CALSPro - California Association of Legal Support Professionals

Meet CALSPro Board Member, Tom Bowman

Posted May 15, 2018 in Membership

Tom Bowman has a long and storied career in process serving. He told us that he served his first paper in April 1965; happily serving papers for 53 years. As with so many process servers, Tom began serving process as a side job. He was working at the Kodak processing lab in Palo Alto and needed extra income. He sorted papers at his kitchen table for a number of years before becoming a full time business owner. Tom has had an office in San Jose for 45 years.

Tom enjoys being out in the field and finds that proper methods for service of process result in a positive experience with parties being served. Tom credits his membership in CALSPro for being the most valuable resource to him as a process server and business owner. Tom joined CAPPS in 1975 and quickly became an active member. He served his first term as a board member in 1976. He has held the office of President, Vice President, Treasurer and two terms as the Legislative Chairman. Tom currently serves as the Assault Chair. Tom is also a founding member of NAPPS.

Tom with his son, Will.

Tom’s father was in the Air Force, so Tom’s early years included many moves from one place to the next. By the time Tom started high school, he had attended 11 different schools. Talking to people and making a new set of friends became of big part of his life as a kid. Tom relies on his ease with conversation out in the field and still loves talking to people. His family teases him for being the guy who starts a conversation in an elevator instead of looking up at the floor indicator in silence “like you’re supposed to” and for always having a story that starts with “I was talking to some guy in line today…”

Tom enjoys spending time with his family and getting to put his feet up on the weekends.  He tries to catch as many Sharks and Warriors games as possible and enjoys NASCAR as well. Tom collects and occasionally gets out to ride one of his vintage Cushman scooters. He is a member of the Northern California Cushman Club & is a past president of that organization. He is also a member of the national club.

Tom and Wendy celebrate their 25^th wedding anniversary this month. Their kids are now college age, so they are adjusting to a lot more peace and quiet these days. To put a stop to that, they adopted Millie, a lab/mixed up mutt, who was in a shelter in Houston when Hurricane Harvey hit. She and 300 other homeless dogs were flown out to California to make room in the Houston shelters for dogs displaced due to the storm. The newest Bowman is enjoying long walks with Wendy and starting to settle in pretty well.

Tom feels very blessed with a wonderful family and many lifelong friends. He is grateful for good health and being able to get out each day to see where the road will take him.

A Message From The President: Have You Decided This Is Your Career Yet?

Posted April 24, 2018 in Membership

By Larry Kirlin

Who are we?  I mean, who is CALSPro and who are our members?  Let me start with the latter.

The way I see it, our members are the people who have decided to call the legal support industry their profession. Just because you work in the profession doesn’t mean you’ve accepted it as your profession.  Although some of us were born into a family business, most of us came into it from another door.

I started in the business as a microfilm camera operator, a.k.a. filmer, while going to college. By the time I graduated years later, I was fully entrenched in the business. I didn’t exactly decide to make this my profession — it kind of just snuck up on me and next thing you know, here I am. There was a point, however, that I realized I was part of the profession and decided to make it a career. That’s about the time I joined CALSPro.

The truth is, there have been many, many times when I wanted to throw in the towel and look for a different career. This mostly happens when a client decides to push my every last button and I say to myself, “They don’t pay me enough to deal with this crap!”  Then a day later I get a call from a different client thanking me for pulling off a miracle and it reinvigorates my spirit. Anyone know where I’m coming from?

So, back to the other part of my original question, who is CALSPro? CALSPro is an association of people who have decided to be part of the legal support profession. Not only do they want to be part of it, they want to initiate change and ensure the profession thrives for future generations.  The members of CALSPro appreciate the work that comes to them because of their membership but it is not the primary reason they are members. The primary reasons they join are to protect, promote and educate.

My question to non-members is, have you decided this is your career yet?  If you like what you are doing and want to keep doing it, then jump on board.  Make the decision to join CALSPro and be an active participant in your future.

Meet CALSPro Vice President and Advertising Committee Chair, Robert Porambo

Posted April 19, 2018 in Membership

Robert Porambo was born in New York and after the Vietnam War, his parents moved the family to California (great move Mom & Dad!)  He has been married to his lovely wife, Liz, for almost 8 years and they have four amazing children, two amazing step-children and two great dogs.  They also have four grand kids and five grand dogs.

In his spare time, Robert loves to camp, ride ATVs, fish, play softball, and golf. He always looks forward to Sunday dinners with his family.

He began his attorney service career in 1981 and has been at Knox Attorney Service ever since.  In fact, he spent his 18th birthday serving papers, which was a great rite of passage. Robert originally started in Knox’s accounting department and then transferred to the process department in 1987.  In 1989, he was named the process manager, became a shareholder in Knox in 1995, and was named CFO in 2013.

“I truly love everything about  legal support industry — people I work with, my clients and also other legal support professionals. This may sound crazy, but  I also look forward to the challenges that we’re faced with every day.”

Expanding on this thought, Robert feels he has been truly blessed with an opportunity to work at Knox over the years and feels the best way to pay this forward is to give back to this amazing industry by serving on the CALSPro Board and hopefully next year, serving as the CALSPro President.  He fully understands that it’s the amazing and dedicated group of  people that formed CALSPro, and those who followed, that have protected and preserved our industry.

“Without these people, who knows what I would be doing,”

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An Overview of 2017 Tax Legislation

Friend of CALSPro, Blake Murphy, Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley, has provided us with the following important information:

Click HERE for a summary provided by PwC for Morgan Stanley clients on how to navigate the new tax landscape.

Feel free to reach out to Blake, however please consult with your own Tax Advisor regarding any potential tax or legal issues as Morgan Stanley does not provide tax or legal advice.

Blake Murphy
Financial Advisor
CA Insurance Lic. #0L06486
NMLS #1549183
Morgan Stanley
1111 Prospect St, Suite 200 | La Jolla, CA 92037
Phone: 858-729-5000 Direct: 858-729-5032
Blake.Murphy@MS.com

Meet CALSPro Secretary-Treasurer & Chairman of the Board, Ken Hastings

Posted March 20, 2018 in Membership

Kenneth “Ken” Hastings was born on Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California.  His father was stationed on the installation along with his best friend K. Paul Wysong — the K stands for Kenneth. His father and Paul shared a special bond so his father was insightful enough to name him after this amazing man.

He wasn’t raised anywhere per se… He lived in California his entire childhood but never in one spot for too long — so much so that he went to 13 schools in 13 years (K-12).

Ken is a Disabled U.S. Army Veteran who served between 1994 and 1997.  He was injured in an accident in the motor pool which damaged his spine. He was deployed to the former Yugoslavia on a peace keeping mission with the United Nations in a region now known as Bosnia Herzegovina. He was honorably discharged after a 3-year enlistment in 1997.

Ken is married to Wendi Hastings and they are celebrating their 15th anniversary this April by taking a cruise to Mexico, Belize and the Island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras.

They have three children — Alyson 18, Cameron 18, and Emilie 14 (2 freshmen in college and a freshman in high school). They also have 2 shih tzu puppies named Maverick and Roxy.

In his spare time, Ken likes to go to the the wineries around Temecula or take his Harley up to Julian for a nice ride.

Thanks to the support of Paul Wysong, Hastings Professional Process Servers was established in late 2010.  Ken joined CALSPro in early 2011 and has been learning about legal support services ever since.

“I enjoy getting people served — plain and simple but that is our job. We are hired by people to provide “legal notice” and that has always been what I strive to do.”

Ken enjoys participating on the CALSPro Board of Directors.  In his earlier years, his focus was making sure that the “little guy” had a voice of reason and thought that he was a good candidate to speak for them. Over the past several years, he has maintained that voice but has grown some. Now he can be found speaking up for CASLPro members as a whole — what is best for everyone.

When asked what other profession he would have chosen if he didn’t have this one, here’s his answer:

“That’s too hard to answer because I’m a big kid at heart.  A fighter pilot, Navy SEAL, Army Green Beret, race car driver, or professional baseball player would have all made the list.”

Meet CALSPro Education Committee Chair, Director Andrew Gowing

Posted February 20, 2018 in Membership

Andrew Gowing is on the Board of Directors of CALSPro serving as the Education Committee Chair

Andrew was born in Fountain Valley and raised in Whittier, California. He has a wife, Lindsay, of five years, a 2-year old son named Paxton, and a new one on the way (August 2018).

Andrew enjoys playing golf in his spare time and hanging out with his wife and son (not in that order). He says he occasionally “throws it back to college and high school and shoots some hoops.”

Out of high school, Andrew had a few interesting jobs including UPS, Security at Disneyland, and selling wax at gas stations. He also worked for his dad’s Private Investigation company conducting surveillance on Workman’s Compensation claimants.

Andrew has been at Janney and Janney Attorney Service since 2009 — first as a Route Driver/Process Server for the first four years — and now as the Director of Business Development for the past five. When asked what he enjoys most about his career, Andrew said,

“I enjoy the people I work with, our customers that I get to help on a daily basis, and most of all helping to manage a company that plays an integral part of people’s right to due process.”

Andrew participates on the board with CALSPro to help them maintain the important role they play in the peoples’ right to due process. He also wants to help make sure their industry is around for another 50 years — an industry that is necessary for the business he is engaged in, and a business that helps him support his family.

“I also really enjoy all of the people that make up the Board and the Association — all hard working people that care about what they do for a living and care for others who happen to sometimes be competitors.”

When asked if he had an opportunity to have any other career, what would it be, he answered that he would be coaching and working in real estate.

Great Organizations Are Made Up Of Great People

Posted February 13, 2018 in Membership

By Larry Kirlin, President

Do you know the salary for being a CALSPro board member? You guessed it — a whopping $0.00.  Now, consider the average income our board members make as business owners and managers. To be fair, we shouldn’t consider big shots like Mike Kern in the average but I’m talking about us mere humans…

But seriously, our Board is comprised of some of the top talent in our industry and we are all volunteering our time to support the association. My hat is off to each volunteer that helps keep this association running smoothly.

That being said, I want to point out a few people that have made a significant impact this year so far:

Tom Alkema

Did you think we have forgotten about our Photocopy Industry members?  No way!  Tom has been working behind the scenes with a group of industry veterans to review all facets of the subpoena and authorization code sections. Once complete, his team will present their recommendations to the CALSPro Board of Directors so they can make their way through the legislative process.

From what I’ve seen so far, this will be the single most important review of the photocopy codes since their inception in the 1980’s. Please let Tom know if you have any input that can benefit the industry.

Andrew Gowing

For organizing a team to update the CCPS materials and to host the first seminar of 2018 in San Jose.  The CCPS program is one of our most valuable assets and Andrew has a plan to make the program more accessible than ever.

Anita Pasillas

For being on just about every committee there is AND publishing the finest newsletter in the industry.  Great content. Great layout. All that, plus being on time. They say if you want something done, give it to a busy person — that person is Anita. David Nill you have a jewel on your hands with Anita.

Kristian Pujol

For his countless hours of hard work coordinating the annual membership renewal campaign. Without Kristian’s effort and leadership, we would be in a desperate situation for members. Thankfully, he was able to muscle his way to adding about 20 new members already this year. We have a long way to go before we hit our target of 50 but Kristian is the right man at the helm to see us to our goal.

Jay Roll

For his nearly daily effort to keep the website updated with relevant content. If you aren’t subscribed to the blogs, you are missing out on one of the greatest benefits we offer our members today.

It’s always a risk when you make a list like this that I have forgotten someone. Let me just say to the rest of the volunteers, that you are not forgotten. I appreciate each of you individually and will recognize your efforts publicly at another time.

Meet CALSPro Technology Committee Chair, Director Jay Roll

Posted January 16, 2018 in Membership

Jay Roll is on the Board of Directors of CALSPro serving as the Technology and Website Committee Chair.

He was born and raised in Whittier, California and has lived in Southern California his entire life. He has been married to his wonderful wife for 7 years now. They don’t have children yet but are working on it. Their one baby is a dog named Bruno who is a German Shepard, Alaskan Malamute, Siberian Husky, Pug, Chihuahua, Australian Terrier mix (picture a German Shepard/Corgi mix).

Jay is an avid golfer and golfs as much as he possibly can without upsetting the Mrs! He is very competitive and loves any sports/games that challenge him to improve himself mentally or physically.

As far as professional experience, Jay began working with Janney and Janney Attorney Service in 1999 with zero knowledge of the industry but he quickly developed a love for the company and the industry.

His first assignment was picking up documents from clients in the Orange County area and filing those documents at the OC Central courthouse. After a year, he took over as the Court Manager at OC Central. Shortly after that, he was moved into the office full time as a Court service dispatcher.

After a few years of experience under his belt, Jay became the Court Services manager for their Orange County office. Orange County lead the way for electronic filing and he found this to be an opportunity to get involved with a new project. He was then appointed as the Director of Electronic Filing for Janney and Janney and was heavily involved with finding out a way to integrate the company with eFiling. They later became an Electronic Filing Service Provider with Orange County and then with several other courts in California.

Currently Jay finds himself working company-wide to streamline current processes in order to improve the client experience.

When asked what he enjoys most about his career, Jay said,

“I enjoy finding ways to improve our company as a whole. The past couple of years this has been my sole focus. I want us to run as efficiently as possible as we continue to adapt to our electronic environment.”

Jay has been a member of CALSPro for many years. He always admired the men and women who would dedicate so much time and energy to the profession. He never saw himself as one of them, feeling they were much more knowledgeable than he. After procrastinating running for the Board for a few years he finally decided it was time to apply himself and to learn as much as he could by joining the people he admired so much.

We asked Jay if he had the opportunity to have any other career, what would it be? Here’s what he said:

“That is an interesting question. I am not good enough to golf professionally, or to be a Pro at a Country club, but If given a chance I would try to accomplish just that. I am fascinated with the sport because it truly is a game that you are completely in charge of. All of your mistakes are your own, and only you can improve the outcome.”

Meet Your CALSPro President, Larry Kirlin

Posted December 7, 2017 in Membership

CALSPro President Larry Kirlin began his professional life when he enlisted in the Navy’s delayed entry program shortly after his 17th birthday. He left for boot camp after graduating from St. Pius X High School in Pottstown, PA. During active duty service (1985-91), he was trained as an aircraft electronics technician and traveled the world repairing the Navy’s aircraft.

The second chapter of his professional life began when he left active duty to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering at California State University, Fresno. While going to school he continued with the Navy as a reservist and began working in the legal support industry with Attorney’s Diversified Services (ADS). Along the way he also helped establish Digidex, the digital division of ADS. Eventually he reached the rank of Master Chief in the Navy and Co-Owner of ADS.

The current chapter of his career began in June 2012 when he was recruited by First Legal to open offices in the Central Valley. Within the first year he helped open offices in Fresno, Bakersfield and Modesto. His region eventually expanded to include several other offices in Central and Northern California.

On a personal note, we asked Larry what career he would be in if he wasn’t in this one. Here’s his response:

If I wasn’t in this industry I’d probably be an Electrical Engineer, since that’s my degree field. My real dream job would be working for the State Department or some other sort of foreign service duty. I have a deep respect for other cultures and would enjoy working with small governments to improve their relationship with the United States.

We’re Off To A Strong Start!

Posted November 9, 2017 in Membership

By Larry Kirlin, President

In keeping with my goals for 2017-2018, our committees are off to a strong start. I’ve met with each of our cornerstone committee chairs to discuss their individual goals and make sure we don’t lose any momentum.

Here is a glimpse of what is going on around the association:

50th Anniversary Conference

Mark Manchester already has the wheels in motion for our 50th Anniversary conference in Sacramento. His committee is working with Andy Estin and the Historical committee to create an unforgettable event. Mark your calendars now (October 5-7, 2018) and be sure to invite your family.

CCPS Classes

Andrew Gowing and the Continuing Education committee are gearing up for a full season of CCPS classes. The course materials will undergo a full review after the new laws go into effect on January 1st. Keep your eye on the Events page on the website to locate a class near you.

Legislation

Chad Barger is starting his rookie year as the Legislative Chair. His committee already met to formulate their agenda for the 2018 season.

Photocopy Sub-Committee

Tom Alkema is leading a sub-committee specific to the Photocopy industry. Without letting the cat out of the bag I’ll tell you that we have some great stuff brewing for next year.

Membership Drive

Kristian Pujol and the Membership committee have the wheels in motion for the most important membership drive since CAPPS became CALSPro. Not only do they have to educate our existing members on the benefits of the new membership categories, they are going to need to add at least 30 new members to our ranks.

Area Governor Program

Robert Porambo recently reestablished the long lost Area Governor program. He gave his governors specific goals including direct contact with each member and regional social events. We are going back to the formula that made the association into the family it is today.

2017 Annual Conference Update

Last but not least I wanted to be the first to pass along some great news about our 2017 Annual Conference. Thanks to hard work and a sharp pencil, Ken Hastings and his committee were able to generate a profit on the conference for the first time in many years. Thank you Ken for keeping your eye on the bottom line while organizing the best conference in recent memory.

Congratulations!

A Message From The President

Posted October 12, 2017 in Membership

By Larry Kirlin, President CALSPro

Over the past two weeks I’ve been in contact with our leaders to discuss my vision for the next 12 months.  First on my list is membership.  We all need to focus on promoting the new membership categories and recruiting new members.

Secondly I want to reinstitute the Area Governor program.

The third thing I want to do is improve our communications.  That means blogs twice each week and a streamlined electronic newsletter.  I want our members to feel informed and up to date on the association’s business at all times.

Listed below are your leaders.  Reach out to them when you need help.  Let us know if you would like to serve.  We are looking for your ideas and your time to help carry them forward.

CALSPro Leadership 2017-2018

Officers

President: Larry Kirlin

Vice President: Robert Porambo

Treasurer/Secretary: Ken Hastings

BOD: Chad Barger, Tom Bowman, Andrew Gowing, Ken Hastings, Larry Kirlin, Mark Manchester, Robert Porambo, Anita Pasillas, Kristian Pujol, Jay Roll, Lauri Rowland

Chairman of Board: Ken Hastings

Committees

Advertising: Robert Porambo

Assault Advisor: Tom Bowman

Bylaws: Lauri Rowland

CICA: Chad Barger

Conference: Mark Manchester

Dispute Resolution: Jeremiah Jones

Education: Andrew Gowing

Forms: Tony Klein

History: Andy Estin

Investment: Ken Hastings (by policy)

Legislation: Chad Barger

Membership: Kristian Pujol

Newsletter: Anita Pasillas

Photographer: Mike Kern

Technology: Jay Roll

Website: Jay Roll