President's Report

As with many of us, schedules are often subject to change. Such is the issuance of the Alliance Echo Summer edition.  Our apologies for the delay in the completion of this newsletter.  The Board is currently undergoing a transition phase and the duties of some of the positions are being absorbed by the current Board members.  Our President Leslie Adams resigned her position due to the increasing demands of her professional and personal responsibilities.  She remains on the Board as the Director of Education and is fulfilling the responsibilities of our AACP duties.  We sincerely thank Leslie for her years of commitment to the Alliance and we will miss her on the Board.  Additionally, our AACP Renewal Coordinator, Kaylan Allison, resigned her position, due to employment demands.  Thank you for stepping up to this position Kaylan and your time spent assisting the Director of Education.  Our Annual Meeting of the Alliance and yearly elections will take place on September 17, 2026.  We have an excellent slate of candidates who have expressed their willingness to serve on the Board of Directors for the open positions of President, Director of Education and Secretary.  Watch for future information regarding the elections and ballots to be sent out.  Please exercise your Member rights and cast your ballots in the September election.  As with most professional associations, the leadership is generally filled with volunteer members who spend countless hours fulfilling their responsibilities.  Transitions in leadership is a natural occurrence for voluntary organizations.  We will weather these changes!  We hope you are enjoying the remainder of your Summer days! 

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Welcome New Members

Welcome to our new AAPI Members:

Susan Cooper, Cambridge, MA
Melissa Harrison, Durham, NC
Casey King, Las Vegas, NV
Diana King, Las Vegas, NV
Deana Lively, Louisville, KY

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Congratulations New AACPs!

Big congratulations to three exceptional paralegals on their recent professional achievements! 

Lori Ann Pallak (Cheyenne, WY)

Andrea Jackeline Espinosa (Miami, FL)

Diana King and Casey King (Las Vegas, NV) have earned their certifications as American Alliance Certified Paralegals, becoming our first-ever mother/son duo to achieve this distinction. 

Julianne Di Benedetto (Bellwood, IL) has successfully fulfilled all requirements to have her certification reinstated, reaffirming her dedication to professional excellence.

These accomplishments reflect a commitment to education, professionalism, and service to the legal community.

As a reminder, if your AACP certification lapses, you can always renew after the one-year waiting period without the need to resubmit transcripts.

Please join us in celebrating Lori, Andrea, Diana, Casey, and Julianne! 

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Calendar of Events

• Record date for annual elections - August 14, 2026
• Annual Member Meeting and Elections - September 17, 2026 12:00 pm (Eastern)
• Annual Board of Director's Meeting (Virtual) - October 7, 2026 
• AAPI Paralegal Summit - October 21, 2026 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm (Eastern) *We currently have a scheduled speaker on the topic of "Ethics of AI".  We are working on having at least one more speaker to have this Summit as a (2) CLE credit webinar.

Please watch your upcoming emails at the end of August or beginning of September
for more information regarding the candidates for office and voting ballots/proxy documents.

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Items of Interest

The State of Delaware has enacted House Bill 400, which impacts businesses formed or registered in Delaware by increasing a number of fees and taxes administered by the Delaware Secretary of State and the Division of Corporations. In addition, the Division of Corporations has revised its Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filing fees and expedited processing options. These changes will take effect on August 1, 2026.

Among the changes, the annual tax applicable to limited liability companies (LLCs), limited partnerships (LPs), and general partnerships (GPs) will increase to $400. In addition, each registered series of an LLC or LP will be subject to an annual tax of $100. For limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and limited liability limited partnerships (LLLPs), the annual tax will increase to $300 per partner, and the annual tax cap for LLPs and LLLPs has been increased to $210,000.

Several filing and service fees administered by the Delaware Division of Corporations will also increase. Effective August 1, 2026, the fee for Service of Process (SOP) requests and trademark filings will increase to $100, while the fee for preclearance requests will increase to $350. The fee for filing a short-form certificate of dissolution for corporations will increase to $50. In addition, the filing fee for a foreign corporation annual report will increase to $250, and the late filing fee for foreign corporation annual reports not filed by the June 30 deadline will increase to $200.

There are also changes to UCC filing fees and expedited processing services. The fee for a paper UCC filing will increase from $100 to $125, while the fee for an electronic (web-based) UCC filing will increase from $50 to $75. In addition, a new 30-minute expedited processing option for UCC filings has been introduced, similar to the expedited service currently available for corporate filings. The fee for this expedited UCC processing service will be $1,500, matching the cost of the existing expedited processing option for corporate filings.

The changes summarized above represent only a portion of the amendments enacted through House Bill 400. Members who conduct business in Delaware or are responsible for the management of Delaware entities are encouraged to review House Bill 400 in its entirety to ensure a full understanding of all changes taking effect on August 1, 2026, and to assess any impact on their organizations, compliance obligations, and filing practices.

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