AAPA is the oldest local paralegal association, and one of the oldest in Texas. Alamo Area Paralegal Association, Inc. ("AAPA", formerly known as Alamo Area Professional Legal Assistants, Inc., "AAPLA") is a voluntary, non-profit organization founded in 1981 by a group of paralegals in and around the Alamo Area of San Antonio, Texas. (Students from San Antonio College originally applied for incorporation for AAPLA in 1977. The association did not formally organize until 1981, thus 1981 is our official beginning.) The creation of AAPA was the result of a need for an organized educational and professional association for paralegals. AAPA is governed by a Board of Directors, elected each Spring by its voting members, and conducts monthly business and educational meetings.
The purpose and goals of AAPA, as stated in our Bylaws, are: (1) to promote ethical conduct and high standards within the legal assistant profession; (2) to promote the utilization of legal assistants in rendering effective legal services; (3) to educate the general public by broadening the understanding of the function of legal assistants; and (4) to promote the continuing legal education of legal assistants.
As one of the largest paralegal associations in the State of Texas, AAPA's membership generally numbers more than 100 members, who are employed by law firms, corporations and government agencies in the San Antonio area. Throughout its almost thirty years of existence, AAPA has worked with local bar associations on various projects to promote the legal profession. AAPA has successfully established itself as a networking resource, both for its paralegal and sustaining members.
AAPA continually works hard to raise its professional standards, and was the second paralegal association in Texas to implement continuing legal education requirements for voting membership. AAPA also proudly participates in a number of charitable programs that greatly benefit our home community.
Definition of a Paralegal
The State Bar of Texas defines a "paralegal" as follows:
A paralegal is a person, qualified through various combinations of education, training, or work experience, who is employed or engaged by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency, or other entity in a capacity or function which involves the performance, under the ultimate direction and supervision of a licensed attorney, of specifically delegated substantive legal work, which work, for the most part, requires a sufficient knowledge of legal principles and procedures that, absent such person, an attorney would be required to perform the task.
Download AAPA's By-laws (PDF version).
