Meet Your 2020-2021 Board of Directors!
Thank you to everyone who voted in the 2020 NALA Election!
Your 2020-2021 NALA board of directors is:
Melissa J. Hamilton, ACP – President
Debra L. Overstreet, ACP – Vice President
Cheryl J. Nodarse, ACP – Secretary
Michele T. Pfeiffer, ACP – Treasurer
Debby J. Sawyer, ACP – At Large Director
Richard Hahn, ACP – At Large Director
Peonca S. Grier, CP – Affiliated Associations Director
Dana G. Welcker, ACP – Area 1 Director
Angela A. Oberle, ACP – Area 2 Director
Vicki L. Kasper, ACP – Area 3 Director
Deborah M. Paul, CP – Continuing Education Council Chair
Melissa M. Klimpel, ACP – Professional Development Committee Chair
Kimberly A. S. Brown, ACP – Certifying Board Chair
Vanessa Finley, MBA – Chief Executive Officer

Thank You To All Our Conference Attendees!
We wanted to take a moment to thank all our incredible members who attended this year's 2020 NALA Conference @ Home! It was a TREMENDOUS success! It was exciting to see all the new opportunities technology afforded us during the conference. We appreciate each speaker, exhibitor and attendee who joined us for this historic experience! Although we missed seeing each of you in person, we thoroughly enjoyed connecting virtually. Your enthusiasm and passion for the paralegal profession is the key to NALA's success.

For those who attended the full conference, which included the live education sessions, please keep an eye on your email inbox for the 2020 NALA Overall Conference Survey. Your feedback is incredibly important to us! We hope to see you all again next year in Louisville, July 22-24, 2021!

We are thrilled about NALA’s latest launch – DIGITAL BADGING!
Digital badges are a new and exciting way to proudly display and share your NALA achievements online. We are partnering with the Credly’s Acclaim Platform, a leader in digital badging, to bring this innovative new digital badging platform to our association. Digital badges are issued by NALA to qualifying individuals at no additional cost, and each person can earn multiple badges. With NALA’s new digital badges, you can now easily share your earned achievements with your peers, current and potential employers, educational institutions, and more.

The first badges being launched include the following: NALA Member, NALA Honorary Member, NALA Certified Paralegal, NALA Advanced Certified Paralegal, and a 2020 NALA Conference @ Home attendee badge. If you qualify for one or more of the above-mentioned badges, be on the lookout for an email from NALA with instructions about accepting and sharing the badge(s).

This is a completely voluntary option, and you do not have to accept or use the digital badges issued to you. However, they are exceptional tools to develop your professional resume! For more information about digital badging, please visit our website. If you need additional technical support with your badges, please visit support.youracclaim.com.

Utilization & Compensation Survey Reminder
Please take a moment to complete NALA’s 2019 Utilization & Compensation Survey, which was recently sent out by email. We are looking for those who are currently or have recently been employed in the paralegal profession. The survey will be focused on collecting information about the following: educational backgrounds; work environments; duties and responsibilities; and billing and compensation for the period Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2019. The objective of this study is to provide market research data on the above categories that may help in better understanding various areas of the paralegal profession.

We have partnered with Data Point Consulting LLC for this survey and all the information you provide will be kept strictly confidential. The survey will take roughly 15-20 minutes to complete. The final results of the survey will be made available on NALA’s website in the beginning of 2021.

Take the survey now!

The survey deadline is July 28, 2020. Please forward to other paralegals you know. Thank you for your participation! If you have any technical issues with the survey, please contact Data Point Consulting LLC (jwarnecke@datapointwi.com).

NALA's New CP Practice App!
Looking for more ways to prepare for the CP Exam? NALA has launched a new addition to the CP Practice Exam – the NALA CP Practice App. The NALA CP Practice App, which is included as a benefit when you purchase the online NALA CP Practice Exam from www.nala.org, is an excellent resource to help you prepare for the Knowledge portion of the Certified Paralegal Exam. For one fee, you can test yourself on the topics from any device, as often as you would like.

After purchasing the CP Practice Exam, you will receive an email with instructions on how to download and access the new smartphone app. Access is available for one year from date of purchase.

[NEW PODCAST] The WILLOW Project: Helping Wrongfully Convicted Women
From NALA’s 2020 Conference @ Home, host Carl Morrison welcomes Anne Geraghty-Rathert to follow up on her presentation about wrongful convictions and her work with the WILLOW Project. Anne discusses the unique issues surrounding women’s wrongful convictions and shares ways paralegals can get involved in clemency-based projects. Listen Now!

Anne Geraghty-Rathert is an attorney in private practice and a professor at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.

NALA has been a longstanding sponsor of The Paralegal Voice since its inception. Subscribe today!

For Examinees:

• The July 2020 Skills Exam testing window opened July 1 and closes July 31. 
• The Knowledge Exam is administered year-round. PSI has reopened some testing centers. Here is a link to check their availability. If you are unable to locate a testing center near you, but your workplace is eligible, you can test there. Email testing@nala.org, and we will send you the required documents.

For Certified Paralegals:
If you passed the CP Exam as an April 2020 new CP, be on the lookout for your certificate and certification packet! We appreciate your patience during this unprecedented time and look forward to you receiving your certificate.

As a NALA member, you receive exclusive local and national discounts on hundreds of products and services. To access these deals, log into your NALA account and then go to the Affinity Discounts page on our website. 

Certified Paralegal Champion Award Nomination Reminder!
Nominations for the first-ever Certified Paralegal Champion Award are being accepted!

The purpose of this new award is to recognize outstanding achievement by an individual or by a NALA Affiliated Association in promoting and advancing NALA's Certified Paralegal Program within the legal profession. Please note you do NOT need to be a CP nor a paralegal to receive this award. The award is given to those who promote and advocate for the CP Program.

Any Active Type member of NALA or a NALA Affiliated Association in good standing may submit nominations for the Certified Paralegal Champion Award. The nomination form can be found on NALA’s website.

Nominees for the Certified Paralegal Champion Award must meet the following criteria: (1) Current member of NALA; (2) May be a Certified Paralegal, Advanced Certified Paralegal, non-paralegal, attorney, or educator (Current NALA board of directors, committee members, and current Certifying Board Members are not eligible for the individual award.)

The deadline to submit nominations for the Certified Paralegal Champion Award is Sept. 1, 2020.