The PACE-Setters 

PACE Ambassadors’ Report

by Co-PACE Ambassador, Doris S. Wente, RP


The start of a new year is the traditional time to make resolutions. As we head into the second month of 2007, have you made your resolutions for the year? The following is a reprint of a portion of an article written by Deborah K. Neale, R.P., the Illinois Paralegal Association’s PACE Ambassador, which discusses resolutions and how the PACE examination can be one of your New Year’s resolutions.

Deborah K. Neale, R. P. writes:

I read an article recently in Positive Living where Dr. Norman Vincent Peale reminded us of the power of positive thinking. In the article, Dr. Peale was quoted as saying:

Start Your New Year Right!

1. Want this year to go right? Make things right, right now. List all your debts (not only money, but debts of gratitude) and pay them off. List any wrongs and make amends.

2. Practice the art of forgetting. Don’t lug resentments, frustrations, disappointments and regrets into the new year. Let the past go and forge ahead!

3. Each day, expect great things. Have high hopes and great dreams. Believe that life is good, that it is going to be better and that the best is yet to come. You know something? You’re likely to get just what you expect.

Dr. Peale’s words of positive intention certainly sound like a great plan for growth and success in 2007, even when it comes to PACE. Professionally, one of the best ways to put that plan into action is to make a commitment to fulfill your hopes and dreams ~ make things right for you professionally ~ make a positive statement about your own professional worth. Don’t let this year come and go with regrets or disappointments because you didn’t take that step necessary to work on your professional development…especially, when MPA is here to offer tremendous support and assistance.

PACE is not for everyone, but if you have been on the fence, you couldn’t pick a better time to get on the PACE Track. As was reported last month, NFPA has started the process of updating PACE with goals to have revised examinations available by the NFPA Annual Meeting in October of this year. It has been suggested that as the PACE item writers (persons who write the test questions) become more experienced and as the paralegal profession becomes more proficient, through specialization, regulation or otherwise, that quite likely the examination will contain tougher questions. Undoubtedly, the revised exams will contain more questions on technology, changes in the Bankruptcy Law, new Federal rules, and other changes with which we are somewhat less familiar

Don’t let 2007 come and go without seriously considering if PACE is right for you. This not only helps you personally and professionally, but it helps the entire paralegal profession.

Yes, PACE is exactly what Dr. Peale speaks to ~ a great way to make things right (right now), forge ahead with high hopes and dreams ~ and free of disappointments and regrets. With positive thinking and the expectation of great things, you CAN “believe that life is good, that it is going to be better and that the best is yet to come.” If you expect to be successful, you’re well on the way!

MPA is here to do whatever we can to help you proudly achieve your goal of successful completion of PACE. Please contact Lori Brandon or me if you have any questions regarding PACE or if you need any assistance in getting started with studying or preparing to take the PACE Examination. As Lori reported in the January Citations, 24 paralegals in Minnesota have passed the PACE examination. Our resolution for 2007 is to help those who have resolved to take PACE achieve this goal in 2007.

If you have any questions about PACE, would like to have Lori or me speak to any group regarding PACE, would like to see MPA sponsor a PACE overview seminar or would like our assistance in getting a PACE study group started, please contact us at:

Doris Wente, RP
Gislason & Hunter LLP
701 Xenia Avenue South, Ste. 500
Minneapolis, MN 55416
Phone: 763-225-6000
Fax: 763-225-6099
dwente@gislason.com

Lori Brandon, RP
Court Operations Supervisor
Scott County Court Administration
Government Center JC115
200 Fourth Avenue West
Shakopee, MN 55379-1220
952-496-8124 - Telephone
952-496-8211 – Facsimile
Lori.Brandon@courts.state.mn.us