Timeline with AAFPE
Biography
Janet Kaiser is currently happily retired with her husband Alan in Virginia, after a pioneering career that helped shape the landscape of paralegal education in America. Her journey began after graduating in 1973 from UC Berkeley, where she earned Phi Beta Kappa honors with a double major in Linguistics and English.
Moving to Los Angeles after graduation, Janet found herself at the forefront of an emerging field. While attending graduate school at UCLA, she was fortunate to secure a position during the early days of paralegal education. She eventually spent approximately a decade at UCLA Extension, where she developed and administered the Attorney Assistant Training Program, a post-graduate certificate program that grew to include multiple specialties.
During these pioneering years, Janet participated as a site visitor for the ABA's Standing Committee on Legal Assistants and attended various meetings across the country. These experiences made it increasingly clear that paralegal educators needed to unite to address the challenges facing students, educators, employers, and everyone who benefits from a legal system that promotes justice.
When circumstances demanded action, Janet and David Sapadin (then at the Institute for Paralegal Training in Philadelphia) took responsibility for hosting critical meetings in San Francisco. They funded and coordinated efforts to determine whether paralegal educators could successfully organize themselves. After tremendous effort and personal financial sacrifice—often using her own credit cards to fund organizational activities—AAFPE was established with Janet elected as its first President.
Key Achievements & Service
- First President of the American Association for Paralegal Education (AAFPE)
- Published the first AAFPE Journal
- Professor and Acting Dean at University of West Los Angeles (1984-1998)
- Distinguished Paralegal Educator of the Year, West Publishing Company (1995)
- Served three years on NALA's Certifying Board for Legal Assistants
- Served three years on the Commission for Advanced Paralegal Specialization
- Taught critical thinking, research, and writing courses at community colleges
- Tutored scores of individuals who had failed California bar exams
- Worked in litigation consulting in reinsurance, major frauds, entertainment law, construction law, land use law, and receivership administration
One of Janet's most cherished memories from her teaching career involved a former student who visited her office eight years after graduation. The man, who had been recently released from prison when he enrolled, told her: "I went to paralegal school. You were my teacher. I got a job and I now have a wife and three kids and I have an office and a briefcase." Janet recalls thinking, "This is the best thing that's ever going to happen to me in my life."
After leaving full-time paralegal education in the late 1990s, Janet pursued various careers including serving as a receivership administrator for the LA Superior Court, where she managed diverse businesses ranging from a medical marijuana dispensary to a company that installed banners at Lakers games. Her litigation consulting work provided real-world opportunities to observe lawyers, judges, and paralegals in action across multiple fields of law.
Today, Janet remains connected to the field she helped establish, faithfully reading AAFPE news and occasionally contributing her insights to ongoing discussions about paralegal education. She views her career as an extraordinary privilege—one that helped unlock the carefully guarded treasury of legal knowledge for exploration by all kinds of people, furthering access to justice for all.
When asked about her wishes for AAFPE's future, Janet simply says, "I wish it good health and long life." Her legacy lives on in the thousands of students whose lives have been transformed through paralegal education and in the thriving organization that continues to set standards for excellence in the field.