreciate and value your membership. If you need work done in their respective areas, please reach out to them using the Legal Support Professionals Quote tool

Thank you new members for joining CALSPro!!

New Active Members

Roy George Black
Temecula Attorney Services Company

• Located in Temecula, CA
• In business since 2004
• Temecula Attorney Services Company offers Process Serving for the Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles, and San Diego Counties.
• What made you decide to join/renew with CALSPro?I have been a CAPPS, as well as a CALSPro member in the past. Why I decided to try CALSPro again was at the CCPS training. The instructors seemed like a good guy and they had a lot of good things to say.

Charles Branham
LBPS, LLC

• Located in Long Beach, CA
• In business since 2005
• LBPS, LLC offers Process Serving, and Court Filing focusing on Landlord/Tenant for Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties
• What made you decide to join/renew with CALSPro? We do work with other CALSPro members and they have suggested I join to expand my UD business.

Michael Fernandez
GLS Legal Scan

• Located in Santa Maria, CA
• In business since 1996
• GLS Legal Scan offers On-site Photocopying, Process Serving, Messenger Service, Subpoena Preparations for all of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara Counties and Northern part of Ventura County (Ojai, Ventura, Santa Paula, Oxnard, Camarillo, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills)
• What made you decide to join/renew with CALSPro? I attended a process serving workshop in Ventura, I learned more about CALSPro and what it has to offer. I decided to join to hopefully make new connections and possibly grow my business.

Michael Matthews
Sterling Madison Company

• Located in San Jose, CA

David Peltola
Valley Document Solutions

• Located in Fresno, CA
• In business since 1999
• Valley Document Solutions offers Litigation Scanning/Copying, Trial Support (Exhibit binders, Trial enlargements), Onsite Scanning for Fresno County (Modesto to Visalia/Hanford)
• What made you decide to join/renew with CALSPro? Larry Kirlin with First legal turned me onto CALSPro. We work with them locally.

George Sano
George Sano Investigations & Process Servers

• Located in Tustin, CA
• In business since 1987
• George Sano Investigations & Process Servers offers Process Serving and Investigations for the Orange County area.
• What made you decide to join/renew with CALSPro? I decided to join CALSPro to expand our network with CALSPro members and stay connected with the changes in the industry.

New Independent Contractor Member

E. Dolly Dunne
Los Angeles Legal Service

• Located in Alhambra, CA
• In business since 1988
• Los Angeles Legal Service offers Service of Process and Photocopy services for Los Angeles County (and Nationwide)
• What made you decide to join/renew with CALSPro? After speaking with Kris Pujol, I basically wanted to help with a donation for legislation. I used to be a member many years ago.

Moses Kahng

• Located in Anaheim, CA
• In business for Notary Public (16 years) Bank Documents delivery (2 years) Process Serving (New)
• Moses Kahng offers his services in Orange County
• What made you decide to join/renew with CALSPro? Networking, Education, and information

Zane Krein
Located in Van Nuys, CA

Timothy Medina
Legal Excel Network, LLC
Located in Arcadia, CA

Members Are Welcome To Attend CALSPro Board Meeting

Posted February 26, 2019 in Membership

CALSPro has scheduled a Board of Director’s Meeting for Saturday March 16th in Los Angeles. There will be a Legislative Committee meeting from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the Board will meet from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Members who wish to attend the meetings should please RSVP to stephanie@caladmanagement.com

Location:

Hyatt Regency LAX
6225 W. Century Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90045

A Message From The President

Posted February 12, 2019 in Membership

By Robert Porambo, CALSPro President

I hope everyone had a healthy, prosperous and joyous holiday season and that you were able to enjoy some quality time with family and friends. With 2018 behind us, we set our sights on making 2019 a fun-filled and prosperous year.  My New Year’s resolution is to work with our dedicated board of directors to increase awareness regarding the benefits of our organization and to increase CALSPro membership.

It is a privilege and an honor to serve as your President.  This is a responsibility that I do not take lightly.  I am 100% committed to continuing the amazing work of last year’s board. Additionally, I am committed to addressing the needs and concerns of our membership.

When you stop and think about all of the money you spend, or should spend, on various insurances available to you, you’ll find there are a plethora of policies available (property and liability insurance, workers’ compensation, auto, Officers and Directors coverage, health, vision, life, dental, etc.). Many of these are a must in order to protect and cover your business. However, I firmly believe the best way to protect your business, as well as the livelihood of the entire industry, is CALSPro.

CALSPro is one of those must have insurance policies your business needs to ensure its protection. CALSPro has been protecting your business for the past 50 years. We have defeated numerous legislative bills that would have been devastating to our industry. Mike Belote and our legislative committee keep a watchful eye out for bills that could harm or negatively impact our industry.  Like Steve Janney often says, the three most important things about CALSPro are legislation, legislation, legislation.

Not to scare anyone but look at the bail bonds industry. In another generation it is conceivable that people could say, “What’s a bail bondsman?” Now is the time to maintain our momentum and support CALSPro! You can start by referring non-members to CALSPro, purchase an enhanced listing, enroll staff members or simply make a donation to the association that “has your six.”

Together we can keep CALSPro strong and viable for another 50 years.  I look forward to continuing to make a difference in 2019.

No Pain No Gain -Keeping Your Mind And Body Healthy Throughout Your Workday

Posted February 7, 2019 in Membership

Exercising in the middle of your work day has been proven to give a boost in productivity. Not only will it help you achieve your fitness goals, it can also give you a sense of accomplishment which can last the rest of the day, allow you to get more work done, take fewer sick days, and is also good for your own mental health. In an article by Brian Lufkin, he explains all the good that can happen when you find time to work out during your work day.

There are health and cognitive benefits of working out while you’re on the clock that could help you feel better, look better and perform better.

Sometimes, the difference between a productive day and time wasted can come down to an hour: an hour’s extra sleep, an hour’s exercise, or an hour’s deep work can have a profoundly positive impact on how you work and live. This January, we’re looking at ways to have a more productive year in a new series called Power of an Hour.

Exercise. We all know we need it. Many of us dread it. And nearly all of us struggle to find time to do it.

Unlike sleeping, exercise isn’t necessarily something that’s going to happen to us every day. We have to actively find time to fit it in. And many people are finding ways to do it during the activity that takes up most of their day: work.

‘Golden opportunity’

Exercise during the day and you’ll look better, feel better and even work better. These benefits have long been known.

Researchers conducting a 2008 study in the UK found that that more than 200 employees who had access to and used a company gym were more productive during the day, and went home feeling more satisfied on the days they exercised during regular work hours.

In 2013, another study showed that regardless of age, people experience “immediate benefits” for cognition following “a single bout of moderate exercise”, such as 15 minutes of moderately intense cycling on a stationary bike. These findings suggest that working out during the day could be even better than bookending gym time before or after the office.

That’s on top of all the regular benefits to physical activity, including weight loss, better sleep, better sex, better mood and keeping diseases at bay.

Peter Antonio, a personal trainer, fitness instructor and registered nutritionist at the University of Birmingham Sport, the physical fitness arm of the UK university, calls ducking out of work during your lunch break to exercise a “golden opportunity”.

 People experience ‘immediate benefits’ following ‘a single bout of moderate exercise’

Not only does it help his clients’ over-arching fitness goals, but it “gives you a mid-day sense of accomplishment which can last for the remainder of the day”, he says. Antonio adds that clients who exercise during the day find they get more work done and take fewer sick days. Plus, it’s good for mental health, providing a stress-free getaway from the daily typhoon of meetings and emails.

Some people make a similar argument to preserve break time and physical education at primary and secondary schools. Research there, too, suggests that taking a break from repetitive tasks and getting away from the classroom grind helps pupils pay attention and perform better.

But the personal perks are just the beginning. Workday exercise could also provide benefits on a more macro level.

There’s been discussion among health organisations and business leaders around whether we should make exercise compulsory at work to fight bigger societal health problems that filter into the workplace. More than 20 million people in the UK, for instance, are physically inactive, which costs the National Health Service £1.2bn ($1.5bn) a year, according to the British Heart Foundation.

Tech CEO Ryan Holmes, who runs social media platform HootSuite, wrote an opinion piece a few years back that went viral, titled “Why It’s Time We Paid Employees to Exercise at Work”.

In it, he called for on-the-clock exercise that’s implemented from the top. After all, he says, it’s hard to maintain a robust team if people are dying of preventable heart diseases, cancers and respiratory afflictions because they’re out of shape.

How to do it

Christian Allen lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and runs a start-up that provides companies with customer service tools. He says his preferred time to lift weights, do yoga or run is during the work day. But finding groups of like-minded people who prioritise fitness breaks during working hours has made it easier.

It’s hard to maintain a robust team if people are dying of preventable diseases

“I can say without reservation that I’ve always felt happier and healthier during my 19 years at a desk job when I’ve been working out regularly,” he says.

For the last six years, he’s organised a group through the website Meetup that gathers at noon every weekday for a game of football. He got the idea during one lunch break at his old job, when he stumbled across a group playing midday soccer.

“At the time, I was running a few days a week at lunch with some co-workers, but I liked the idea of mixing something completely different into that routine.”

Allen’s not alone. Workplaces are increasingly changing in a way that might make a lunch-hour workout more feasible for many of us.

More companies are offering gyms on office premises. Some gyms themselves are attaching workspaces onto their main facilities. Luxury gym chain Equinox is one example, offering big tables and juice bars that lure remote workers and freelancers to set up laptops in sight of treadmills and elliptical machines. Some start-up companies are even setting up shop in these spaces as their main offices.

Still, what if you can’t afford to take a whole hour (or more) off? That’s okay – experts say there are smaller ways of weaving exercise into your day, and you don’t need a fancy office fitness centre either.

“Whether it’s five minutes or an hour of movement, there are real health benefits to any type of activity during the work day,” says Sandy Todd Webster, editor-in-chief of IDEA Health & Fitness Association, a San Diego-based organisation that connects more than 14,000 personal trainers and fitness professionals around the world. “If you are able to walk or power yourself forward by some means, do it. You don’t need a gym. Movement opportunities are everywhere,” she says.

“Keep a pair of athletic shoes and socks at work and just get out there and move on your breaks or whenever you can get away for five, 10 or 20 minutes,” adds Todd Webster. “If you work in a building with stairs, always use the stairs or take a longer route to your office. It all adds up.”

No matter what your individual goals or office circumstances, experts say getting an hour’s exercise during the day should be viewed with the same importance as a work meeting.

“The key is to schedule the time,” says Todd Webster. “Literally write the workout into your calendar – and then hold that appointment as sacred.”

‘Explain yourself’

Still, all this can be easier said than done. And not just because some bosses may be inflexible or you might not have access to a much-needed post-gym shower.

You don’t need a gym. Movement opportunities are everywhere – Sandy Todd Webster

Some jobs make it hard to be away from your desk. (This might be one of the many reasons why remote working is up in recent years.) Allen says he’s been lucky to work at places that promote work-life balance, but it hasn’t always been easy. Erratic work schedules can wreak havoc on exercise breaks, and there’s also the potential impact on colleagues.

“I’ve always worked as part of a team,” he says, so he’s needed to be cognizant of how leaving for a brief workout might affect his colleagues’ workload. “I’ve also needed to consider whether or not teammates who don’t take advantage of those policies feel jealous or annoyed that I am.”

But he says that shouldn’t scare you away from making physical activity a priority. “All of those are just reasons to be more communicative about what you are doing and why it’s important to you,” he says.

Leadership Trends For 2019

Posted January 31, 2019 in Membership

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.  Most often, the greatness in a team, begins with the leader. The leader sets the standards. In an article by John Eades, he explains the leadership trends of 2019 and what we can do to hone our leadership skills to best benefit our employees, and our companies so that we can go far together.

Becoming a great leader requires taking proactive steps to improve your own leadership capabilities. But there’s more to it than that.

Engaged leaders need to stay on top of the current trends influencing their individual company, their industry, their employees and attitudes toward the working world in general. To ensure that your company continues to achieve great results, focus on these five leadership trends in 2019:

1. Learn to lead several generations.

For all the articles focused on millennials, 2019 will see a major influx of workers from Generation Z (individuals born in the late 1990s and early 2000s). At the same time, many companies also employ Baby Boomers and members of Generation X.

These age cohorts come from different cultural and economic backgrounds, and the management styles that work for one group may not work for another. Focus on creating an environment where each group feels valued and motivated to give their best effort.

Though you should strive to become more aware of the challenges facing each group, remember that each employee is an individual, not a statistic. Besides, most of the generational stereotypes you read online don’t have much, if any, basis in fact.

2. Welcome female leadership.

A 2018 analysis found that only 24 of the companies listed in the Fortune 500 had a female CEO — troubling numbers in a time when the importance of female leadership is becoming increasingly obvious.

A report from the Peterson Institute for International Economics found a direct correlation between female leadership and profitability. According to the report, “A profitable firm at which 30 percent of leaders are women could expect to add more than 1 percentage point to its net margin compared with an otherwise similar firm with no female leaders.”

For business leaders, the next challenge comes in addressing this disparity. Companies that wish to grow need to find ways to diversify their leadership teams. By creating a more inclusive and welcoming culture, leaders can foster an environment where everyone can achieve success.

3. Time to pick up the pace.

We live in a world of instant gratification. Customers demand results faster than ever these days, and the businesses that learn to keep up are the ones that will continue to grow. For leaders, ensuring that “picking up the pace” doesn’t lead to a decline in quality will be crucial.

For further elaboration on this, I reached out to Dhruv Saxena, co-founder and CEO of ShipBob. “There has been a major shift in expectations, driven by retail consumers. From two-day shipping of e-commerce orders to near real-time responses for online inquiries, people’s expectations continue to evolve,” he notes.

“Businesses have to meet these new expectations, yet just as importantly, they must do so without burning out colleagues and employees. For many businesses, this will require adopting new strategies, tools, or services that streamline operations and not only reduce the burden on their staff, but empower them.”

Companies that find the balance between increased speed and continued high-quality results will be far better positioned to grow in 2019.

4. Emphasize accountability.

2018 continued to see a major increase in remote work. While there is no doubt remote work lowers office overhead costs, increases access to a wider range of talent and has the potential to improve productivity, it doesn’t come without its challenges.

One of the biggest problems it brings is around accountability. Through my company LearnLoft’s work with hundreds of companies, the problem of accountability revolves around having competent and effective leaders. You will see more and more organizations in 2019 provide training and development around having consequential conversations.

As a business leader, you need to lead the charge by consistently holding yourself and those on your team accountable to a set of standards and values.

5. Embrace continuing education.

2018 saw a wide array of trends leave their mark on the business world, from the hype over blockchain to the increased utilization of chatbots and other AI tools. What hasn’t changed, however, is the necessity of businesses being ready to pivot and adapt to these new trends when needed.

You can save yourself a lot of headaches when you invest in your current employees to help them master the latest changes in technology. Not only will it improve employee engagement and loyalty, but this move will also help you shape your company’s future.

As Chad Halvorson writes, “Employee development both trains your current employees for possible future promotion from daily worker to management as well as shows you which employees have aptitude for such a promotion.”

Are you poised to lead your team in the right direction in 2019? As you learn more about current trends and apply them appropriately to your own business endeavors, you can have confidence in the direction of your company.

Remembering The Man Who Saved Our Industry

Posted January 29, 2019 in Membership

By Thomas J. Bowman (excerpted from his 2005 CAPPS Legislative History Report)

Herbert E. Hoffman, will be known in the hearts of many, to have been the man who saved our industry. Before I introduce you to Herbert E. Hoffman, I would like to go back to a time in the history of this industry. Without a national organization to turn to, we found ourselves with a crisis on our hands. Unbeknownst to us at the time, a proposed federal change had been in the works for months, and was on its final journey from the Supreme Court to Congress for approval. This rule change would have allowed for service of a Federal summons by first class mail. By the time the event was newsworthy enough to be picked up by a legal newspaper here in California, we were, give or take, about ninety days from what well could have been the beginning of the end for process servers.

Without the benefit of a NAPPS membership book, personal computers, and fax machines we can’t live without today, CAPPS members got busy reaching out to servers across the country. Telephones and typewriters were our tools and what materialized from the effort was a game plan meeting in Los Angeles. We knew we needed to get to Washington, D.C. and we knew we needed funds to finance our way into national politics. When all was said and done, we had three things: Two representatives, Robert Schroeder and LeRoy Lyon on their way to Washington; $25,000 pooled out of the pockets, literally, of those involved; and finally, the knowledge that would lead to the founding of NAPPS.

Mr. Schroeder and Mr. Lyon arrived in Washington with a lead they obtained from a Federal Judge in San Francisco. That contact led to a referral to Herbert E. Hoffman. I view the meeting between our representatives and Herbert Hoffman as one of those times when the planets must have aligned perfectly, because Mr. Hoffman was exactly the man for the job. Herbert, or Herb, as he’s really known, was born in 1916, in New York City. He earned his law degree from New York University in 1939, and was in private practice by the following year. Herb joined the war effort in 1942 as the Assistant Division Judge Advocate, 11th Airborne Division. He was stationed in New Guinea, the Philippines and Japan. In 1948, after completing his military service, Herb joined the Department of Justice and served as counsel in the Legislative Section of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. In 1961, he was named the Chief of the Legislative Section for the Office of the Deputy Attorney General and remained in that position until 1971. From there, Herb began service as counsel to the Judiciary Committee for the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served for four years. In 1974, until his retirement in 1982, Herb served as the Director of the American Bar Association’s Washington, D.C. office.

Herb taught at the Georgetown University Law Center, including subjects on legislative process, legislative drafting, statutory interpretation and lobbying. He also lectured on legislation for the U.S. Civil Service Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. Herb’s bar admissions include the U.S. Supreme Court, the Federal District of Southern New York, the Federal District of the District of Columbia, New York State of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Military Appeals. In his spare time, Mr. Hoffman taught Sunday school and first aid for the American Red Cross.

Herb was married for over forty years to his lovely wife, Beth, until her passing nearly 17 years ago. Herb has three adored children, David, Joan and Barbara, an attorney, teacher and school principal — I’d say a very accomplished family indeed.

So, now that you have some idea of the spectacular resume of Herb Hoffman, we’ll return to our crisis. It’s 1982. We needed help figuring out the Federal civil process. We needed someone with a foot in the door in Washington. We needed someone, maybe most telling of all, who was willing to take on a group with zero political clout, only to be matched by its limited operating budget. At the same time, a newly retired Herb Hoffman was assessing his situation. After an esteemed, forty-year legal career, Herb didn’t need a job; rather he was on the lookout for a cause here and there to keep his foot in the fire. It was our good fortune and a couple of great referrals that led to the fateful meeting between Messrs. Schroeder, Lyon and Hoffman in May of 1982. Thereafter, Mr. Hoffman agreed to take on our case.

Herb’s first step was to bring us up to speed. He explained how Federal Rules are promulgated. Committees under the U.S. Supreme Court study a proposed change, which normally takes several years. The proposal is then sent for approval by the Supreme Court, and then sent to Congress. If Congress takes no action for ninety days after receiving the proposal, it becomes law. By the time Herb was retained, he confirmed that the proposal has already made it past the Supreme Court, and had been sent to Congress. Quickly getting to work, Herb was able to convince Congressman Don Edwards to author a bill to delay the implementation of the rule change. Clearly, Herb’s expertise and lobbying efforts led to Congressman Edwards’ bill. In fact, this feat cannot be overstated.

The bill was the first time in the history of the United State that Congress ever acted to halt a proposed rule change handed down from the U.S. Supreme Court.

The following year, Herb worked out a compromise deal with the Justice Department that left the methods for service as is, with the exception of adding to the mailing provision the requirement for a “Notice and Acknowledgement of Receipt.” Several years later, Herb roared back again on our behalf, stopping another rule change which would have eliminated service of a Federal Summons via a “Waiver of Service.” Herb lobbied another compromise deal, wherein in the case of an agreement for non-service, parties could opt for a Waiver of Service.

Would you like to imagine what would have followed if Federal litigation was initiated by first class mail? How could we have battled the precedence on a state level? I don’t think it’s overstating the case to say that most of us would be making a living by some other means. When I said our meeting Herb Hoffman was our kismet, the right time, the right place, magic, whatever you want to call it, I meant it. Herb Hoffman, a legislative mastermind, pulled a rabbit out of a hat on our behalf and has earned a rightful place in the history we are telling today.

On a personal level, I had the distinct pleasure of working with Herb during the eight years I served as the Legislative Chair for NAPPS. NAPPS was just getting off the ground and Herb was an invaluable resource. I was always humbled by his grand knowledge and expertise. In Herb, you will find old school elegance and charm. Not one to puff and boast about himself, he is a kind and caring individual, and someone I consider a longtime friend. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard Herb say, “So, when are you coming to Florida to see me?” I’ve made a trip, and was so pleased when Herb came out to California for Wendy’s and my wedding. I would have to say, at the occasion of our visits, and the occasional phone call and notes we exchange, the pleasure is all mine. Life brings us to unexpected turns, and the opportunity to meet and work with a man like Herbert E. Hoffman has been a true honor. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to bring this time in our history forward for all of you to know.

Herb was an amazing man and will be sorely missed. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for taking on the impossible and succeeding. Without his efforts, our industry today would look very different if he had not acted as quickly as he did. If you would like to make a charitable donation in honor of such a great man you can donate to the Childrens’ Guardian Fund.  Donations are used to support the needs of the children in the program (birthday gifts, summer camp, etc.) and some program needs.

You can make donations online at  https://www.childrensguardianfund.org  or if you prefer to mail a check the mailing address is:

Childrens’ Guardian Fund
PO Box 49722
Sarasota, FL 34230

If you prefer to make a donation to another charity of your choice, we know he would be just as pleased; particularly in the areas of service to children and social justice.

Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

6 Horrifying Things That Can Happen To Your Body When You Sit All Day

Posted January 22, 2019 in Membership

It is quite startling if we really think about how often we find ourselves in the sitting position. Most of us sit in a car or bus to commute to work. We then walk a short while to sit in an office chair for most of the day. Then back to the car or bus, just so that we can go home and sit in front of the TV or read the newspaper. Kate Rockwood and Beth James wrote a recent article highlighting the scary things that happen to your body if you sit all day.

Scientists say it increases your chances of blood clots, depression, and even cancer.

Sitting Disease. It sounds like some mysterious condition you’d bring back from an exotic vacation, but it’s actually a modern homegrown ailment caused by going from the breakfast table to the driver’s seat, from your desk to the car to the sofa for the evening, with little movement otherwise.

The staggering amount of time many of us spend being sedentary—up to 15 hours a day if we work in an office, according to one study—can lead to problems inside and out. You’re probably familiar with the aches and pains caused by hunching over a computer, but spending too much time in a chair or slumped on the sofa also has been linked to several life-threatening conditions, including blood clots, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, heart disease, and cancer. Not even your brain is spared: In April 2018, researchers published a study that found an association between sedentary behavior and thinning of the regions of the brain that are critical to memory formation.

The issue with sitting goes beyond concern about obesity, although being overweight can increase the risk of many of the same conditions linked to sitting too much. And yes, clocking so many hours in your seat can make it harder to maintain a healthy weight: “When you’re sitting, you’re burning only half the calories you would standing or walking lightly,” says David A. Alter, MD, PhD, chair of cardiovascular and metabolic research at the UHN-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.

But even if you’re trim, a sedentary lifestyle may still wreak havoc on your health. That’s because “lack of movement affects how we burn fat and metabolize sugar and the body’s response to insulin,” says Dr. Alter. Your cholesterol may also go up, along with markers of inflammation and troponins (a protein produced by cardiac muscle cells when they’re hurt or dying). Such physiological changes can nearly double your odds of diabetes and increase your risk of cardiovascular disease by 14 percent.

In a small study last year, researchers took a group of healthy young adults who regularly clocked at least 10,000 steps a day and had them cut back to 1,500 steps. Participants still went to work and took care of their families, says Dan Cuthbertson, PhD, of the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease. It was no surprise that within two weeks, subjects increased total body fat, particularly around their middles, and lost muscle mass. But strikingly, the group also experienced a decrease in insulin sensitivity and an increase in both fat accumulated in the liver and triglycerides. Staying sedentary had consequences that were both swift and potentially serious in the long term. These changes were all reversible when participants resumed their normal activity regularly.

The health effects of sitting too much

Sitting as much as many of us do increases our chance for some 35 serious conditions, likely because getting up and moving around is key for regulating proteins, genes, and other systems that lower our susceptibility to disease. Below, the effects of “sittingitis”:

1. Depression and anxiety

The more you sit at work, the greater your risk, even if you exercise, a study in Mental Health and Physical Activity found. On the flip side, other research shows that the more people move throughout the day, the happier they are.

2. Back and neck pain

Just four hours of sitting can compress a key disc in your lower back, says Gregory Billy, MD, associate professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation at Penn State University. Poor posture can also lead to disc problems in your neck.

3. Cancer

Risk of colon and endometrial cancer goes up even after accounting for exercise, possibly due to inflammation, weight gain, and other changes. One review in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reports that for every additional two hours per day spent sitting, risk jumps 8 percent and 10 percent for colon cancer and endometrial cancer respectively.

4. Obesity, diabetes, and heart trouble

Yes, you burn fewer calories sitting, but also the hormone insulin’s ability to move glucose out of blood and into cells may decline when you sit for long periods, Dr. Alter says. Cholesterol and markers of inflammation may go up; how you metabolize fat changes; and vascular function may be reduced.

5. Weak bones

Weight-bearing exercise, including standing and walking, stresses your skeleton in a good way, signaling specialized cells to replace old bone tissue with new. When you sit too much, the body replaces less of what it loses, leading to fragile bones and a greater risk of osteoporosis, especially as you get older.

6. Blood clots

Slow blood flow in the legs from a sedentary lifestyle, possibly along with lower levels of clot-preventing proteins, increases your risk. Women who sat for more than 40 hours per week had more than double the risk of a clot moving to their lungs compared with those who sat less than 10 hours.

Can getting more exercise help?

Chairs are hardly a modern invention, but roughly 200 years ago, people sat for just five hours a day. The rest of their waking hours were filled with physical exertion: manually laundering clothes, kneading bread, walking places, working in the garden, you get the idea. If your great-great-great-great-great-great-grandma didn’t swear by her Spin class, it’s as much because she was doing a low-key workout from sunup to sundown as due to the fact that those classes didn’t exist. Today, including eight hours of slumber at night, we may move as little as 60 minutes each day.

Were our ancestors cocooned from the perils of a sedentary lifestyle because they were moving more, or because they weren’t sitting as much? That’s hard to parse, says Dr. Alter. We do know that only 18.7 percent of American women meet the federal guidelines for physical activity (at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous cardio exercise each week).

Your goal: Replace at least 2 hours of sitting a day with movement breaks.

There’s no question that hitting those targets can help your health and improve your longevity. But it may take more than double that amount of conscious exercise to offset the time you spend sitting: A study in The Lancet that analyzed data from more than 1 million adults found that it took 60 to 75 minutes of moderate cardio per day to wipe out sitting’s higher risk of premature death. And even the most active participants saw an uptick in mortality risk when they sat in front of the TV for five or more hours a day.

That means exercise, while worthwhile, doesn’t completely make up for sitting. When researchers strapped activity monitors on nearly 8,000 adults 45 and older, they found that sitting for 12 or more hours a day increased the odds of early death regardless of exercise habits. And the risk was especially high if chair time was in uninterrupted stretches of 60 to 90 minutes, says Keith Diaz, PhD, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University.

“It’s simply not enough to be active or move at one specific time of the day,” says Diaz. “We need to be mindful of moving frequently throughout the day in addition to exercising.”

How to mix in more movement

Before you quit your job or swap your washing machine for a washboard and a scrub brush, know this: Moving more doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing endeavor. You can have your modern life and conveniences (thank you, already-churned butter!) without fear that you’re harming your body. The main trick is to scale back both your sitting and how many consecutive minutes you spend in one seat.

A study from King’s College London showed that people who targeted their sitting time with a specific strategy—say, switching to a standing desk or walking to the water cooler more often—were more effective in reducing their sedentariness than those who focused on adding more exercise sessions into their days.

So work on replacing at least two hours of tush time with movement breaks—a shift associated with all sorts of benefits, including 14 percent lower triglycerides, higher “good” HDL cholesterol, a trimmer waistline, and better glucose control, according to a study in the European Heart Journal. “Little breaks don’t seem like much, but they add up,” says Dr. Alter. In fact, two hours spread over the roughly 16 hours you’re awake is about eight minutes an hour, and you can do those in spurts. One study has shown that adding two minutes more walking to each hour can decrease a person’s risk of dying by 33 percent.

You might also find that there are times you can eliminate sitting entirely. Must you call your sister from the sofa, or could you chat while strolling? What if you prepped dinner while standing at the counter or passed up a seat on the train? The fact that women who sat the most had more than twice the risk of a clot moving to their lungs compared with those who sat the least makes it easier to think of perching as a last resort.

The best way to sit in your chair

Some of the symptoms of too much sitting have to do with the way we sit. “Most of us tend to collapse into our seats so our shoulders roll forward and our back muscles get overstretched,” says Rebecca Seguin, PhD, an exercise physiologist and associate professor at Cornell. In an ideal world, this is how you should always position yourself in your chair:

• Shoulders back and down
• Chin slightly tucked to keep your head in a neutral position
• Feet flat on the floor—not crossed or twisted under you
• Knees lower than your hips

“Proper alignment also helps you place the least amount of strain on your muscles, ligaments, and bones,” says Stacey Pierce-Talsma, DO, of Touro University California. That means watching TV head-on (rather than craning your neck) and straightening up when you notice you’re slumping.

A few adjustments to your environment will also help, so move the computer closer to your chair and elevate it so your shoulders and spine aren’t curling forward. In the car, adjust your seat height so that your knees are slightly bent and lower than your hips. A pillow or lumbar support can help thwart slouching and keep your lumbar spine slightly arched, says Dr. Pierce-Talsma. These small tweaks to the way you sit—plus finding ways to work in more non-exercise movement—can lead to huge benefits to your health. That deserves a standing ovation.