Prosecutor to Speak on Legal Document Assistant Registration, Compliance & Unfair Business Practices

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) April 18, 2008 -- The Alliance of Legal Document Assistant Professionals (ALDAP) is pleased to announce that Orange County Deputy District Attorney Tracy Hughes will present “Rogue Document Preparers: Unfair Competition and LDA Compliance” on Friday, May 30 at 12:00 p.m. at the Koll Center in Newport Beach. ALDAP’s annual membership meeting and elections will take place immediately following the presentation.

Orange County Deputy District Attorney Tracy Hughes has successfully prosecuted both civil and criminal cases against non-attorney legal document preparers who refuse to comply with the registration and bonding requirements to become a Legal Document Assistant (LDA). She will speak about her successes with previous cases and what can be done to stem the tide of “paralegals” and other unregistered legal document preparers who advertise to the public; and will address questions about what LDAs can do to protect their businesses against unfair competition from illegal operators.

Under California law, non-attorneys are prohibited from providing legal document preparation services directly to consumers unless they obtain a $25,000 bond and register as a Legal Document Assistant in each county where they conduct business. Paralegals are prohibited from advertising to, or contracting with, members of the public, and may only be employed by licensed attorneys. Neither LDAs nor paralegals are permitted to practice law, offer legal advice or draft documents for consumers.

Ms. Hughes has worked as a prosecutor in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office since 1995. She has been involved in a wide variety of consumer fraud prosecutions, from the unauthorized practice of law to prosecutions of unlicensed contractors. Ms. Hughes has successfully prosecuted multiple LDA and immigration bond cases, resulting in criminal convictions and civil judgments.

This event will take place at the Koll Center, 5th Floor Conference Room, 4590 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach, CA. The cost is $15. Seating is limited. For information or to RSVP, contact Moira Boyle at (714) 998-8259 or mboyle@thelegaldoc.com.

ALDAP is a California non-profit, mutual benefit corporation serving registered Legal Document Assistants and freelance paralegal/LDA dual-professionals. ALDAP’s mission is to promote the LDA profession by providing seminars for continuing legal education, strengthening professional status by establishing and promoting support for professional standards and regulatory compliance, and communicating with the legal community and the general public. For more information, visit http://www.aldap.com.

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