NFPA Policy Manual

LAW DAY/WEEK, OBSERVANCE OF
80-39
Vote Tally: 16-Y, 0-N, 0-A
Association:
STATUS: Passed

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Federation shall encourage participation in the national observance of Law Week and Law Day by member associations.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Federation of Paralegal Associations ("NFPA") supports the principles, goals, and work of the Legal Services Corporation, and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NFPA encourages the retention and full funding of the Legal Services Corporation and the continued full utilization of paralegals, and,

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NFPA encourages its members to take affirmative action to promote the continued operation of the Legal Services Corporation.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that NFPA affirm its support of full funding for the Legal Services Corporation;

BE FURTHER RESOLVED that the NFPA President send a letter in behalf of the NFPA to the U.S. President and the chairpersons of the Congressional Finance Committees expressing NFPA's firm commitment to the goals of the Legal Services Corporation and its continued effectiveness through full funding.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the membership of the NFPA direct the Vice President-Policy to draft model testimony to be filed, when appropriate, at the discretion of the President or Vice President-Policy supporting legislation which increases the quality, efficiency and accessibility of legal and other services to the public, including the creation of special advocacy programs.

WHEREAS, the economic advantages derived from employing paralegals are widely known within the legal and business communities; and,

WHEREAS, at a time when clients are concerned about the delivery of cost-effective legal services, attorneys are able to provide clients with a higher caliber work product at a lower cost through the use of paralegals; and,

WHEREAS, the American Bar Association pronounced its positions in its 1991 Model Guidelines for the Utilization of Legal Assistant Service and a 1993 resolution adopted by the ABA House of Delegates, both of which support the award of paralegal fees to law firms or attorneys who represent prevailing parties in lawsuits where statutes or current law allow for the recovery of attorney's fees; and,

WHEREAS, five federal statutes permit the award of attorney fees for paralegal services to prevailing parties; and,

WHEREAS, in Missouri v. Jenkins, 491 U.S. 274, 109 S.Ct. 2463 (1989), the U. S. Supreme Court held that paralegal fees should be awarded to the prevailing parties in a lawsuit, and that this award customarily should be based on the hourly rate charged to the consumer; and,

WHEREAS, NFPA recognizes that, although state and federal laws are being developed by legislatures and courts, the lack of comprehensive state and federal statutes and/or court rules permitting the recoverability of paralegal fees has precluded a more speedy development of cost-effective legal services to the public; and,

WHEREAS, NFPA recognizes that, although the Courts have awarded paralegal fees at hourly rates which vary according to the complexity of the tasks performed, whether to permit the recoverability of paralegal time in an attorney's application for fees frequently is decided at the discretion of and at a rate determined by the state and federal judiciary; and,

WHEREAS, NFPA recognized that, if a statute or court rule includes a provision for paralegal services, the risk of statutory misinterpretation in the courts may be avoided and courts may base their awards on the same merits and in the same manner as with attorney services; and,

WHEREAS, NFPA recognizes that if the issue of paralegal services is addressed in the statutes and/or court rules, there can be no question of legislative intent;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NFPA adopts the attached model legislation which provides for the recoverability of paralegal time at market rates in an attorney's application for fees; and,

FURTHER RESOLVED, that said model legislation may be used by NFPA and/or any NFPA member association to propose legislation for the award of attorney fees for paralegal time at market rates in an attorney's application for fees in a state or federal legislative or judicial arena, as appropriate.

(attachment)

[INSERT STATE]

[INSERT SESSION NO. AND YEAR]

A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the [INSERT STATE][INSERT EITHER "CODE" OR "COURT RULES"] concerning the following provisions, [INSERT APPROPRIATE REFERENCE]

Be it enacted by the [INSERT STATE/FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE BODY NAME] of the [INSERT STATE]:

SECTION [INSERT APPROPRIATE REFERENCE] IS ADDED TO THE [INSERT STATE] [INSERT EITHER "CODE" OR "COURT RULES"] AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS: [INSERT APPROPRIATE SECTION REFERENCE]. AS USED IN THE SECTION, "PARALEGAL" MEANS "A person, qualified through education, training or work experience, to perform substantive legal work that requires knowledge of legal concepts and is customarily, but not exclusively, performed by a lawyer. This person may be retained or employed by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency or other entity or may be authorized by administrative, statutory or court authority to perform this work." The terms "paralegal" and "legal assistant" are interchangeable and used synonymously.

Any and all references in the [INSERT STATE] [INSERT EITHER "CODE" OR "COURT RULES"] to attorney's fees shall include paralegal's fees.

In any action or decision in which attorneys' fees are to be determined or awarded by the court, the court shall consider, among other things, the time and labor of any paralegal who contribute or perform nonclerical, legally substantive tasks that in the absence of the paralegal would be performed by the attorney. The award of such fees shall be based on the nature, the extent, and the value of such services, the time spent on such services, and cost of comparable services. The award of such fees shall be based on the same merit and in the same manner as with attorney services and shall be based on the hourly rate charged to the consumer of the legal services.

Effective date ____________________.

WHEREAS, in accordance with Resolution 92-M1, the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Paralegal Services has developed guidelines for licensure and specialty licensure; and

WHEREAS, licensure and regulation of paralegals is being proposed in a number of states; and

WHEREAS, licensure and regulation of paralegals is being proposed in a number of states; and

RESOLVED, that further guidelines developed be provided to member associations for assistance in developing acceptable licensure and specialty licensure plans in their locations; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the guidelines carry a clear label warning that they are not to be construed as NFPA policy and should not be interpreted as absolute requirements.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NFPA recognizes the climate for all levels of regulatory reform; and, further, endorses self defining the parameters of regulation of the paralegal profession; and,

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NFPA charges the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Paralegal Services with the development of two separate forms of model legislation for full licensure and limited licensure, as presented in their Report; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NFPA charges the Standing Committee on the Expansion of Professional Responsibility with the development of a model legislation in the form of registration; and,

FURTHER RESOLVED that those committees will provide their drafts of the models no later than 30 days prior to the scheduled 1990 Regional Meetings to the NFPA Board, Primaries and Secondaries for comment and final drafts to be submitted 45 days prior to the scheduled 1991 Annual Meeting to the NFPA Board, Primaries and Secondaries for the purpose of discussion, and ultimately, use on a member-need basis; and,

FURTHER RESOLVED that none of the legislative models be distributed to outside entities as NFPA work product until approved by this body.

RESOLVED that the NFPA enter into a contract with Nixon, Hargrave, Devans and Doyle for Legislative Monitoring for the 1992-1993 year.

WHEREAS, it is in the best interests of the National Federation of Paralegal Associations, Inc. (the "Federation") to monitor the activities of the ABA and NALA; and

WHEREAS, The Federation has and will continue to support the concept of an autonomous, broadly based body to examine the issue of accreditation or certification; and

WHEREAS, The activities of the ABA and NALA are conducted without sufficient information on the views and position of the Federation; and

WHEREAS, The Federation would benefit from increased communication, visibility and contact;

IT IS RESOLVED, That the Federation hereby adopts a policy of cooperation with the ABA and shall take such action as is necessary to keep other members of the legal community informed of the views of the Federation.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Federation will maintain communication with all sectors of the legal community, including but not limited to the American Bar Association, and shall take such action as is necessary to keep other members of the legal community informed of the views of the Federation.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Federation of Paralegal Associations support the recognition and representation of the separate interest groups within the legal community while encouraging the unity of effort to achieve common goals.

RESOLVED that NFPA endorses the implementation of regulation of all paralegals on a state-by-state basis insofar as its implementation is consistent with the Mission Statement and expands the utilization of paralegals to deliver cost-efficient legal services as determined by NFPA member association in the affected jurisdiction. Specifically, paralegals in the affected jurisdictions must be able to perform in an expanded capacity from that which paralegals were performing prior to implementation of regulation; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that NFPA and its board of directors will not initiate the introduction of any proposal to regulate paralegals in any jurisdiction; but, in order to advocate NFPA regulation policy, may support or oppose, as appropriate, any legislative, judicial, administrative or other regulatory activity; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that NFPA does hereby endorse a two-tier regulatory scheme consisting of licensing and specialty licensing programs as its preferred form of regulation. The licensing programs must contain minimum standards and provide for an expanded role of practice for qualifying paralegals, contain provisions for a method of consumer redress, and contain a CLE provision requiring a minimum of 3 hours per year continuing education in a legal or specialty field; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that a competency-based core curriculum will be developed to provide the standard for paralegal educational programs, and further that a candidate for a license shall meet one of the following minimum educational requirements:

• associate's degree in paralegal studies with 60 semester credit hours or equivalent, including a minimum of 24 semester credit hours or equivalent of paralegal specialty courses, OR
• associate's degree in any subject (60 semester credit hours or equivalent) PLUS minimum of 24 semester credit hours or equivalent of paralegal specialty courses OR
• bachelor's degree in paralegal studies, including 24 semester credit hours or equivalent of paralegal specialty courses OR
• bachelor's degree in any subject plus 24 semester credit hours or equivalent of paralegal specialty courses.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that any person applying for a license as a paralegal must also pass a proficiency-based examination and meet a standard of character and fitness, which shall include, but not be limited to, no felony convictions and no conviction of unauthorized practice of law.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that grand parenting provisions for licensing will provide that in order to obtain a license, paralegals with a minimum of three years of experience as a paralegal will not be required to meet the above education requirements. Paralegals with a minimum of five years of experience as a paralegal will not be required to meet the above education requirements, and, in addition, will be permitted to waive the proficiency-based testing. Character and fitness requirements will not be waived under any circumstances.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that a candidate for a specialty license to practice, including those delivering legal services directly to the public in a specific area of the law in the paralegal profession, shall meet all of the following minimum requirements:

• Meet standards for licensing as set out above; and
• Pass a proficiency-based examination in the specialty practice area; and
• Have had no ethics violations; and
• Have a minimum of four years of experience as a licensed paralegal.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that grand parenting provisions for specialty licensing will provide that the experience requirements state in No. 4 above will be waived for paralegals with at least five years experience as a paralegal; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that NFPA in order to advocate NFPA regulation policy, may support or oppose, as appropriate, any legislative, judicial, administrative or other regulatory activity introduced; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that NFPA's endorsement of the preferred two-tier combination minimum standards and specialty licensing regulatory scheme shall not restrict any paralegal association from determining whether it prefers an alternative method of regulation, if any, which may be more appropriate to meet the needs of any member association's locality; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that such a regulatory scheme in any jurisdiction should be administered by a broad based group composed of licensed, practicing paralegals; licensed, practicing attorneys; paralegal educators from institutions that are either approved by the American Bar Association or in substantial compliance with the ABA Guidelines for Paralegal Education; and consumers who are not employed within the legal profession; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NFPA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Paralegal Services be directed to prepare sample legislation, incorporating the provisions as set forth above, for consideration at the Annual Meeting in May, 1993; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that Resolutions 91-10 and 92-27 are hereby superseded.

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