Have you heard about the NAFLP? (www.naflp.com) It's not a new organization, it's just been a little bit quiet in the 3 years since it started. No more! Finally, there's an active, sensible, fun, proactive organization designed specifially for freelance attorneys, paralegals, interpreters, consultants, and others making a pretty darn good living working for other firms.
The what? you say. The NAFLP. Started in 2008 by two attorneys, the NAFLP was a small organization brought about to create some standards and best practices in a booming new cottage industry – what we used to call contract attorney or paralegal. Melody Kramer, co-founding member and IP attorney in San Diego, CA started the organization with a colleague. They felt strongly that freelancers needed a central place for resources, networking, education and recognition.
I was given the opportunity to take the organization over from Melody. What a fantastic experience this has been. The organization offers over 100 webinars, a great digital magazine called FREELANCER, publications and more to its members. There are individual and premium membership vehicles. Premium membership offers members a one year free subscription to FASTCASE, the antidote to Lexis/Nexis and Westlaw. FASTCASE usually costs an individual $995.00 per year.
NAFLP is also working on providing group health and dental insurance for its members as well. Pretty exciting stuff if you're working at home in your jammies. Here is why you want to join this dynamic and powerful association:
NAFLP's mission is to –
- Promote, enhance, and create standards of practice for the freelancing segment of the legal industry
- Educate and inform the legal profession about how to use outsourcing to legal freelancers as part of their business model
- Increase the quality of freelance legal services through education and business training
NAFLP's goals are to –
- Educate and coach legal freelancers in sound business practices, including marketing, service product development, and financial planning
- Educate legal freelancers in the art of developing high-quality freelance service packages for law firms
- Increase the visibility and credibility of NAFLP and its members in the legal community
- Offer training sessions to law firms in effective uses of legal freelancers within their law practices
- Create a network of relationships with affiliated organizations to provide member benefits
- Provide support to legal freelancers through networking
- Create a searchable database for NAFLP members for access by law firms
- Build a strong national association with quality resources
- Create best freelancer practices and cannon of ethics
For the $65.00 introductory membership, you can have access to over 100 webinars, teleconferences, free membership in the Organization of Legal Professionals (OLP), publications, telecoffee teleconferences once a month on first Wednesdays, incredible networking and the opportunity to get your name on the membership directory, the Freelancer magazine and more. Sounds like a bargain to me!
Members have a voice in what's going on – and we listen. I invite you to come with me on this adventure. Somehow, I have a feeling it's going to be a good one.