SUSTAINING MEMBER(S)

Douglas Lusk, J.D.

Brief History:

As a 1L law student frustrated by the state of the current curriculum being offered to teach legal technology at his law school, Doug founded the National Society for Legal Technology in 2015. The organization started as a local student club, but quickly spread to in-classroom curriculum once schools starting discovering the curriculum made available through the NSLT were better than the textbooks currently being utilized. By the time Doug graduated from law school, the curriculum he created and distributed through the NSLT was being utilized by thousands of students in over 75 schools and had independent study students in 9 countries. As of spring semester 2019, the number has now grown to 132 schools using the NSLT system and teaching Doug’s curriculum.

Services offered:

The NSLT offers unlimited, on-demand interactive training on 26 legal software programs for one low annual subscription price.

Something unique about the representative:

Douglas Lusk, J.D.is the Founder and CEO of National Society for Legal Technology (NSLT). Doug received his Juris Doctorate in May 2018 from the University of La Verne, College of Law, in Ontario, California. Doug’s goal, as Founder of the NSLT, is to promote the need for on-going legal technology education in the legal industry as a whole and works to connect students and professionals with legal technology educational resources. In November 2016, in recognition of the NSLT’s new Legal Technology Certification program, the NSLT was nominated for an Innovation in Legal Technology Education award at abovethelaw.com. Doug also served in 2016 as Committee Chairman of the Legal Technology Committee of the Ready for Practice Section of the American Bar Association Law Student Division (try and fit that on a business card!). Doug’s committee work involved working with the Ready for Practice Section Committee to develop best practice recommendations and informational seminars for the ABA to promote legal technology education as part of the law school curriculum. Doug is a nationally recognized expert in the field of legal technology education and has been a guest speaker at various bar association conferences across the nation. Doug’s article on “What is missing when it comes to legal technology?” was published in USAToday in March 2018. The NSLT’s Legal Technology Certificate is used as curriculum in 132 Universities as the required courseware to teach Paralegal and Law Students how to use legal software programs.

Besides being involved in legal technology, Doug is also very passionate about religious freedom and currently serves internationally on the Committee for Diversity for the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. Doug is an Adjunct Professor of Law teaching Law Office Technology at Fullerton College, Mt. San Antonio Community College, and Salt Lake Community College. Doug resides in Valley Village, California with his fiancé, Peter, and their 13-year old son, Jared.

Contact Douglas.Lusk@legaltechsociety.org for more information.

https://legaltechsociety.wildapricot.org

VOTING MEMBER(S)

Patrick Beardsley

Hello, my name is Patrick Beardsley and I'm from San Diego, CA. I attended college at UC Santa Cruz and earned my paralegal certificate from UCSD Paralegal Extension. I currently work for Kirby & McGuinn, A P.C. in the field of loan servicing. I wanted to work in the legal field so that I would be able to help people. I love writing, music, nature, and meditation. I collect tickets from movies, concerts, plays, museums, basically anywhere I go, but these documents I don't scan into my computer. I'm happy to have these in paper!

Helen Glenister

I was born and raised in Donegal, Ireland. After high school, I went to a specialized training Academy where I studied Advanced Secretarial, Accounting and Legal Studies. After working in Accounting and Administration for a few years, I moved to London where I worked for 5 years before applying for a Green Card to come to the US through a special lottery for US Visas.

My sister and I moved to the US in 1992 and when we first moved here, I had 4 jobs and worked 7 days a week. One of those jobs was as weekend receptionist for a large Real Estate brokerage, which led me into the Real Estate and Property Management business. As well as doing Secretarial and Accounting work, I was also responsible for generating property management and lease agreements. It was then I discovered my love of contracts, which led me to work for Scripps Institute of Oceanography as a Research Assistant and Contracts and Grant Administrator. I also started taking a lot of classes in the legal profession and in 2000 I went to night school to earn my Paralegal Certificate at Cal State San Marcos. By then, I was working for a Biotech company doing Contract Administration and my mentor decided to bring the Patent business back “in house” for the firm. Together we navigated the Patent and Trademark industry where we authored 2 handbooks for other “newbies” entering the Patent field.

My husband is a 30 year career officer in the Navy so we moved 12 times in 15 years, so my career has taken me to Washington, DC (twice), Texas, Japan(twice) and San Diego and each time I had to reinvent myself and my career but having the broad background in Patents and Trademarks has allowed me find amazing opportunities in the IP field. I am currently working with Procopio in the Del Mar office and will celebrate my 2^nd year anniversary this month.

My interests include spending time with my husband and 2 boys, who are graduating High School and Middle School in June and discovering fun things to do around San Diego with my family. I like to cook, read, walk, travel and think about home improvement projects we can do in the future. I also like to volunteer for causes dear to my heart like Irish Outreach, Boy Scouts of America and our son’s schools and church. I have run several fundraisers and service projects for each of these organizations and I believe this is a good example to my kids to “show service before self”. When we lived overseas, I volunteered with the American Red Cross, USO, and many military organizations, especially those who help families and spouses of servicemembers. I also taught English to many local Japanese students and work with international organizations to help families serving overseas.

This Fall our older son heads to college and my husband retires from the US Navy after almost 30 years of service as our youngest starts High School. I am fortunate to have my family in San Diego and an excited to see where this next chapter in our lives leads us.

Associate MEMBER(S)

Denise Blassak

I grew up in Wisconsin—a land of cold winters, hot summers, custard, cheese and Packers. My initial legal exposure took place there when I began working as a stenographer at age 17. Though it was really after taking the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) that I set out on the paralegal path. I continued my education at Winona State University in Minnesota, obtaining an ABA approved Bachelor of Science-Paralegal Degree. While in school, I realized my interest in constitutional law, research and writing. After spending some time in civil lit and worker’s comp in Wisconsin, I headed west again. While in San Diego I worked in immigration before entering the juvenile dependency field. Beyond reading up on the latest immigration news, I enjoy travel, Netflix movies, music in the park, and spending time with family and friends.

Carrie McVay

My name is Carrie McVay and I am originally from Sacramento, CA. I moved to San Diego after graduating from the University of Southern California with a BA in Religion. After a brief (8 year!) hiatus in Denver, CO, where I obtained by ABA Approved Paralegal Certificate from Arapahoe Community College, my husband and I are just recently back in San Diego. I have about 5 years experience in the legal field, largely in employment law and higher education. I find the legal field to be complex, fascinating and ever-evolving. The bulk of my experience as a Paralegal was at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus where I worked on everything from employment cases to open records requests. I remember responding to a grand jury subpoena while at CU, an experience that was both terrifying and exciting!

Having been deprived of the ocean for 8 years, my husband and I spend lots of time at the beach. I also love elephants (my spirit animal) and if I wasn't a paralegal I'd probably be a zookeeper. I am thrilled to be a part of SDPA and look forward to learning as possible from my comrades and their variety of experience and expertise.

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