Agenda

Webinar instructions will be emailed 24-48 business hours before the date of the webinar.
Please log into the webinar 10-15 minutes before start time.


Tuesday, July 14, 2026

9:00 am – 4:00 pm CDT


Agenda:

Overview of a Civil Trial
Presented by Ashley B. Johnson-Alford

  • Pre-trial procedure and scheduling orders
  • Discovery control plan and discovery overview
  • Pre-trial motion practice
  • Anatomy of a trial

Motion Practice
Presented by Pablo Isaza

Managing Evidence
Presented by Allison A. Jones

  • Types of evidence
  • Rules for admissibility of evidence
  • Preserving evidence

Effectively Working with Opposing Counsel and Staff
Presented by Sarah McMillan

  • Analyzing methods of communication
  • Standards for responding to emails
  • Working with the courts
  • Maintaining professionalism

Assembling and Using Trial Notebooks
Presented by Regina L. Valenti

  • Essentials of a trial notebook
  • Organization of a trial notebook
  • Uses for a trial notebook before trial
  • Uses of a trial notebook during trial

Litigation Ethics for Assistants and Paralegals
Presented by LaCrisha McAllister

  • Attorney and paralegal ethical rules
  • Specific areas of concern for legal support staff
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Confidentiality
  • Ex-parte communications
  • Avoiding the unauthorized practice of law
  • Working with clients, courts and opposing counsel

 

Webinar Instructions 
 
All attendees must log-on through their own email – attendees may not watch together if they wish to earn continuing education credit. HalfMoon Education Inc. must be able to prove attendance if either the attendee or HalfMoon Education Inc. is audited. 

Certificates of completion can be downloaded in PDF form upon passing a short quiz. A link to the quiz will be sent to each qualifying attendee immediately after the webinar. The certificate can be downloaded from the Results page of the quiz upon scoring 80% or higher. 

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Credits

Paralegals
6.0 CLE Hours (Including 1.0 Ethics Hour)

NFPA - National Federation of Paralegal Associations
6.0 CLE Credits (Including 1.0 Ethics Credit)

 

Continuing Education Information

This webinar is open to the public and is designed to qualify for 6.0 CLE hours, including 1.0 ethics hour, for paralegals in California. Paralegal certification is not required to participate in this course.

The National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) has approved this course for 6.0 total CLE credits, which includes 5.0 general CLE credits and 1.0 ethics CLE credit.

Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the webinar for those who attend the entire course and score a minimum 80% on the quiz that follows the course (multiple attempts allowed).

*On-Demand Credits*

The preceding credit information only applies to the live presentation. This course in an on-demand format is not pre-approved by any licensing boards and may not qualify for the same credits; please consult your licensing board(s) to ensure that a structured, asynchronous learning format is appropriate.

Speakers

Pablo Isaza

Practicing attorney licensed in Louisiana

Mr. Isaza is a practicing attorney licensed in Louisiana, primarily focused on helping clients navigate their personal injury, insurance, and constitutional law cases. He is a native Spanish speaker who moved to the United States from Colombia, South America at a very young age. Mr. Isaza was an award-winning writer for TV and advertising commercials before pursuing law. He received his Juris Doctorate Degree from Tulane University Law School where he graduated with honors. While a student at Tulane, he was a chosen member of the Tulane Civil Rights Clinic and the Tulane VITA Tax Clinic, where he received an award for his work in federal discrimination litigation. Mr. Isaza also worked for several prominent Louisiana Appellate Court judges in both New Orleans and Baton Rouge during his time in law school, until ultimately deciding to focus his efforts on private practice. He has received several awards and recognitions for his work and litigation skills, from groups including Super Lawyers, Multi-Million Dollar Advocates, Million Dollar Advocates, among others, and has been an invited to speak at seminars all over Louisiana to share his expertise.

Ashley B. Johnson- Alford

Owner and attorney of The Law Offices of A. B. Johnson-Alford, PLLC

Ms. Johnson- Alford is a Miami, FL native who built her career on a simple belief: justice should be accessible, and the people fighting for it should actually fight. She earned bachelor’s degrees from Howard University and Penn State, an MBA from the University of Miami, and her juris doctorate from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Today, she owns and manages The Law Offices of A. B. Johnson-Alford, PLLC, and runs two national firms handling criminal, civil, family, and employment matters. Barred in Louisiana, Georgia, and District of Columbia, she’s a trial attorney in every sense of the word. She’s equally at home in an Atlanta courtroom or a New Orleans courthouse and equally fierce whether she’s defending the wrongly accused or fighting for the seriously injured. Her clients get an advocate who shows up prepared, speaks plainly, and doesn’t back down.

Allison A. Jones

Of Counsel with Downer, Jones, Marino & Wilhite, LLC.

Ms. Jones has settled, mediated and litigated hundreds of employment law cases. Several of her cases have been featured on 60 Minutes, CNN and other national news networks. Since 2015, Ms. Jones has served as an instructor for the L.S.U. Law School Trial Advocacy Program. Ms. Jones is also a frequent speaker at seminars and has numerous publications in local and state bar journals. She has presented on panels and moderated at the Judicial Conference, hosted by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for the years of 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2022, and has served as the Program Chair for the Appellate Advocacy Seminar sponsored by the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit. In addition to these bar association seminars, she is a frequent speaker at the Louisiana State Bar Association and for Sterling Education Services and local organizations. Ms. Jones has been invited to join the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and she is a currently a Senior Fellow with the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation only trial lawyer honorary society representing less than one half of one percent of American lawyers. Fellows for LCA are selected and invited into the Fellowship after being evaluated for effectiveness and accomplishment in litigation and trial work, along with ethical reputation. Ms. Jones was also accepted as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Fellows for CLEL are recognized as distinguished members of the labor and employment community who promote achievement, advancement and excellence in the practice by setting standards of professionalism and civility, by sharing their experience and knowledge and by acting as a resource for academia, the government, the judiciary and the community at large.

LaCrisha McAllister

Counsel with Singleton Schreiber in the Products Liability and Mass Tort practice group

Ms. McAllister is passionate about achieving justice for unsuspecting consumers, employees, and families exposed to harmful products and chemicals. Before joining Singleton Schreiber, Ms. McAllister received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in social work at Illinois State University. Soon thereafter, Ms. McAllister attended Southern University Law Center where she served as the Trial Advocacy Board Vice President and competed nationally in trial competitions, as well as serving as a junior editor for both the Journal of Race, Gender, and Poverty and Southern University Law Review. As a law student, Ms. McAllister served as a research assistant in the Louis Berry Institute for Civil Rights and Injustice under Angela Allen-Bell, solidifying her commitment to the advancement of civil and human rights and social and restorative justice. Ms. McAllister graduated cum laude among the top 10% in her class with a Juris Doctor degree in Law and received the CALI Award of Excellence for the highest grade in Legal Writing and Trial Advocacy. From there, Ms. McAllister served as a judicial law clerk for Honorable Judge Jennifer M. Medley of Orleans Civil District Court, an associate attorney at a New Orleans firm specializing in Chemical Exposures, Toxic Torts, and Personal Injury, and Bullock Ward Mason specializing in Mass Torts.

Sarah McMillan

Special Partner with Pugh Accardo

As a multidisciplinary litigator, Ms. McMillan represents regional, national, and international clients in matters relating to products liability, toxic torts, construction, and insurance defense. Ms. McMillan helps clients and their insurers to assess and mitigate risks and vigorously defend them, when necessary. With experience in mass-tort and single-plaintiff matters, she has successfully used many strategies, including motion practice, to resolve disputes. Since 2023, Sarah has been ranked as one of The Best Lawyers in America® (Product Liability Litigation – Defendants). Ms. McMillan is an Honorary Research Faculty Member at the University of Aberdeen School of Law, where she was formerly a faculty member. While on Aberdeen’s faculty, she was a visiting professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law and University of Maryland School of Law. With a continuing interest in legal education, Ms. McMillan has been involved with Tulane Law School’s Civil Litigation Boot Camp Intersession program since its inauguration.

Regina L. Valenti

Senior trial paralegal at the Herman, Herman & Katz, LLC.

Ms. Valenti handles all aspects of file management, client contact and trials in multi-district litigation, mass torts, personal injury and products liability cases. She received her B.A. in paralegal studies from Nicholls State University and has spoken at continuing legal education courses for the American Association for Justice and the Institute for Paralegal Education. Ms. Valenti is a paralegal affiliate member of AAJ and active on the Paralegal Education Committee.

Webinar Price: $339.00

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