Paralegal Certification

If you’re looking for a secure career in a fast growing field, then a Paralegal Certification could be your answer.

Let our quality Paralegal Certification Program help you to achieve your dreams of having a secure career making a great income. Train at home using our online Internet training programs

Program Description

This Program provides the most effective way to start the process of becoming a paralegal (also known as “legal assistant”). Our Paralegal basic courses are self-paced and conducted 100% online. It includes the full range of courses needed to pass the CLA certification exam and has the required 900 hour duration. Please check your state requirements as some states require a Bachelor’s degree or may have additional guidelines.

As law firms get pressed by their clients to cut back on their billing, there is more demand for paralegals as a less costly way to get work done instead of having expensive attorneys billing clients. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, paralegal openings will grow much faster than average and job opportunities are expected to be very good in the coming years.

Courses included (in required order):

• Paralegal – Basics: covers Office Operations, Law theory, Legal Billing, Writing, Research/Citations. Also covers training on conducting interviews and an extensive Internet resource directory.
• Paralegal – Advanced: covers specialties including Family Law, Business Law, Contracts, Real Estate Law, Criminal Law, Tort, Litigation, Wills and Bankruptcy Law. Also includes hundreds of practice questions to build knowledge and experience.
• Professional Image: Short, interactive flash-based course on maintaining professional image within a law office environment.
• Ethics for Legal Staff: Short, interactive, flash-based course covering ethical requirements of the paralegal profession
• E-mail netiquette: Use of e-mail in a legal office environment poses unique challenges. This short course provides an overview of important do’s and don’ts when using e-mail in your professional life

Program Completion

Most students complete this program in 6-9 months. There are final exams on each course, the passing score is 80%.  Students are allowed up to 3 attempts to pass each exam (with different questions each time).

Course Syllabus

Paralegal  – Basics     (300 hours – 150 instruction, 150 laboratory / practicum)

This paralegal training course focuses on the legal concepts, procedures, and skills that are used in a wide variety of legal environments. It is designed to teach the functions and processes of institutions in the U.S. legal system, roles and issues in the paralegal field, legal ethics, and selected specialties of law.

The course includes a listing of important skills, including legal analysis, communication, legal research, computer knowledge, legal drafting, investigation, interviewing witnesses, client relationships, and office organization. If you complete it, you should be prepared for a challenging and responsible career in the legal environment.

Final Examination

There are lesson quizzes, with a final exam of 80 multiple choice and true/false questions that requires an 80% passing rate.

Paralegal – Advanced            (600 hours – 250 instruction, 350 laboratory / practicum)

This course focuses on law specialties, complete with samples of pleadings, formats, and citations. It is designed to teach the functions and processes of institutions in the U.S. legal system, roles and issues in the field, and selected specialties of law. It discusses employment opportunities and provides dozens of websites for research purposes to enhance your educational skills on-line and build your own personal Cybrary.

The law specialties covered in detail include Bankruptcy Law, Business Law, Law of Contracts, Family Law, Torts and Tortfeasors, Litigation, Criminal Law, and Real Estate Law.

Final Examination

112 Multiple Choice and True/False questions; requires 80% passing rate.

Professional Image    1 hour

Introduction to the Professional Staff: Enhancing the Firm’s Professional Image

Sometimes we get so comfortable in our jobs and with our co-workers that we overlook simple common courtesies or blend social and business interactions much too freely. Whether your office culture is conservative or casual, your firm’s professional image should never be in question. Clients are impressed by a staff that knows how to treat them professionally and exceptionally. And they expect that a professional law firm will employ a professional staff. Does your staff pass the test?

• Rules & Subtleties of Professional Behavior
• Business Manners: Making the Best Impression
• The Firm’s Expectations
• What To Wear
• And Most importantly, What Not to Wear

Ethics for Legal Staff 1 hour

Every seemingly normal firm hides a potential ethics clash – an event that changes it forever. And what is that event? A story of ignored rules, uneducated staff, inadvertent disclosures, or just plain mistakes that gives us a profile of what we need to learn from every breach of ethics.

Based on Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, Section 5.03, “Responsibilities Regarding Non-lawyer Assistants”.

Topics Include:

• Unauthorized Practice of Law
• Insider Information
• Understanding & Maintaining Confidentiality for Clients and Information
• Conflicts of Interest
• Lessons from Real-Life Scenarios
• The Staff’s Role in the Ethics Triangle
• Cause and Effect of Violations

Email Netiquette: Making Email Work for YOU    1 hour

Email is such a large part of our business lives that we can’t imagine ever being without it. It’s become so commonplace that we end up doing most of our communicating with it – for our prospects, clients, vendors, co-workers, and even our friends. And yet, many of us don’t really know how to use email in the most efficient and effective way. Human communication is approximately 90% body language, 8% tonality, and 2% written word. With email, the first 98% is removed. If not done properly, email can actually hamper communication with vagueness, unclear requests, ineffective language, and unintentional meanings.

We’ll explore the protocol of using email effectively, efficiently, unobtrusively, politely, and with rules governing socially acceptable behavior (etiquette) over the internet (net) – Email Netiquette!

• Best Practices for Writing Effective Emails
• Make Your Email Relevant & First In Line to be Read
• Learn the Difference Between Good & Bad Email
• Dealing With Flaming & Flamers
• Efficiently Read & Receive Email

Course Code:  PAC

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