SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (USTCNS) --- U.S. Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command hosted the 5th Annual Brigadier General Hemingway Paralegal Symposium here from May 22-24.

Some 44 paralegals from USTRANSCOM, U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Army attended this event.

This year's theme was "Paralegal Utilization in General and Tort Law Areas."

"The focus of the symposium was chosen in recognition of the continually larger role our paralegals play in working many of tort cases on a daily basis at military installations across the US and the world," said Air Force Brig. Gen. (select) James W. Swanson, USTRANSCOM chief counsel, and AMC staff judge advocate. "We hoped this training would give them the tools to better protect the US Government's interest in fairly resolving tort claims."

The symposium has a history that establishes it as a reliable source of practical, hands-on information for professional paralegals.

"Five years ago, Brig. Gen. Tom Hemingway, Col. Ralph Capio, Chief Master Sgt. Yates-Popwell and I initiated this symposium," said Kenneth E. Stogner, senior paralegal and law office manager at USTRANSCOM. "It was created to assist paralegals in their professional development and enhancement of their research, analysis, and writing techniques, thereby providing better assistance to the USTRANSCOM and components attorneys."

Hemingway was then USTRANSCOM chief counsel, and AMC staff judge advocate.

Participating paralegals found the emphasis on gaining insights from practicing attorneys particularly useful.

"By far, this year's Paralegal Symposium is the best that I have attended. I learned a lot about tort litigation. It is interesting to gain an insight on the thought process of the attorney who represents tort clients," said Lourdes Stark, paralegal at USTRANSCOM. "Ms. Elizabeth Dibble gave us excellent training on proper techniques of writing legal memoranda based on case laws and statutes."

The symposium opened with Elizabeth J. Dibble J.D., coordinator for paralegal studies program at Southwestern Illinois College, teaching a session on "Wills and Living Wills".

Other areas of the law taught by staff members of the college included Federal Tort Claims Act, Introduction to a Law Library, and Introduction to LEXIS/NEXIS with hands on computer time for the attendees.

The second day was composed of "Can You Write Like a Lawyer?" hands on training on Government Internet Sites, General Consumer Law, Former Spouses Act, and the Soldiers & Sailors Relief Act.

Southwestern Illinois College awarded attendees one hour of college credit.

During the last day of the symposium the attendees and attorneys from Scott Air Force Base legal offices attended a luncheon with guest speakers:

* Dr. Elmer H. Kirchhoff, president of Southwestern Illinois College

* Yates-Popwell, retired from the Air Force, now a paralegal with the law firm Thompson-Coburn in St. Louis, Missouri

* Hemingway, now also retired from the Air Force.

Kirchhoff welcomed attendees to Southwestern Illinois College and volunteered to host the program next year.

Yates-Popwell discussed the assets the attendees have to offer in the civilian community upon their retirement with their experience in teaming and their self-discipline. She further discussed educational preparation for the paralegal field in the civilian sector for military attendees planning upon retirement to continue their paralegal career.

Hemingway discussed the Tort Reform initiatives that are being proposed in Congress and the stress that tort actions in the United States have on our economy.

"Because it has proven to be so successful, the program has expanded in the past three years to encompass the entire Air Force paralegal community. It continues to grow in popularity. We added 10 training slots for Army paralegals this year, and we are now planning to offer slots to Navy paralegal technicians next year," said Stogner.