Making the Final Decision on the School for Your Paralegal Training

Usually, before making the final decision, you should have narrowed down the number of schools that you are considering. You may be lucky enough to find the final decision quite easy; if not, here are some things to keep in mind while evaluating the programs on your finalist list. You can get most of this information from the program catalog, which the school will be happy to send you. You may have to call an admissions counselor to get answers to some of your questions. Don't be shy about asking for information. Remember, you are the consumer; the schools are interested in selling their program to you.




Is the School Accredited?

It may not be necessary to attend an ABA accredited program. ABA accreditation is voluntary, and the process can be quite expensive. For these reasons, many fine programs choose not to seek ABA accreditation. There are more than 1,000 paralegal programs in the U.S.; a little more than one-fifth of these are currently accredited by the ABA. However, many schools model their programs on the ABA guidelines. These guidelines are useful in distinguishing one school from another.

The best schools will follow the ABA guidelines fairly closely. In order to be considered for ABA accreditation, a legal assistant program must be a post-secondary school program that

• is part of an accredited educational institution
  
  
• offers at least 60 semester hours (or the equivalent) of classroom work These courses must include general education classes and at least 18 semester hours of law courses
  
  
• is advised by a committee comprised of attorneys and legal assistants from the public and private sectors
  
  
• has qualified instructors who are committed to paralegal education
  
  
• has student services available, including counseling and placement
  
  
• has an adequate legal library available
  
  
• has appropriate facilities and equipment

These ideals are expressed in very general language (get used to it, this is how lawyers talk!). I’ve already mentioned many of the standards; for example, appropriate facilities must include computer terminals. Let me go over a few of the other points on the list.

Make sure that even if the program isn't accredited by the ABA, the school is accredited. There are a variety of accrediting agencies, depending on the kind of school in question. Examples include the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), New England Schools and Colleges (NESC), and Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). In addition, in some states the program itself may be accredited or approved by the state bar association.

Are the Faculty Qualified?

The faculty should be comprised of people who are committed to paralegal education and who are up to date on changes in the legal assistant field. This may mean practicing attorneys, but it really isn't necessary for everyone on the faculty to be a practicing attorney. Practicing legal assistants, and former attorneys and paralegals who are dedicated to paralegal education, are perfectly fine instructors.

What Resources Does the School Offer?

Try to get a feel for the student services that are available. These should include, at a minimum, counseling and placement. In a small school, the teaching staff may take most of the responsibility for these tasks. Just make sure that the staff seems as committed to those parts of their job as they are to teaching. A faculty made up of only practicing attorneys and paralegals might be hard to find when you need one-on-one attention. Make sure they are at least expected to have regular office hours. Finally, make sure that the program you are interested in has access to a decent law library, such as one at a law school or courthouse.

Certification

Two certifications available to qualified paralegals include the Certified Legal Assistant (CLA), administered by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA), and the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE), administered by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations, Inc. (NFPA).

The CLA is a credentialing program that was established by the National Association of Legal Assistants in 1976. In order to sit for the CLA, a paralegal must meet one of the following requirements:

• Graduation from a paralegal training program that is accredited by the American Bar Association; or a program that is authorized to award an associate degree; or a post-bachelor's certificate program in legal assistant studies; or A bachelor's degree program in paralegal studies; or a legal assistant program that consists of a minimum of 60 semester hours (or the equivalent), of which at least 15 semester hours are substantive legal courses
  
  
• A bachelor's degree in any field and one year of experience as a legal assistant (successful completion of at least 15 semester hours of substantive legal courses will be considered equivalent to one year's experience as a legal assistant)
  
  
• A high school diploma or GED and seven years experience as a legal assistant under the supervision of a member of the Bar, plus a minimum of twenty hours of continuing legal education credit, completed within a two-year period prior to the examination date

In order to sit for the PACE, a legal assistant must meet all of the following requirements:

• At least two years of paralegal experience
  
  
• A bachelor's degree
  
  
• Completion of a paralegal program at an accredited school (paralegal education need not be separate from the bachelor's degree;
  
  
• No felony convictions or revoked license, registration, or certification

Although it is possible to take the CLA test as soon as you graduate from a paralegal program, most legal assistants wait until they have a few years of experience before obtaining a certification. It's not a bad idea to keep the standards in mind, though.

Note: When you are job hunting, keep in mind the difference between having a certificate (because you graduated from a paralegal program) and having certification (either CLA or PACE). Employers may be confused about this, and when they advertise for a "certified" paralegal, they may actually mean a legal assistant with a certificate.