Credit Available - See Jurisdictions tab below.
Total Credits: 1.5 Self-Study
| Self Study: please check your own state guidelines to see if they accept self-study credit. | General Credits: 90 Minutes |
Specialty Credits: |
| Key Points - How to determine what program is best for your firm (72.9 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| Technology Tips for ALL Paralegals (106.6 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
Candess Zona-Mendola is the senior trial paralegal of the Lange Law Firm, PLLC. She has been a paralegal for over two decades, was educated at Chapman University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and holds degrees in anthropology and paralegal studies.
In her current role, Candess helps families who have been harmed when corporations sell food contaminated with E. coli, Salmonella, Vibrio or other food poisoning pathogens. she also helps people who have been affected by water contaminated with Legionella and Legionnaires’ Disease.
At the beginning of her career, Candess helped people with family law, civil rights, and employment cases. She then went to work on national mass tort cases, where she helped women who had been injured by defective medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Some of Candess’s greatest triumphs have come as a trial paralegal on trial teams that won over $296 million in verdicts (so far).
Candess has been invited to speak at national seminars on the behind the scenes work that goes into taking cases to trial in federal court, as well as on food safety litigation. She is also the editor of several legal blogs, including the award-winning www.MakeFoodSafe.com.
There are many things that Candess loves about being a paralegal. But her greatest joy, and the deepest meaning she finds in her work, is in helping people. For Candess, clients are family. She makes it a point to help clients, especially those who have never found themselves in a legal proceeding before, understand the process. She is never too busy to take time to explain a complicated issue, answer a question, or lend a supportive ear. She believes that clients call when something terrible has happened in their lives and they need help; and that it’s her job to be there and support them in getting the help they need so that they can rebuild their lives.
Scott Siegel is the Director of Litigation Support at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors’ a litigation boutique with offices in New York and Dallas. In this role, he oversees the entire support staff team, works on updating the firm’s technology, and manages commercial cases through all stages of litigation.
Mr. Siegel has more than 15 years of experience as a Paralegal, all of which was spent handling complex, significant matters.
Prior to joining Brewer Attorneys & Counselors, Mr. Siegel was the Litigation Paralegal Manager at Seeger Weiss LLP. During Mr. Siegel’s tenure at Seeger Weiss, Mr. Siegel specialized in large class action and MDL cases as well as managing a team of paralegals.
Prior to his employment with Seeger Weiss, Mr. Siegel also worked as a Paralegal at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP in the firm’s Financial Restructuring Unit, as well as starting his career as a Paralegal at the New York City Law Department in the World Trade Center/Toxic Tort Unit.
Mr. Siegel received a Master’s Degree in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from The New School, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Lupe Estrada has more than 20 years of experience as a litigation and trial Paralegal. She is the Senior Paralegal at Ramsey Law Group, a Personal Injury Law Firm in Houston, Texas. In this role she oversees the entire support staff team, manages catastrophic personal injury cases through all stages of litigation, including trial, and helped customize and implement her firm’s case management system.
Prior to joining Ramsey Law Group, Lupe Estrada, was the Sr. Litigation Paralegal at Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, where she specialized in complex maritime federal cases.
Throughout her career, Mrs. Estrada has worked as the head paralegal in multiple highly complex, catastrophic personal injury cases and assisted in several trials where Top 10 Texas Verdicts were obtained.
Mrs. Estrada is a member of AIEG and has written articles for the AIEG Paralegal Voice. In addition, she is a Sub Chair of the Pro Bono Ad Hoc Committee of the State Bar of Texas Paralegal Division. Mrs. Estrada will be a speaker at the upcoming AIEG Paralegal Convention in 2023 where she will be speaking about different ways to engage with and give back to the community.