The Jacksonville Legal Assistants met Thursday at The River Club to hear Lisa VanderWeide, Region 3 director for the National Association of Legal Assistants, discuss her organization. Over 60 JLA members attended the event. NALA represents paralegals, offers programs for certification and conducts surveys to evaluate compensation in the field. Courses in intellectual property, the American legal system, legal research, written communication, civil litigation, judgment and legal analysis, contract law, real estate law and other topics are taught through NALA. “Our CLA [certified legal assistant] program has become the national standard,” said VanderWeide.