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Paralegal

GES 209 -- 300 hours

Prerequisites/Audience

Paralegal students must have a High School Diploma or GED equivalent.

Also Recommended:
Computer Skills: Keyboarding (minimum 60 wpm)
MS Office Suite (particularly MS Word and PowerPoint)
English Skills: Grammar, spelling, punctuation, composition

Note: If you plan to pursue the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) Certified Paralegal/Certified Legal Assistant (CP/CLA) credential, you must meet one of the requirements for eligibility shown below under the heading NALA Certification Eligibility Requirements. This Paralegal course is 300 clock hours. In order to meet the eligibility requirements to sit for the CP/CLA credentialing exam using this course, you must also hold a Bachelor's Degree in any field, or you must have seven years of experience as a legal assistant under the supervision of a member of the Bar.

NALA Certification Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for the CLA examination, a legal assistant must meet one of the following alternate requirements:

1. Graduation from a legal assistant program that is:
   • Approved by the American Bar Association; or
   • An associate degree program; or
   • A post-baccalaureate certificate program in legal assistant studies; or
   • A bachelor's degree program in legal assistant studies; or
   • A legal assistant program which consists of a minimum of 60 semester hours (900 clock hours or 90 quarter hours) of which at least 15 semester hours (225 clock hours or 22.5 quarter hours) are substantive legal courses.
   
   
2. A bachelor's degree in any field plus one year of experience as a legal assistant. Successful completion of at least 15 semester hours (or 22.5 quarter hours or 225 clock hours) of substantive legal assistant courses will be considered equivalent to one year's experience as a legal assistant.
   
   
3. A high school diploma or equivalent plus seven (7) years of experience as a legal assistant under the supervision of a member of the Bar, plus evidence of a minimum of twenty (20) hours of continuing legal education credit to have been completed within a two (2) year period prior to the examination date.