PERSONNEL FILE: Huddleston Bolen Legal Assistant earns CLA Professional Credential

HUNTINGTON -- Huddleston Bolen has announced that Brandy Hayton has successfully completed the Certified Legal Assistant examination and is now certified to use the "CLA" professional designation.

Hayton is a legal assistant in the firm's Huntington office.

"We encourage all of our professionals to advance their careers through continuing education. The CLA designation demonstrates a commitment by Brandy to her profession and to the firm's clients. The entire Huddleston staff celebrates this milestone," said Tom Gilpin, chair of the firm's management committee.

A paralegal at Huddleston Bolen since October 2005, Hayton graduated from Minnesota State University at Moorhead, Minnesota in 2005, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Paralegal Studies. She is Secretary of Legal Assistants/Paralegals of Southern West Virginia and serves on the Community Relations and Fundraising Committees. She also is a member of an American Cancer Society Relay For Life Team, "The Replacements."

The Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) examination program is a voluntary professional credentialing program developed by the National Association of Legal Assistants and administered by a board composed of legal assistants, members of the American Bar Association, and members of the field of education active in legal assistant training. The CLA program involves successful completion of a two-day comprehensive examination covering the topics of communications, legal research, ethics, human relations and interviewing techniques, legal terminology, judgment and analytical ability and five sections of general and substantive law.

Huddleston Bolen is a law firm with more than 50 attorneys practicing in offices located in Huntington and Charleston in West Virginia and Ashland and Louisville in Kentucky. The firm, founded in 1871, represents clients in many practice groups, including banking and finance, health care, insurance, litigation, labor and employment, natural resources, real estate, and transportation.

For more information about the firm, visit www.huddlestonbolen.com.