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by Stephen Parezo

Fiona Mensah, Fiducial’s corporate attorney, waves an American flag in honor of officially becoming a U.S. citizen during an impromptu celebration last week at the company’s Technical and Administrative Support Center (TASC) in Columbia, MD.

May 29, 2006—As Fiducial’s corporate attorney, Fiona Mensah is usually resolving legal issues of one sort or another but last month, she received resolution of a private nature when she received word that she could officially become a U.S. citizen.

Born in Ghana, Mensah came to the U.S. from the UK where she went to high school and then college, back in 1991. Though she initially felt that if she pursued becoming an official U.S. citizen, she would be betraying her home country, at a certain point she decided that since both her husband, Charles, and two children were already U.S. citizens that it was time to give up her “Green Card” and join the club.

Last fall she applied for U.S. citizenship and eventually took a written civics exam that she aced with a perfect score. Mensah was sworn in last week as a U.S. citizen during a ceremony at the Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore.

After receiving her certificate of naturalization, she heard a short speech on videotape from President George W. Bush welcoming America’s new citizens.

“He said, ‘We are happy to have you and hopefully you’ll remain here—or similar words to that effect,’ ” she said.

After giving up her “Green Card” taking the Oath of Citizenship, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and standing for the National Anthem, Mensah was now a full-fledged U.S. citizen. Although she had a corporate counsel symposium to attend shortly afterwards in Baltimore, she noted that the significance of the event that had just taken place hadn’t fully hit home.

“I was thinking that this was a historic moment for me because I had never planned to come here and stay this long,” she said. “Now I had become a citizen of the U.S., a great country that is now truly my home.” A long time in coming, Mensah admits that the impact of becoming a citizen is “still sinking in.”

The point of contact

Fiducial’s corporate staff from the company’s Technical and Administrative Support Center (TASC) in Columbia, MD, turned out full force last Wednesday afternoon to express their congratulations. Despite the gathering right outside her office, she was unaware of what was taking shape because she had been on a conference call.

When administrative assistant Olga Latimer knocked on her door and requested her presence, Mensah was so involved in her work that she did not immediately realize what was happening.

“They had balloons, donuts and decorations in the morning so that was more than enough for me,” she said. When she finally emerged from her office, the crowd shouted “surprise!” and she certainly was.

Mensah serves as the point of contact for all legal affairs in the company. She reviews the company’s contracts and works primarily on compliance and regulatory issues with assistance from paralegal Kathlyn Landicho and advice from outside counsel.

“The field of law is so vast that it helps to have access to and consult with specialists,” she said.

Routinely delving into complicated matters across the nation, Mensah spends a lot of time focusing on transactional issues including negotiating and reviewing commercial contracts, labor and employment law, franchising, managing litigation and outside counsel, real estate and business acquisitions, which also includes doing lots of due diligence in preparation for Fiducial’s business acquisitions.

“Most of it is contract review work,” she said. “I review lots of contracts or draft them from scratch. I have my work cut out for me.”

‘A trusted asset’

It’s easy to see that Fiducial’s legal eagle has a passion for her work.

“I really love what I do and I really love people,” she said. “There are many decent, hard-working people here.”

Mensah received her Bachelor of Laws honors degree from the University of London and has 17 years experience in the legal profession.

Asked what keeps her going, she replied that she’s very grateful for what she has.

“I really appreciate life and the experience I have on a daily basis,” she said. “I believe that I’m very lucky.”

Bill Morice, Fiducial’s director of field operations, remarked that Mensah “is a trusted asset of Fiducial and she keeps us from making mistakes.”

“We’re in several industries all of which are highly regulated with many, many regulations that we have to comply with and some of which counter the others,” said Morice. “ Fiona helps us understand how they all fit together and finds the best Fiducial solution. She’s a key element in all our acquisitions and helping us to profitably expand in the U.S.”

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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