CALSPro - California Association of Legal Support Professionals

Meet CALSPro Board Member, Anita Pasillas

Posted August 7, 2018 in Membership

Anita, far left, with her three children

Anita Pasillas is a true native Californian — born and raised not too far from where she works today at Rapid Legal.  She has three wonderful children Jonathan, Marissa and Brittany, along with a grandson, Isaiah. Guarding the house is their dog, Lulu. Anita says, “What Lulu lacks in size and ferocity, she makes up for with cleverness and a loud bark.”

In her spare time, Anita loves to garden, hike, play the guitar and cook. Should she ever decide to leave the legal business, she’s been been told she could make a fortune selling her chicken tacos!

Anita started in the legal industry with Rapid Legal in 2010 with just enough knowledge to get her foot in the door. She began managing their nationwide service of process orders back when they were printed and hand-endorsed. After a few years, Anita felt that she needed more in-depth knowledge so she pursued her Paralegal degree. This helped provide an understanding of not only the documents, but the different case types, she would be dealing with on a daily basis. She enjoys having opportunities every day to help someone new and meet people.

Looking to be more challenged and involved in the industry, Anita decided to attend a CALSPro board meeting. After attending many CALSPro board meetings and seeing what a difference the association and all the dedicated individuals had made to the industry, she decided to accept the nomination to the Board and run.

Although at first, Anita felt somewhat intimidated by all the knowledge and experience on the CALSPro board, she still felt it was important to volunteer and help where needed and is very glad of that decision. Anita says,

“Even though the part I currently play as a board member is small, it has provided me the opportunity to meet new people and help the industry I am proud to be a part of.”

CALSPro Is Growing! A Message From The President

Posted July 17, 2018 in Membership

By Larry Kirlin, CALSPro President

It’s official.  Our association is growing again.  We have more members today than we had last year. While that may not seem like a big deal, it certainly is. I was the membership committee chairman back in 2010 and I know we weren’t growing then or any year since. In fact, associations all over America have been contracting for more than a decade and many are still heading in the wrong direction.

So what happened to us?

How did we reverse the trend this year? First of all, it wasn’t easy. Brute force by the individuals on the membership committee is the biggest factor but they couldn’t do it if the association wasn’t offering a good value to the members.

What changed is our focus.

We rallied the industry leaders together for a strategic planning session (SPS) last summer to determine the cause for our perpetual decline and a plan to change course.

I have written about the outcome of the SPS in previous articles so I won’t rehash old news. What I will say is that we purposely asked our members for their opinions and put as many suggestions into place as possible. I have kept the list of recommendations on my desk for the past year and refer to it any time I’m confused about my direction. By staying focused, our leaders have implemented 90%+ of the recommendations already.  As evidenced by the growth in membership, I can proudly proclaim the changes are working.

One of the most significant changes we made last year was the creation of the Independent Contractor category.  This new, lower-priced, option reduced the barrier for entry for smaller companies and sole proprietors.  A predicted side effect of this lower rate was lower revenue.  We knew we would have to make up the difference in volume.  We are still a little short on revenue this year but we have a plan for bridging the gap:

1) Continue to recruit new members in all categories

2) Sell advertising and sponsor packages

3) Make 2018 the best annual conference in CALSPro history!

How can you help?

Refer to 1, 2 & 3 above.  Especially #3. The theme for our conference is our 50^th anniversary but the hot topic will be the effect of the Dynamex decision on our industry.  Plan on being in Sacramento on October 5-7 so you can be a part of this historic event.

Legislative Committee Update

Posted July 10, 2018 in Legislation

By Chad Barger

CALSPro bill, AB 2286

Sponsored by state Assemblyman, Phillip Chen, R-55^th District, which amends the service hours for a CCP1011(b) is still working its way through the legislature, but is expected to be signed by the Governor soon.  After negotiations with the Senate and Assembly judiciary, we agreed to the hours of 8 AM to 8 PM.  This is an improvement over the current hours of 9 AM to 6 PM and will give process servers additional time to complete this type of service.

Dynamex, Dynamex, Dynamex!

Since the California Supreme Court decision and our recent blogs, blasts and newsletters, I’ve received numerous calls from concerned members.  This has become one of the biggest issues we’ve faced in recent years regarding independent contractors.  If you’re unfamiliar with the case, you can navigate to the Blog we published to our site by clicking here.  We’ve also secured Amber S. Healy from Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romp as a special speaker at our 50^th conference to discuss this in depth and help guide our members through this difficult time.  Please join the discussion by attending conference this year in Sacramento from October 5-7, 2018.

Greater Access

Lastly, the committee is moving forward with our plans to create greater access to guarded/gated multiple commercial business complexes and multiple residential buildings. We’re always looking for member feedback and ideas.  If you have something you’d like us to address, or to voice any concerns you may have, please contact me at cbarger@attorneyscertified.com to discuss.

Stay tuned for more legislative update in the months to come.

Meet CALSPro Board Member, Kristian Pujol

Posted July 3, 2018 in Membership

Kristian Pujol grew up in the attorney service industry as the second eldest son of Sal and Sheila Pujol, founders of Commercial Process Serving, Inc.  Originally from Costa Rica, his parents moved to California in the late 60’s to pursue the American Dream. He laughs reminiscing about his childhood having to always make frequent stops in the car with his parents in order to serve papers oftentimes on Sundays before mass or after school.  He was then forced into labor as a teenager working in the afternoons at the courthouse, filing and researching legal documents for the growing family business.

Kristian said his schooling and love for reading made a big impact on his life early on, not just intellectually, but socially and culturally. He had big dreams of becoming a writer, attorney, or working for the United Nations; but as they say, God had other plans. After a four-year enlistment in the U.S. Air Force, Kristian went on to UCLA and earned a Bachelors Degree in Political Science with an emphasis on Business Administration. At that point in time, he decided to set his thoughts of law or business school aside and concentrate his efforts on further developing the family business and helping his parents make the transition to retirement. The rest is history. Commercial Process Serving, Inc. grew and expanded into three offices in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties, has statewide and nationwide clients, and is a current California Electronic Filing Service Provider (EFSP).

Kristian enjoys many aspects of his career such as the blessings of working with family; the many challenges and learning experiences in managing a corporate business; and the civic satisfaction in helping people seeking justice with their constitutional right to due process and discovery. He finds meaning in the legal field. Kristian said his participation on the CALSPro board comes from his innate drive to understand and influence the world a little further through direct participation and personal touch rather than solely philosophical reflection.

“The fact that legal parties, attorney and courts have to abide by the rules and procedures we sometimes help shape, draft, prevent or come to pass, makes me proud of our democracy and legal system. It’s fascinating that anyone can make a difference, even myself, if we just volunteer and sacrifice the time.”

With his precious spare time, Kristian enjoys listening to music, reading, writing and playing indoor soccer. He is the proud father of two young boys and enjoys taking them to Karate, playing outdoors, and reading to them. Kristian and his wife, Kristi, are celebrating their 15^th wedding anniversary this year and both still enjoy dancing to Latin rhythms and stargazing the nighttime sky. He is part of the lector team at his local church and enjoys reading and attending mass with his family on Sundays, but spares his kids from serving papers on the weekends.

When asked if he had the opportunity to have any other choice in career, he said probably a writer, astronomer, or meteorologist.

“My wife said a weatherman would have been the perfect job for me because I am not afraid of being on camera, enjoy speaking publicly, and love the weather.”

Kristian did earn his Master’s Degree from UCSB and teaches when he finds the opportunity and time. He currently sits on most committees of CALPro, chairs Membership, and was awarded Member of the Year in 2017.

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,”

___________________________________________________

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.