March 2026 Affiliate Spotlight: Madison Area Paralegal Association

What can you tell me about the history and formation of your association?

Madison Area Paralegal Association (MAPA) was founded 30 years ago by four paralegals, Lee Trummer, Bev Potts, Kris Caldwell, and Christine Durrow, in order to provide a forum for education and networking. The association had 20 members at the time. Currently, MAPA has grown to more than 90 members. Although our fields of discipline vary widely, from private law firms to governmental agencies to corporate counsel, we have one thing in common: to encourage and support work in the legal community.

How does your association actively engage its members?

We have events that take place on a monthly basis. Many of these are “lunch & learn” events whereby a speaker presents on a topic of expertise over the lunch hour, and members earn a CLE credit for attending. These events are interesting because the topics vary widely. Some topics might be directly relevant to someone’s day-to-day work, while other topics might be totally new. It’s refreshing to hear experts talk about things they are passionate about.

We also have social events throughout the year, such as lunches or happy hours, and members are oftentimes provided food and drink. Finally, we have an annual meeting followed by a half-day seminar, and in-person attendance is encouraged. We provide lunch, hear from various speakers, and this is a prime opportunity for members to chat and network.

What professional development resources does your association provide to its members?

We keep an eye on job openings around Madison. Most of these are paralegal or legal assistant jobs, but sometimes they venture into other categories. Job openings are sent to our organization’s listserv, and folks can apply as they wish.

We also engage with students in the paralegal program at the local technical school: Madison Area Technical College. Should any of these students wish to speak with an experienced paralegal about their career path and work, I’m sure any of our members would be happy to do such a thing. We also offer a discounted membership to our organization for students.

How would you describe the size and engagement level of your association?

For our monthly lunch & learns, we typically get a standard class size worth of people in attendance: 20-30. A handful of folks will ask questions of the presenter, which tends to make the lectures a little more interesting. We get higher participation at our annual meeting: 40-50 usually. Many of the folks in our organization have been in the organization for a number of years, so everyone is good at socializing with each other at our events.

Looking forward, what are your goals for your association?

Looking forward, we seek to maintain our high membership numbers and continue to provide interesting educational and networking opportunities. We want to make sure that members feel that their membership in our organization is worthwhile and even fun.