Back to Back Issues Page
The FALDP Docket --September 2021
September 21, 2021

Florida Association of Legal Document Preparers

The FALDP Docket

Volume 11 Issue 9; September 2021


Stay up to date, and in the know.This is our monthly newsletter. We publish this for the benefit of FALDP members, legal document preparers, and friends. Published monthly since May, 2010


Announcements


We Did IT!

Our conference was a huge success. Thank you to all of our attendees, and our guest speakers! And once again, the staff of the Fountain Beach Resort was endlessly helpful and patient.

Judge Blackburn spoke for the full hour and took many questions. She was helpful and explained things thoroughly. I felt that it was easy to tell that she really cares about pro se litigants, and is in support of the work that we do. Her compassion shined through.

Trish Giaccone of the Flagler County Family Life Center carried on her presentation well past her one hour slot. She is an engaging and dynamic speaker, we just let her keep on going. Even though she has presented to us before, the issues surrounding domestic violence are so large and important, there is always more to learn.


The True Measure

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”~Samuel Johnson

We all know people who seem to be incapable of shying away from letting us know how great they are. This practice is rampant in both real life and on social media. The wonderful families, the awesome business, the personal accomplishments, the good works, the great job, the perfect spouse, the happy children, and on and on. I think there is a difference between letting people know about yourself and your life, and creating a facade of accomplishment and perfection.

I am bored. Forgive me, I am easily bored by the grandstanding and self aggrandizement of so many. I am put off by all that accomplishment and perfection. Life is not a contest. Not a race to the top. The final destination is the same for all of us.

Our humanness is our vulnerability. I used to know someone who consciously tried to create his personal brand. The right clothes, the right things, the right look, the right girlfriend, etc. That person is doomed to a life of shallow loneliness. He doesn't even understand why he's so lonely. Because although some people gravitate to him to share his superficial aura, in truth they don't really trust or love him. He continues to live his life in the half-light of his own delusions.

And there are others. People who seem to try to do good, and can't stop telling us how good they are. I know another person who has accomplished quite a lot so far in her life. She's in her thirties, has paid off her mortgage, has a successful business, owns rental properties, has an attractive family, and has completed a doctorate. Impressive to be sure. But, she somehow makes me feel like I don't measure up. I'm not jealous. But, I avoid her.

10 Ways to Help in Secret

1. Give money you can spare to someone who needs it and then pretend you didn't do it.
2. Let someone tell a story without feeling the need to one-up them or tell your own.
3. Let someone vent, even if you can’t offer a solution, just to be an ear.
4. Help someone who is struggling with difficult feelings by admitting you’ve felt the same thing.
5. Ask, “What can I do to help you today?” Then let it go after following through.
6. Tell someone how you feel about them, even if it makes you feel vulnerable, just to let them know they’re loved and not alone.
7. Apologize when you’ve acted selfishly, even if you don’t like feeling wrong, because it will remind the other person they deserve to be treated with respect.
8. Let someone else educate you, even if you’re tempted to stay closed minded, because you value their knowledge and appreciate their willingness to share it.
9. Forgive someone who wronged you because you have compassion for them, not because you know they’ll owe you.
10. Give your full attention to the person in front of you when you’re tempted to let your thoughts wander just to show them their words are valuable.
Excerpted from www.tinybuddha.com


Defy Gravity

People have attempted to defy gravity through the ages. Through trial, error, and unwavering persistence. People have soared to the moon and back. And beyond. The record for the farthest distance that humans have traveled goes to the all-American crew of the Apollo 13 who traveled 248,655 miles away from Earth on April 14, 1970. 248,655 miles and back.

Greek mythology tells of Icarus and Daedaleus failed flight too close to the sun. The Wright brothers studied the birds in their quest to defy gravity. And so many more to follow, making small steps and giant leaps. We remember the successes, and mourn the failures as mankind continues to strive to defy gravity. To build on what is there. To build on what others have done before.

Always in defiance of gravity. Always in defiance of – this is the way we've always done it. The naysayers, the small minds, the negative thinkers. Always in defiance of those who would keep us down. We defy them. Together.

No one person invented air flight or space travel. Little by little, one idea stacked on another. Each piece of progress added on.

It is the same in our industry. This industry, this document preparation industry, which is so much more than preparing documents, so much more than ink on paper, consists of a vast collection of ideas and practices. The pursuit of justice and fundamental fairness has always been there in one form or another. Likewise the forces pulling against justice and fairness have been present forever. Defy gravity.

Make your way. Each one of us has the opportunity to create our own path. The responsibility to stretch to new heights. There is no road map for what we do. No formula for success. Each of us builds a niche and fine tunes it. Then someone new follows and builds on that success, adding new services, processes, and ideas to a system that is already working in order to make it work even better.

To better deliver services to consumers. To more efficiently provide pro se litigants a path to justice and fundamental fairness. Because, we know that consumers' lack of understanding, lack of knowledge of the arcane world of the law should not cause them to lose. Lose their money, lose their children, or lose their homes.

I urge you to continue to defy gravity. And, strive for the appearance of ease and grace. So that the forces who would keep us down will be confused and thwarted. Our successes will continue to rise and be emulated by those who come next.


Webinars

BUILDING BUSINESS CREDIBILITY

Saturday, September 25th at 11:00 a.m. EST.

Invitations will go out to all members this week on Tuesday or Wednesday. If you are a current member and do not receive an invitation, please contact us at faldp2010@gmail.com. See you there!

And check this page - training-webinars.html for updates. If you have a request or question about our webinars, call or email us. staff@faldp.org or 800-515-0496. See you there!


Certificates of Membership

Updated certificates of membership were sent out to members in August. Newer members may not have received a Certificate, please request one if you like. We generally issue these upon membership renewal. We send them via email from faldp2010@gmail.com. If you are maintaining or seeking FALDP Certification, you can earn one CEU simply by displaying your certificate on social media, and sending us a screen shot.


Member Directory Overhaul

(In Progress)

We had hoped to complete this in August, but had to put this project on hold to prepare for the conference. But we still plan to restructure the online Member Directory. The goal is to make it easier for consumers to use, making it easier for consumers to find members, the result is our members are found more easily (and more often); therefore our members make more money. Everything we do … we do for our members. At the moment, we can't explain our plans in detail as the details are still evolving. However, we can say this: Expect positive changes like more exposure for members' businesses; and the mini-pages becoming more important. If you already have a mini-page, good for you, please check it to make sure its up to date. If you've never set up your optional mini-page, now would be a good time.

The information that members provide for the county directory will most likely stay the same. Please check your listing to make sure all is correct. Any changes or updates should be made through the Members Only area. Please don't send an email requesting a change or update on a member listing. These requests can easily get lost in our mail, and your change won't be made.

Please note: We will no longer add member information to the Member Directory for those members who have neglected to do so.


New Mark

Now Available!

The new logo is now available for member's use. We have already begun including the new Logo Pack in the Welcome Package for new members. It is also available inside the Members Only area. Right click and "save image as" to save it to your computer. Or send us an email to request that we email them to you.

Please keep in mind that the old (legacy) logo is still completely valid and you can continue to use it for the time being. Eventually we may retire the legacy logo, but we have no immediate plans to do so.


You can share our videos & articles!

We have a growing list of videos on our channel. They're all about different aspects of document preparation, branded with the FALDP logo and information. Members are invited to use our videos on their sites, online ads, or on social media. Depending on where you display, you can share from YouTube, by using the share link or embed code.

For example, on your own business FB page, you could share one of our divorce videos, and above it simply state that you are an FALDP member, and you prepare documents for divorce.

Check out our videos here - FALDP on YouTube

And, FALDP members are also invited to use content from our blog on their site and social media. Check out our searchable blog on Legal Sunshine Please remember to give proper attribution. Almost all blog articles were written by Ruth Tick, a few are guest posts. Excerpts are allowed, as some of the articles are very long. Be sure to state that this is an excerpt of ...


Spanish Parenting Course Available

The Spanish version of the Parenting Course, offered through our sister company, Horizon Research Network, LLC, has been approved by DCF. We received notification of its approval on October 9th, 2020.

Prices are the same as our English version. $29.99 and $14.99 for low income. Here's the link directly to the Spanish version - spanish parenting course The Spanish version is also displayed on our FALDP site, and can be accessed by going to the English version.

Parenting Course

Parental Education and Family Stabilization Course is mandatory for all divorcing couples who have children; and all people seeking a paternity action. The cost is $29.99 and $14.99 for indigent. Here's the link directly to the - Parenting Course


Don't have a site yet? Try Monarch Web Strategies

Horizon Research Network is one of our associated sites which includes our design services. We build business websites for FALDP members for only $500, which includes your domain name and first month's hosting. And, have you seen our whiteboard videos online? We can create a custom whiteboard video to promote your business. Once built its yours to use in any of your advertising or promotions. Contact us for a custom quote.

FALDP Private Facebook Group

About one third of our membership has joined the FALDP private Facebook group. We created it to make it easier to interact with each other. So far, people have given work referrals to one another; asked questions to the group; received help in locating a form; and discussed various issues. If you're working toward FALDP Certification, you earn one CEU just by joining the group. So, what are you waiting for? Look for the private group after going to the official FALDP Facebook page at FALDP,LLC on Facebook.


Member's Announcements & Contributions

Have something to share?

We accept member's announcements and appreciate your contributions. If you have an announcement about your business, an expansion of services, moving your offices, or winning awards, please send us the information and we'll include it in our newsletter. Your announcement needs to be pertinent to your business. We are unable to include announcements about other trade associations, clubs or groups.

If you would like to write an article, editorial, opinion piece, or web page please let us know. We are always in need of fresh information and insights.


FALDP Contact Information:
Main number – (941)237-0951
Toll free - (800)515-0496
Email – staff@faldp.org

PLEASE LINK YOUR SITE TO WWW.FALDP.ORG
Back to Back Issues Page