Agenda / Content Covered

All times are shown in Eastern time.

1. Tips for Gathering Background Information and Locating People
   11:00 - 12:00, Tiffany Burks
   1. Applicable Laws
   2. Finding and Researching People
   3. Researching Criminal and Civil Records
   4. Property, Asset, and Financial Information
   5. Investigating Businesses
   6. Researching Judges, Attorneys, and Witnesses
   7. Tips for Social Media Investigations
   8. Helpful Websites and Online Databases
2. Practical Techniques for Interviews
   12:15 - 1:15, Alexander May
   1. Researching the Case and Preparing for the Interview: Why It Matters
   2. Interview Techniques, Styles, and Strategies
   3. How to Spot Lying
   4. Assessing Credibility and Checking Qualifications
   5. Taking Witness Statements: How to Do It Right
   6. Overcoming Common Hurdles in Interviewing
   7. Top Interview Mistakes You Do Not Want to Make
3. Requesting Public Records: Essential Guidelines
   1:15 - 2:15, Tiffany Burks
   1. Publicly Available Business Records
   2. Filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and State Agency Requests: With Examples
   3. Electronic Records
   4. Subpoenaing Records: Legal Essentials
   5. When Your Request Is Denied: Key Steps to Take
   6. Public Records: How to Use Them
4. Tracking Down Medical and Employment Records: Legal Best Practices
   2:45 - 3:45, Courtney Sierra
   1. Overview of HIPAA Rules and Regulations
   2. Obtaining Medical and Employment Records: Key Steps to Take
   3. Handling Difficult Medical Providers
   4. Tips and Tricks for Tracking Down Additional Patient Info
   5. Reviewing and Deciphering Records
5. Organizing the Investigation Results
   3:45 - 4:45, Alexander May
   1. Creating Case Investigation Notebooks
   2. Organizing Files, Records, and Evidence
   3. Managing Voluminous Records
   4. Guidelines for Preparing Summaries, Chronologies, and Reports
6. Ethical Considerations for Paralegals
   5:00 - 6:00, Courtney Sierra
   1. Conflicts of Interest
   2. Confidentiality
   3. Avoiding UPL
   4. Ethics of Billing

Accreditation Details:

TIFFANY BURKS is an attorney with Thacker Sleight. She served in the United States Navy for nine years, first as a military police officer stationed in Bahrain and Japan, and then as a paralegal for the Judge Advocate General's Corps. After the military, she worked for the state of Michigan as a treasury enforcement officer. Now she represents clients in divorce, child custody, and child support matters, as well as serving as appointed counsel for Kent County cases involving child abuse, neglect, and juvenile delinquency proceedings. Ms. Burks graduated from law school, magna cum laude, and completed law school while simultaneously working full time, raising a family, and volunteering in the community. She received her bachelor's degree in business administration from Saint Leo University, her bachelor's degree in paralegal studies from Roger Williams University, her master's degree in business administration from Northcentral University, and her J.D. degree from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

ALEXANDER MAY received his B.A. degree in psychology with a minor in electrical engineering, and a paralegal certificate, from the University of Texas at Austin in 1990. He has been working with the same attorneys for over 30 years, from 1990 to 2011 at Clark, Thomas & Winters PC; and at his current firm, Germer PLLC, from 2011 to the present. His practice areas include personal injury, product liability, insurance defense, commercial litigation, and construction cases. Mr. May is a past member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, the National Association of Legal Assistants, the Houston Paralegal Association, and the Capital Area Paralegal Association. He is the 2014-2015 president of the Capital Area Paralegal Association. Mr. May served on the Academic Advisory board for the paralegal program at the ITT Tech of Austin. He is a current member of the Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas. He is board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Mr. May served two, three-year terms (in 2009 and 2012) as chair of the Personal Injury Trial Law Paralegal Commission at the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

COURTNEY SIERRA is an attorney with Thacker Sleight. She focuses her practice exclusively on family law, including divorces and custody matters. Her comprehensive family law experiences includes handling divorces involving complex child custody disputes. Ms. Sierra helps clients resolve disputes without litigation but is equally skilled in a trial setting. Before her legal career, Ms. Sierra worked with adults and children to help them learn to cope, emotionally and psychologically, with the challenges that mental health difficulties bring as a psychiatric rehabilitation therapist. Her experience working with children in a therapeutic setting gives her the ability to look at complex custody matters uniquely and beneficially. Ms. Sierra received her bachelor's degree from Idaho State University and her J.D. degree, cum laude, from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.