AGENDA TOPIC #4
NFPA 2014 ANNUAL CONVENTION
Dallas, Texas
An Agenda Topic requesting the creation of a specialized Committee entitled Committee for the
State of the Paralegal Profession to prepare and submit an “Inaugural State of the Paralegal
Profession Report” under the guidance of the Vice President of Positions and Issues.
Submitted by: The Members of the Ad Hoc Committee for the State of the Paralegal Profession
Report, as identified below:
Mianne L. Besser, Committee Chair (Region II - Rocky Mountain Paralegal Association)
NFPA Primary and Association Board Advisor
Kathy Connell (Region II - Dallas Area Paralegal Association)
NFPA Secondary and Association Parliamentarian
Melanee Cottrill, RP (Region I - Sacramento Valley Paralegal Association)
Association Director and Webmaster
Missy Hirst, MSLA (Association of Legal Administrators/Mile High Chapter)
Treasurer-Elect, Membership Committee Chair
Jessica Kubiak (Region III - Cleveland Association of Paralegals)
NFPA Primary/Association President
Jessica Mieles (Region V - New York City Paralegal Association)
NFPA Primary
Rebecca Reedy, NJCP (Region IV - South Jersey Paralegal Association)
NFPA Primary/Association President
Jeffrey Watts, MA, CP (NFPA Advisory Council Member)
Topic:
The creation of a specialized Committee entitled “Committee for the State of the
Paralegal Profession,” to prepare and submit an “Inaugural State of the Paralegal Profession
Report” to coincide with the 2015 NFPA Convention scheduled for Honolulu, Hawaii, under the
guidance of the Vice President of Positions and Issues.
Date:
August 8, 2014
Bylaw:
Not applicable.
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Description: Currently, issues concerning the NFPA and its members are often brought to the
membership for consideration and discussion by way of Position Statement and Special Research
Papers.
The Position Statements (Statements) are commissioned by the NFPA Board and/or NFPA
President and are made available to the membership under the Positions and Issues tab on the
NFPA website.
Special Research Papers (Papers) are prepared by the Special Projects Coordinator under the
direction of the Vice President and Director of Positions and Issues.
The Statements and Papers, generally, address a specific area of the law or legal practice; once
complete, they are published and made available to the NFPA Membership through the Member
Resources page.
Neither the Statements nor the Papers authored are a comprehensive compendium of issues
relevant to the paralegal profession including: Salary Surveys; Trends in the Delivery of Legal
Services; Education and Continuing Legal Education; Changes to Professional Titles; and
Ethical Violations.
NFPA has addressed the issue of Regulation throughout the United States with the publication of
paralegal regulations by state which was last updated in May 2012. Since the last update, a
significant development in Washington has occurred providing a new level of paralegal
designation: Limited Licensed Legal Technician (LLLT).
History:
The Ad Hoc Committee for the State of the Paralegal Profession Report
(Committee) was formed by a vote of the Delegates during the NFPA 2013 annual convention in
Hartford, Connecticut, to explore the feasibility of preparing a State of the Paralegal Profession
Report (Report). Historically, the NFPA has issued Position Statements and Special Research
Papers pertaining to the NFPA and to the paralegal profession. Those documents are available
through the NFPA website.
Strategic Long-Range Plan: The Report would serve the core purpose of the Strategic LongRange Plan: Advancing the Paralegal Profession. The Report would also coincide with NFPA’s
Strategic Plan Core Values, including: Responsive to member needs; Provides visionary
leadership; and Open to the exchange of ideas. Further, the Report would support NFPA’s
Strategic Plan Goals including: [A] more inclusive membership; Regulation and educational
standards for the paralegal profession. . . ; and [Advancing] the paralegal profession through
strategic alliances.
Detailed Description of Recommendation:
In order to complete the feasibility
recommendation(s), the Committee conducted research on the specific themes of the Report
which were itemized in Agenda Topic #5 authorized by the Delegates during the 2013
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Convention. Those themes include: 1) Trends in the delivery of legal services; 2) Educational
and Continuing Legal Education topics, including modes/delivery of training; 3) Changes to the
title of our profession; 4) The state of regulation/limited practice; and 5) Ethical violations. The
Report would provide information and/or detailed analyses of the aforementioned topics. See the
attached documents for an overview of the research done, to date, on each individual topic as
referenced above.
The Committee considered the means and methodologies needed to produce a detailed NFPAgenerated Salary Survey inclusive of salary and billing rates as well as a comparison of billing
rates of NFPA-credentialed paralegals vs. non-credentialed. These items were specifically
delineated and affirmed in the original charge of the NFPA Delegates Agenda Topic #5 (2013).
There are a number of entities that collect and aggregate data relevant to detailed salary and
billing rate surveys. As an example, Robert Half Legal (RHL) makes available to requesting
parties (at no charge) a comprehensive salary survey. This data collection only includes billing
rates. There is no information comparing salaries of NFPA-credentialed vs. non-credentialed
paralegals. This Committee does not believe that RHL could be retained to conduct a survey on
behalf of, or for the benefit of NFPA members.
The Association for Legal Administrators (ALA) collects data from across the country from
legal administrators regarding paralegal salaries. The annual ALA International salary survey
does not differentiate between RP or CRP credentials. However, they break down the salary
information provided by years of experience within “educational achievement.” The cost to
purchase the ALA International salary survey varies depending on the Association’s status with
ALA (local and/or national) and is specifically detailed in the Financial Cost section of this
Agenda Topic. The Committee notes that the purchase of the ALA International survey is not
presently included in the 2015 Budget.
Insofar as a local paralegal association conducting a salary survey, the Committee reviewed
information available from the Sacramento Valley Paralegal Association. This comprehensive
report has, in previous iterations, asked participants to self-identify as to credentialing status.
The response rate to this specific question has been minimal; thus, there is no way to quantify the
results and extrapolate the data across a larger population. For purposes of comparison, this
Committee also reviewed the State Bar of Texas Paralegal Compensation survey. This survey,
too, is comprehensive and provides relevant detail regarding the trends in paralegal salaries;
however, there is no distinction in the salary survey between monies earned by NALA
credentialed paralegals vs. NFPA-credentialed paralegals vs. paralegals certified by the Texas
Board of Legal Specialization.
This Committee also considered software programs that may be available to NFPA in order to
create a comprehensive salary survey, including Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
(SPSS). This program is a high-end statistical calculation software that allows researchers to
calculate statistics for writing articles that appear in academic journals. SPSS can calculate
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variance, chi square, t test, z score, regression analysis, and many other formulas too numerous
to mention. The fees to purchase SPSS are not specifically known at this time. SPSS is
relatively user-friendly and resembles an Excel spreadsheet; unlike Excel, its main purpose is
performing high end statistical analysis. In addition, SPSS has a function that allows data to be
imported from Excel. The Committee notes that the cost to purchase SPSS, would vary
dependent upon the number of volunteers necessary to input responsive data based on the
number of responses and the level of detailed analysis that the NFPA Board, Delegates, and/or
the Committee would deem sufficient.
The Ad Hoc Committee recommends that the Committee for the State of the Paralegal
Profession continue researching the feasibility of NFPA to create, distribute, collate, and report
on findings related to such a comprehensive salary survey to include salary and billing rates as
well as salary and billing rates of NFPA-credentialed vs. non-credentialed paralegals as long as
there are documented financial limitations which would be known to the Treasurer and
communicated to the Board of Directors. In addition, the number of individuals to prepare,
distribute collate, analyze and report on responsive data may exceed the number of NFPA
volunteers required to undertake such an endeavor.
The Ad Hoc Committee recommends that a salary survey conducted by NFPA is not feasible at
present given current limitations on financial capital and human capital required to create,
submit, collate, and report a salary survey. Instead, this Committee recommends that the
Committee for the State of the Paralegal Profession continue to research and report on the issue
of creating a salary survey bring a report to the Delegates to coincide with the 2016 Annual
Convention to be held in Burlington, Vermont. Further, it is recommended that should the
Delegates agree upon the form and content of the NFPA salary survey during the 2016 Annual
Convention, the Committee for the State of the Paralegal Profession publish a NFPA salary
survey every four years thereafter and report to the NFPA Delegates during the Annual
Convention.
Pros: The 2013 agenda item affirmed that by publishing a Report every four years, NFPA
would demonstrate “forward thinking with regard to the paralegal profession and demonstrate as
to why it is the “Leader of the Paralegal Profession.” Further, as stated previously herein, a State
of the Paralegal Profession Report meets NFPA’s Core Values and Association Goals.
Cons: The reluctance of competitor paralegal professional development associations to allow
NFPA direct contact with their members for participation in an NFPA-driven survey would
minimize the availability of the necessary diversity of responses and diminish the value of the
information culled. The human and financial capital to conduct a comprehensive survey would
require significant investment by NFPA and neither is in abundance with NFPA at present.
Financial Cost: At present, there are no costs associated with having the Inaugural State of the
Paralegal Profession Report appear in a 2015 “Special Edition” of the National Paralegal
Reporter and sold separately. There are no known costs currently associated with advertising
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said Inaugural Report in NFPA’s News You Can Use or posting to the Members’ Only section of
the NFPA website.
The financial costs will vary depending on decisions made with respect to purchasing third-party
produced salary survey information. For purposes of example, the 2014 cost to purchase the
IPMA/ALM Salary Survey is $499; the Association of Legal Administrators’ 2013
Compensation and Benefits Survey was made available at multiple levels depending on the
profile of the organization wishing to purchase the Survey. The four-tier purchase costs are:
Member participant: $150; Member non-participant $250; Non-member participant $200; and
Non-member non-participant $400. The aforementioned costs are incorporated herein for
informational purposes only.
Number of Volunteers and Estimate of Hours Needed: The Committee would need to
convene telephonically at least twice per month with an estimated 25–30 collective work hours
per month.
State any known legal implications: Convention Delegates were made aware of the possibility
of antitrust issues by including in Agenda Topic #5 (2013) information from the Association of
Legal Administrators Antitrust Guide; specifically, “. . . [t]here may be antitrust issues associated
with the production by NFPA, a paralegal “trade group,” in producing a billing rates survey…”.
Additional information can be found from the Association of Legal Administrators’’ Antitrust
Guide, found at http://www.alanet.org/antitrust.html.
This Committee recommends further research and consultation with pro bono counsel regarding
the depth and application of the antitrust issue to NFPA. Should counsel deem it acceptable for
NFPA to conduct a salary survey, one may be considered for inclusion in the 2015 “State of the
Paralegal Profession Report.” Alternatively, if counsel should determine it inappropriate for
NFPA to conduct a Salary Survey, the Survey should not be conducted by NFPA, and the topic
removed for consideration and analysis for the 2015 State of the Paralegal Profession Report.
Have you reviewed NFPA’s Bylaws, Policy Manual and/or Procedures Manual?
Yes __X__ No ____ Are there any conflicts? Yes ____ No __X_ If yes, please provide details:
There are no apparent conflicts to the proposed establishment of a specialized Committee to
prepare the Inaugural State of the Paralegal Profession Report for the benefit of members of
NFPA.
Resolution:
WHEREAS, NFPA has a history of being a national leader for the paralegal community
and a strong commitment to advancing the paralegal profession; and
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WHEREAS, investigating the publication of a Report every four years would be an
opportunity for NFPA and its associations to stay on the cutting-edge of changes within the
paralegal profession.
WHEREAS, it would be to the benefit of NFPA once the Committee has been formed
and has a designated line item on the 2016 budget, for commission of a comprehensive Salary
Survey.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that a specialized Committee entitled
Committee for the State of the Paralegal Profession is created to prepare and submit an
“Inaugural State of the Paralegal Profession Report” under the guidance of the Vice President of
Positions and Issues. This Committee will consist of board members, delegates, preferably a
representative from each region, and association members and possibly include members of the
Advisory Committee, representatives from the Association of Legal Administrators and the
International Paralegal Management Association, consisting of an odd number, with membership
ranging from seven to nine to be established; and
WHEREAS, NFPA has a history of being a national leader for the paralegal community
and a strong commitment to advancing the Paralegal Profession; and
WHEREAS, investigating publication of a “State of the Profession” Report every four
years would be an opportunity for NFPA and its member associations to stay on the cutting-edge
of changes within the Paralegal Profession,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that an Ad Hoc committee, designated as the
“Committee for the State of the Paralegal Profession”, consisting of board members, delegates,
association members, members of the Advisory Committee, representative from the Association
of Legal Administrators and the International Paralegal Management Association, with the ad
hoc committee consisting of an odd number, with membership ranging from seven to nine be
established; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Ad Hoc Committee for the State of the Paralegal
Profession be charged with:
1. Researching the feasibility of NFPA producing a comprehensive “State of the
Profession Report”, inclusive of the components detailed with specificity herein, including but
not limited to trends in the delivery of legal services which may potentially affect the Paralegal
Profession, educational and CLE topics and modes/delivery of training, any changes to the title
of our profession, the state of regulation/limited practice, and any prevalent and consistent
ethical violations by paralegals;
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2. Investigating the services of at least three companies or methods to produce detailed
salary and billing rate surveys, including a comparison of billing rates of NFPA credentialed
paralegals vs. non-credentialed;
3. Providing a recommendation as to the production and distribution of the State of
Profession report inclusive of components detailed with specificity herein as soon as possible but
not later than the next Annual Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2015.
4. Continuing the research and reporting on the feasibility of the creation, distribution
and analysis of a comprehensive NFPA-centric salary survey including components detailed with
specificity herein as soon as possible but not later than the 2016 Annual Convention in
Burlington, Vermont.
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the Committee for the State of the Paralegal
Profession be charged with:
1. Conducting research on a minimum of three third-party entities regarding the costs
associated with conducting a comprehensive Salary Survey, with all components
listed within the 2013 Agenda Topic #5 and restated with specificity herein and
submit to members and non-members for completion;
2. Conducting research on a minimum of three software programs which NFPA could
purchase in order to design a comprehensive Salary Survey, with all components
listed within the 2013 Agenda Topic #5 and restated with specificity herein and
submit to members and non-members for completion;
3. Conducting research on the feasibility of utilizing “open source” programs such as
Zoomerang, SurveyMonkey and Google Forms which NFPA could use to design a
comprehensive Salary Survey, with all components listed within the 2013 Agenda
Topic #5 and restated with specificity herein, and submit to members and nonmembers for completion;
4. Preparing a Report for the benefit of NFPA members to include the trends in the
delivery of legal services which may potentially affect the paralegal profession,
included but not limited to educational and continuing legal education topics
including modes/delivery of training; any changes to the title of our profession; the
state of regulation/limited practice; and any prevalent and consistent ethical violations
by paralegals;
5. Providing an inaugural report, excluding the Salary Survey component, as soon as
possible but no later than the Annual Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii in October
2015; and
6. Recommending to the 2015 Delegates and Board of Directors the most cost efficient
and expeditious manner in which to create and distribute a comprehensive Salary
Survey, inclusive of all components listed within the 2013 Agenda Topic #5 and
restated herein.
RESOLUTION 14-____
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Related Prior Resolutions:
13-03
WHEREAS, NFPA has a history of being a national leader for the paralegal community
and a strong commitment to advancing the Paralegal Profession; and
WHEREAS, investigating publication of a “State of the Profession” report every four
years would be an opportunity for NFPA and its member associations to stay on the
cutting-edge of changes within the Paralegal Profession,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that an ad hoc committee consisting of board
members, delegates, association members, members of the Advisory Committee,
representative from the Association of Legal Administrators and the International
Paralegal Management Association, with the ad hoc committee consisting of an odd
number, with membership ranging from seven to nine be established; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ad hoc State of the Profession Report Committee be
charged with:
1. Researching the feasibility of NFPA producing a comprehensive “State of the
Profession Report”, including a salary survey, trends in the delivery of legal services
which may potentially affect the Paralegal Profession, educational and CLE topics and
modes/delivery of training, any changes to the title of our profession, the state of
regulation/limited practice, and any prevalent and consistent ethical violations by
paralegals;
2. Investigating the services of at least three companies or methods to produce
detailed salary and billing rate surveys, including a comparison of billing rates of NFPA
credentialed paralegals vs. non-credentialed;
3. The Committee would provide a recommendation as to the feasibility of the
State of Professional report as soon as possible but not later than the next Annual
Convention, in Dallas, Texas, in 2014.
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