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Paralegal Questions
Hello ladies. I'm not a regular here but am hoping for some advice. I have a bachelors degree in communications but have been working as a legal assistant for almost two and a half years. While I did not go to school to work in the legal field, I really enjoy and plan to continue. My DH is an attorney but we work at different firms in two different fields, but we still enjoy having some professional things in common.
I am researching what it would take to become a paralegal. I understand that I am not technically one and don't want to market myself as such. I have started to look into paralegal certificate programs, which seem that they would require the least credits, because I have all of my general credits from my under grad. However they still would take 30 or so credits to complete.
Can anyone recommend any online resources to find out about the certification exam or online certificate programs?
My goal in all of this is to eventually be able to do free lance paralegal work. Thanks in advance for any input!
Re: Paralegal Questions
Liberty University also has an online program. They have an associate paralegal degree or a bachelors in paralegal studies.
Here are the links:
Associates: http://www.luonline.com/index.cfm?PID=23093
Bachelors:http://www.luonline.com/index.cfm?PID=23092
Hope that helps! I'm currently getting my masters online with Liberty. So far I like it!
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Try the NALA Web site to learn about paralegal certification. As for schooling, if you can go through an ABA-approved community college program, that would be your best bet financially. I only paid $5 per credit hour for my post-degree certificate, which kept me from having to take out student loans.
Additionally, you should check out the Paralegal Hell Purgatory board. The folks on there are very informative.
Thanks to both of your posts. And this was sort of my suspicion. I have seen lots of "schools" but I have had a hard time determining who is accredited. And yes, many of the attorneys I have spoken to about this say, don't go to a fake school.
thank you much for the links!
Thanks for the tip on the paralegal board!
in several of the firms in my community they are the same, but in many of the bigger firms they are not. I am simply trying to make myself more marketable for the future.
I got the certificate since I already had a Bachelor's. It took 3 semesters to finish - the college I attended didn't have summer school so took 1 1/2 years. It wasn't hard though. Just make sure you go to a school that is ABA approved. I ended up going back into Accounting which was my original career so I didn't do the certified exam. Around my town it really isn't necessary.
And even though you are gaining a ton of experience I learned a lot in school and now a days a lot of places won't look at you without the education even if you have the experience. I chose not to keep paralegal as a career but did gain a lot from the program and I'm glad I did it to realize law wasn't for me.
That was my understanding about certification. They won't just let you take the exam unless you have several years experience as a paralegal or the education. There's an exam that you can take from the other paralegal association but I think that requires that you work at least 5 years as a paralegal. I haven't taken it and am not sure I willl. The attorney I work for probably would bump up my pay but the idea of a two-day exam does not make me happy. I'm actually looking into the online program at the University of Illinois-Springfield. They have a master's in legal studies which sounds pretty interesting, but definitely not cheap.
can you suggest the online program? Thanks so much for the advise!