about nala

The Certified Paralegal (CP) credential is key to respect and opportunity throughout the legal profession. The use of the CP credential signifies that a paralegal is capable of providing superior services to firms and corporations. The CP credential has been acknowledged by the American Bar Association as a mark of high professional achievement, and more than 47 paralegal organizations and numerous bar associations also acknowledge the CP as the definitive paralegal certification. Learn more about becoming a NALA CP.

The National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) advocates for and encourages diversity, equity, and inclusion within the paralegal profession. We recognize that, to continually “ensure paralegals are known and valued as an integral part of the legal ecosystem,” we must build on and derive strength from diversity, equity, inclusion, and those initiatives that promote it. NALA encourages and fosters a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment within the association and its affiliated associations, as well as the law firms, corporations, legal service providers, and paralegal community our members and peers support. NALA strives to partner with affiliated associations and other professional legal organizations to advance and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. NALA welcomes members from all backgrounds and encourages connections within our diverse membership.

Strength through diversity includes all individuals regardless of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, medical condition, military or veteran status, and political affiliation.

NALA welcomes your comments and thoughts, and seeks your input regarding how to better achieve greater diversity within our association, our affiliated associations, and the paralegal profession as a whole. Please contact Vanessa Finley, CEO with any feedback.

You can find NALA online at:

• Facebook
• CP Exam Review Study Group
• LinkedIn

NALA 2023 Annual Report 

2024 Annual Member Meeting Rules and Procedures

Bylaws

In the beginning…

Adapted from an article by Jane H. Terhune, CLAS and Dorthea Jorde, CLAS

The National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc. (“NALA”), an Oklahoma corporation, was born in Minot, North Dakota, in April 1975. The gestation period lasted a few years, and many legal professionals were directly or indirectly involved after the need for a national association for paralegals was first recognized in the early 1970’s.

The first step, in 1973, was the creation of special national seminars and workshops for law office employees who were performing legal assistant tasks on the job. Attendance at the new educational programs was restricted to men and women whose attorney-employers signed an attestation that their job functions were closely akin to legal assistant performance alluded to in the definition adopted by the special American Bar Association Committee. The programs were planned and presented by the Legal Assistant Section of the National Association of Legal Secretaries (“NALS”), which had supported and worked with the ABA Special Committee on Legal Assistants since 1968.

In 1974 a task force was appointed to investigate the feasibility of a national certification examination for legal assistants. Five legal assistants, two paralegal educators, and two attorneys served on this task force, which evolved into the first Certifying Board of NALA. After a series of questionnaires to existing national certification programs and paralegal program directors, it became clear that a separate national professional association must be formed for legal assistants.

In January 1975 the task force met with the NALS Executive Committee in Tulsa, Oklahoma to draft a proposal to dissolve the Legal Assistant Section and to support the formation of a new and separate association for legal assistants. Jane Terhune and Dorthea Jorde met with NALS corporate attorney Jack Freese and NALS Executive Director Maxine Dover to draft articles of incorporation, constitution, and bylaws. The bulk of this drafting was accomplished in a two-day marathon session in a Chicago Hotel Room.

At an emotion-packed meeting in April 1975, the NALS Board of Directors adopted the proposal, and NALA quickly became a reality. Within hours the bylaws were adopted and officers were chosen. The initial Board of Directors was composed of nine former members of the task forces.

Dates

1975-1985

• The National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc. became a legal entity; headquarters established in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• NALA members adopt a Code of Ethics & Professional Responsibility
• First eight-page issue of Facts & Findings
• First examination administered to 90 legal assistants across the US with 48 achieving the Certified Legal Assistant Credential
• NALA welcomes first affiliated associations (Colorado and Ohio)
• NALA Manual for Legal Assistants, first edition, published by West Publishing Company
• CLA Specialty program announced
• NALA and the ABA Section of Economics of Law Practice jointly sponsor a nationwide seminar on the effective use of paralegals in the law practice
• NALA CLE offerings expand to include audio and video tapes
• NALA members adopt the NALA Model Standards and Guidelines for Utilization of Paralegals
• First CLA short course
• Certified Paralegal Exam review courses begin
• NALA establishes the Professional Development Committee

1986-1995

• National Paralegal Utilization and Compensation survey begins
• NALA files amicus briefs in the United States Supreme Court in Blanchard v. Bergeron and Missouri vs. Jenkins. The court’s decision in Missouri v. Jenkins affirmed the conclusion of paralegal time at market rates in attorney fee awards and established precedent for subsequent fee awards by state and federal courts throughout the nation
• NALA files three more amicus briefs in state courts supporting fee awards and paralegals’ ability to change employers in potential conflict situations
• Career Chronicle published as a special edition of Facts & Findings
• Facts & Findings Editorial Board created
• NALA submits statements to legislatures and bar associations looking at the issues of practice of law by non-lawyers, definition, and regulation of paralegals
• NALA Net is developed as a repository of ethical rules, opinions, cases, and guidelines affecting the utilization of paralegals
• NALA is involved in the ABA Commission on Non-lawyer Practice and commission hearings
• Continuing Education Council established
• NALA’s Board of Directors adopts a new system of governance

1996-2005

• NALA Membership Exchange offered at the annual convention
• NALA appears on two national television shows
• NALA Campus self-study, web-based programs introduced
• Specialty Task Force formed to redesign the Certified Paralegal Specialty certification, leading to today’s Advanced Paralegal Certification program
• NALA Campus LIVE! webinars developed
• Certified Paralegal (CP^®) certification mark granted by USPTO
• Human Resources Guide to the Paralegal Profession created
• Making a Difference award created

2006-2015

• Leadership Enhancement and Preparation (LEAP) program created
• NALA filed a third amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in Richlin v. Chertoff, 2008, again addressing the award of paralegal time, this time under the Equal Access to Justice Act
• NALA offers CLE gift certificates to all new and renewing members in response to the nation’s worst economic crisis in recent years
• LEAP enhanced to include materials for leaders of affiliated associations
• Certified Paralegal Exam moves to computer-based testing
• NALA apps created for App Store and Google Play: Facts & Findings app created; Paralegal CLE app created to provide access to NALA Campus and APC courses; NALA Meetings app created
• The Certified Paralegal Program is nationally accredited by the National Commission of Certifying Agencies
• Search begins for NALA’s new Executive Director