Staff Writer
300 visitors from across the country
Paralegals and legal assistants from across the country visited Jacksonville Tuesday through Saturday for the National Association of Legal Assistants 35th Annual Convention.
It was hosted by the Northeast Florida Paralegal Association, an affiliated association.
“The convention has brought about 300 people from all over the country to Jacksonville this week and it’s been great,” said Cindy Houston, NEFPA president and a paralegal with Fallgatter Farmand & Catlin. “We had members from as far away as Portland, Oregon, attend this year.”
NALA began the convention with an early-bird reception hosted by NEFPA on Tuesday followed by a welcome on Wednesday and a keynote speech from former Jacksonville Bar Association President Dan Bean.
“What I like to do at conventions is come away with a new skill set, so I am energized to use what I have learned when I return to the office,” said Bean.
“I also like to network and develop relationships that can help me professionally in the future,” he said.
The definition of a paralegal/legal assistant may vary depending on where the definition is found, but, according to NALA, the common requirements are having received specialized training through formal education or many years of experience; working under the supervision and direction of an attorney; and performing non-clerical, substantive legal work in assisting an attorney.
Attendees were given the opportunity to improve their knowledge of bankruptcy law, elder law and veterans law through institutes conducted by the organization. NALA also offered educational tracks in essential skills, corporate law and litigation.
NEFPA member Kathryn Howell of Akerman Senterfitt was honored with a 2010 Affiliates Award. The recipient earns the award through “outstanding contribution and dedication to the advancement of the legal assistant profession through volunteer service to NALA affiliated associations.”
Howell was the NALA liaison for NEFPA and she coordinated CLA review courses for paralegals studying to take the certification exam.
“I knew it was going to be a challenging career and I knew that I didn’t want to work in retail for the rest of my life,” said Howell, who became a paralegal in 1993. “It has been a really rewarding career.”
Howell wasn’t the only person at the Hyatt interested in the paralegal field. The convention exhibit hall was filled with associates from Florida, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma and Oregon, among others.
“(The convention) is a great way to network and meet other paralegals,” said NEFPA member Dana Welcker of Murphy & Anderson. “You see names a thousand times in the course of doing business, so it’s great to be able to put faces with names.”
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