Graves Garrett is pleased to announce that longtime firm employee Nichole Kruger was recently elected president of the Heartland Paralegal Association (HPA).

Kruger served as secretary for the HPA in 2018-2019 before starting her term as president for 2019-2020. The HPA is a not-for-profit professional organization dedicated to the advancement of the paralegal profession by promoting the benefits of effective and increased utilization of paralegals within the legal community.

“I am honored to have the chance to serve HPA in this role,” Kruger said. “The organization has been beneficial to my professional development, and I look forward to helping others achieve in that same regard.”

Kruger has worked at Graves Garrett since January 2009 and previously built a relationship with firm name partners Nathan Garrett and Todd Graves during a six-year stint at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas City, Missouri. Kruger worked at the office when Graves was appointed to the post of U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri and during Garrett’s tenure there.

In 2014, Kruger graduated from National American University with a bachelor’s in paralegal science. She has been a voting member of HPA for more than two years and has been involved with the organization for more than three years.

HPA promotes high ethical standards for its membership and supports voluntary national certification to identify paralegals who have demonstrated a high degree of competency in the profession. HPA is a National Association of Legal Assistants-affiliated organization and provides a network of professional support for paralegals, legal assistants and other members of the legal community in and around the Kansas City metro area.