SERVICE AREA:  BPA, which has been meeting here on the beautiful Space Coast since 1991, offers many benefits to its paralegal and student members, including the following:

INTRODUCTION AND SERVICE AREA:  BPA, which has been meeting here on the beautiful Space Coast since 1991, offers many benefits to its paralegal and student members, including the following:

1.   Continuing legal education.  BPA dinner/speaker meetings are held on the second Thursday of every month (except June and July) and feature guest speakers on various legal topics.  A majority of the meetings meet the requirements for 1 hour of continuing legal education credit.

2.   Networking with other professionals.  Networking with your peers is a valuable tool for you both personally and professionally.  Not only do you form new and lasting friendships, but it opens up a vast sphere of problem- solving resources from which you can draw.  For our student members, networking with working professionals can help bridge the gap between the classroom and the workplace like nothing else can.  

3.   Community outreach opportunities.   BPA supports a number of nonprofit, charitable organizations, including the Cancer Care Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Brevard Sharing Center, Candle Lighters of Brevard, Intervention Services, Florida Wildlife Hospital, Let’s Say Thanks to Our Troops, and Hurricane Katrina relief, to name a few.  BPA also supports the Brevard County Bar Association in such annual events as the Mock Trial Competition.

4.    Job bank.  BPA offers a job bank exclusively for its members, which includes listings of members who are seeking employment and companies with positions to be filled.   While we are not a placement service, we have been very successful helping attorneys find legal staff and members find employment

5.    Monthly newsletter.  The Paralegal Pipeline features a letter from the President; information on the upcoming dinner meeting, speaker and community service projects; contact information for the Board of Directors and committee chairs; reports from the various committee chairs; news from PAF; and other information of interest to the members of the association.

6.    Scholarship awards.  
       a.   Student Scholarship:  Cash scholarships to full-time Brevard County college student enrolled in a paralegal program plus book awards have been awarded from time-to-time.

      b.   Roseann Nelson Professional Development Scholarship:  Application fee for the NALA Certified Paralegal (CP), the NALA Advanced Paralegal Certification (APC), or the PAF Florida Certified Paralegal (FCP) Examination is awarded annually to a BPA member.

      c.   Seminar Scholarship:  Registration fee for the PAF Annual Meeting & Seminar and/or Fall Seminar is awarded to a BPA member.