University of Texas: Management 6 - Paralegal Associations Report

This memorandum, prepared for Natalie Jacobs, Paralegal Manager at Jacobs Creek Consultants, provides a detailed overview of three major paralegal associations: NALA (National Association of Legal Assistants), NFPA (National Federation of Paralegal Associations), and the Paralegal Division of t...Read More

[Memorandum]
Information regarding NALA, NFPA and Paralegal Division of the State Bar Texas. Detailed study
regarding all of the major three paralegal associations.
2020
University
Student Credentials

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Memorandum
To: Natlie Jacobs, Paralegal Manager (Jacobs Creek Consultants)
From: Jenny Marcus, Assistant
Subject: Regarding the Information of the NALA, NFPA, and the Paralegal Division of the
State Bar of Texas and their membership criteria.
Date: 28th January 2020.
The below mentioned information is as per your convenience. It has detailed study regarding
the three main paralegal associations which are NALA (National Associations of Legal
Assistants) as well as NFPA (National Federation of Paralegal Association) and the Paralegal
Division of the State Bar of Texas. Each one of them has been briefly elaborated upon and
the membership criterion each of them holds for Lawyers as well as the paralegals as well.
Some of these also include a specific certification exam which needs to be given and cleared,
based upon which the membership is agreed upon.
NALA (National Association of Legal Assistants)
NALA is a non –profit organization that is membership based. To keep the members updated
regarding the legal evolutions in the country as well as internationally, NALA plays a very
important role in doing so. They provide proper education programs to enhance the paralegal
growth. People have to go through an exam in order to become a member of the
Organization; this examination is the Certified Paralegal Program which every member has to
clear in order to become a member (NALA, 2020).

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How to become a member?
1. As per the information on their website, becoming member of NALA is quite easy as
you need to be a graduate from ABA approved paralegal program or successfully
need to pass the NALA’s Certified Program and also pay a yearly membership fee,
which is on annual basis.
2. The members of bar associations or the people involved in the field of promoting
paralegals in any way can directly become an associate member by just enrolling
themselves and paying a yearly subscription.
3. A sustaining member is where an organization or a firm becomes a member of the
association in order to associate all of the NALA members in that firm to get
subscribed commonly with just a yearly subscription (NALA, 2020).
What the certification exam entails?
Certification exam includes subjects such as Ethics, Legal Research, Judgement and
Analytical ability and communication. While the Substantive Law is a huge part of the exam
which mostly includes topics such as contracts, civil litigation, American legal system and
business organizations (NALA, 2020).
NFPA (National Federation of Paralegal Associations)
NFPA promotes people to become members in order to become more aware of the legal
scenario revolving around them. The members tend to raise issues for research or any kind of
study or even review. Reports of the same are discussed and rendered to during their
conventions and meetings. Policies here are made through democratic mode and Individuals
are encouraged so as to take part in debates and lectures at conventions (NFPA, 2019).
How to become a member?
There are three kinds of memberships:

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1. Student Membership: Under this membership, apart from paying a membership fee
yearly, the people who wish to become members tend to go through a screening
process which is going through two different examinations to make sure that the
people involved have apt knowledge (NFPA, 2019). With this, they get an annual
subscription for their magazine, certain scholarships and career counselling as well.
For attempting these examinations one needs to fulfil a certain criteria as well (NFPA,
2019).
2. Sustaining Membership: This is one another kind of membership that relates to legal
professionals or advocates who just need to pay a yearly subscription for the same and
they can become a member after the validation regarding their profession is done.
What the certification exam entails?
In order to undertake this certification, there are two exams one can sit in. The first one is
“Paralegal Certification - Paralegal CORE Competency Exam and Credentialing”. There are
certain requirements and eligibility criteria that need to be met in order to undertake this
exam, including 18 semester credit hours of key paralegal courses, followed by post-
secondary study before taking graduation for program where a person covered 60 semester
credit hours, an ABA approved paralegal program and the program to be completed in USA
(Paralegals, 2020). The other exam is “Paralegal Certification - Paralegal Advanced
Competency Exam and Credentialing”. This is an online exam with possibility of taking the
exam (Paralegals, 2020).
Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas
This association came into existence as there was a need for the legal assistants to get
involved with the justice system, public service and professional responsibility of the country
as well. The division was also formed to provide an organization that was state wide to serve

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as a central vehicle for communicating and resolving issues in regards with legal assistants
(State Bar of Texas Paralegal Division, 2020).
How to become a member?
There are five different ways in which a person can become a member of the association as
such.
1. There is an active member who is a legal professional or is someone who is a
registered paralegal and even an individual who has worked in this field for some
time.
2. Student member is someone who is enrolled in certain paralegal programme/s as
mentioned by the association.
3. All other membership programmes require certain specifics of the criterion to be
followed and fulfilled (State Bar of Texas Paralegal Division, 2020).
Certification under this association
The certificate that the members need to clear in order to become a part of this association is
provided by Texas Bar of Legal Specialization. Both Lawyers and paralegals are provided
separate certifications after clearing examination (Texas Board of Legal Specailization ,
2019). At present, around 300 paralegals have already been distinguished by the board
certification. Around 7,400 attorneys have already been certified by the board out of around
100,000 legal practitioners (McConnico, 2017).
Jenny Marcus
(Assistant)

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Bibliography
McConnico, P., 2017. Being Board Certified. [Online] Available at:
https://blog.texasbar.com/2017/02/articles/tbls/being-board-certified/ [Accessed 28 January
2020].
NALA, 2020. About NALA. [Online] Available at: https://www.nala.org/about-nala/nala-
history [Accessed 28 January 2020].
NALA, 2020. Examination Format. [Online] Available at:
https://www.nala.org/certification/preparing-exam-format-specifications [Accessed 28
January 2020].
NALA, 2020. NALA Membership Application. [Online] Available at:
https://www.nala.org/sites/default/files/MembershipAPP.pdf [Accessed 28 January 2020].
NFPA, 2019. Affiliate your Association with NFPA to advance the paralegal profession.
[Online] Available at: https://www.paralegals.org/files/Become-a-Member-Association.pdf
[Accessed 28 January 2020].
NFPA, 2019. Paralegal Certification - Paralegal CORE Competency Exam and
Credentialing. [Online] Available at: https://www.paralegals.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?
pageid=3297 [Accessed 28 January 2020].
NFPA, 2019. Paralegal Students and Educators. [Online] Available at:
https://www.paralegals.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=3414 [Accessed 28 January 2020].
Paralegals, 2020. Paralegal Certification - Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam and
Credentialing. [Online] Available at: https://www.paralegals.org/m/pages.cfm?pageid=3298

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[Accessed 28 January 2020].
Paralegals, 2020. Paralegal Certification - Paralegal CORE Competency Exam and
Credentialing. [Online] Available at: https://www.paralegals.org/m/pages.cfm?pageid=3297
[Accessed 28 January 2020].
State Bar of Texas Paralegal Division, 2020. Membership Benefits. [Online] Available at:
https://txpd.org/benefits.asp [Accessed 28 January 2020].
State Bar of Texas Paralegal Division, 2020. PD Membership Types and Criteria. [Online]
Available at: https://txpd.org/membership_types_and_criteria.asp [Accessed 28 January
2020].
Texas Board of Legal Specailization , 2019. Get Certified. [Online] Available at:
https://www.tbls.org/cert/get-certified [Accessed 28 January 2020].