UPDATE to March 2013 State Holiday Closing Schedules

Please note, the Texas Secretary of State office will be closed on Friday, March 29, 2013.

http://blog.clasinfo.com/2013/02/march-2013-state-holiday-closing.html

April 2013 State Holiday Closing Schedules

Please note, states sometimes make last-minute changes to their holiday closing schedules. We will update this list as we become aware of any changes.

Want to learn more about a holiday? Just click on the links.

Date	State	Holiday
Monday, April 1	California	César Chávez Day
Monday, April 15	Maine Massachusetts	Patriots' Day
Tuesday, April 16	Washington DC	Emancipation Day
Monday, April 22	Alabama Georgia	Confederate Memorial Day
Friday, April 26	Nebraska	Arbor Day
Monday, April 29	Mississippi	Confederate Memorial Day

Improvement in California Business Filing Times Ahead?

California lawmakers passed Measure AB 113 on Monday, March 18, 2013, aimed at reducing filing times for state business filings. The current backlog* can be approximately 2 months; this measure may reduce the wait to just 5 business days by November 2013.

Read more here: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/03/18/ca-lawmakers-aim-to-slash-business.html

*You can find the current California Secretary of State Working On Dates here on our blog.

From CLAS to the Bar

Meet Monica Cornejo, Juvenile Dependency Attorney, McGeorge Law School graduate and former CLAS employee. Born in Santa Clara county and growing up in Sacramento, Monica chose to major in political science with a minor in ethnic studies, with the idea of going on to law school.

However, her first job after college with a small law firm was not a positive experience. Monica says, "The lady who owned it frequently yelled at her legal secretaries. It was a terrible environment." Monica started questioning whether a high-stress law career was what she wanted and took a year off to travel in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Costa Rica.

After she returned, a friend who worked in the industry suggested that she should apply for a position at CLAS. Monica says she hadn't heard much about the "hidden" industry of public records research and decided to give it a try. At CLAS, she worked first doing order verification and later doing UCC searches.

Monica explains, "In addition to the work I've done clerking at law firms, the work I did at CLAS helped to prepare me for law school. It required me to be organized and meticulous and extremely mindful of deadlines." Just as important to Monica, "Being exposed to CLAS's work environment was an entirely different experience. It brought home to me that the way matters are handled internally in a company sets the tone for how employees are going to interact with clients. CLAS's clients have a real advantage in working with people who are good at communicating with each other and work as a team for their clients' benefit."

Monica is currently with the Children's Law Center here in Sacramento representing children who are county dependents, from newborns to 19-year-olds. She plans to continue focusing her career on public interest work and can be found on LinkedIn.

We're very happy for Monica's success and we look forward to seeing her continue to accomplish great things!

March 2013 State Holiday Closing Schedules

Please note, states sometimes make last-minute changes to their holiday closing schedules. We will update this list as we become aware of any changes.

Date	State	Holiday
Tuesday, March 5	Vermont	Town Meeting Day
Monday, March 18	Massachusetts (Suffolk County only)	Evacuation Day
Monday, March 25	Alaska	Seward's Day
Tuesday, March 26	Hawaii	Kuhio Day
Friday, March 29	Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee *Update - Texas will also be closed	Good Friday

Three Industry Blogs Worth Reading

If you're ready to explore but not quite sure where to start, here are just three of the industry blogs we follow:

• Above the Law: "A behind-the-scenes look at the world of law. The site provides news about the profession's most colorful personalities and powerful institutions, as well as original commentary on the latest legal developments." Check out the regular Morning Docket posts for an irreverent and informative start to your day.

• ABA Journal: Breaking legal news and comprehensive blawg (law blog) directory. Check out their "Latest Headlines" section.

• Uniform Commercial Code Litigation: Focuses on developments in litigation involving the UCC code. Look here for analysis of lawsuits concerning various aspects of the UCC.

Colorado Secretary of State Filing Fee Holiday Extended Through February

The Colorado Secretary of State has had a "fee special" that reduced most of their business filing fees to $1 and their UCC filing fees to 44. This will end February 28th. Beginning March 1st, these filings will revert to their previous rate or lower.

If you wish to file before these fees return to their normal cost, CLAS can help. Just contact us, call us at 800.952.5696, or email Christy McCullough at Christy@clasinfo.com for assistance.