PACO: General Membership Meeting

PACO - General Membership Meeting | March 13, 2023 | Paralegal Licensure | CLE - NFPA 1 General Credit Hour

Topic: An assortment of U.S. States and Canadian Territories are implementing various licensed paralegal programs and legal sandbox proposals in an effort to bridge the access to justice gap. The programs are being approved by regulators because of low risk of potential harm to the public determinations and stringent public safety safeguards built into the programs. We will discuss what this means for our justice system and the paralegal profession specifically.

Presenter: Linda Odermott, RP®, OCP

Registration: PACO calendar

Linda Odermott, RP®, OCP is a paralegal with experience in government, civilian and corporate paralegal positions over the course of her sixteen-year career. Her skills and expertise are nationally recognized, having been a frequent panelist, facilitator and speaker on both the local and national stage, discussing ethics, paralegal credentialing, regulation, military paralegals transition to civilian roles, and more recently on the changing professional landscape focusing on the evolving paralegal licensure and sandbox programs sprouting up across the U.S. and Canada.

In addition to her full-time paralegal position for a Fortune 100 company, Linda is also an instructor on the adjunct faculty team at Portland Community College’s Paralegal Program. She teaches courses in both Real Property and the Paralegal Capstone. Linda is also currently serving as a member of the Oregon State Bar Paraprofessional Licensing Implementation Committee (PLIC), where she chairs the Admissions and Education Workgroup. The PLIC was charged with drafting the implementation rules for the licensed paralegal program, designed to help bridge the state’s access to justice gap faced by Oregon’s underrepresented and underserved populations.