Paralegal Careers

As opposed to the degree programs in the subject, paralegal certificate programs are non-degree special study courses that can range anywhere from 3 months to 24 months. Moreover, only the programs that are accredited have any value. Usually, the paralegal certificate programs are offered by most law schools to bachelor degree holders, but promising high school graduates can also enroll in them.

A paralegal certification program is however quite different from the paralegal certificate program. Only three organizations can grant you paralegal certification, namely NALA, NFPA, and AAPI.

The National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) conducts and administers the CLA (Certified Legal Assistant)/CP (Certified Paralegal) exam. It also conducts an advanced version of it now known as the Advanced Paralegal Certification (APC) exam (hitherto to 2006 known as CLA Specialty Exam). The National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) administers the PACE (Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam)/RP (Registered Paralegal) exam.

The two above certifications can only be granted to candidates who have already served for five years as a paralegal/legal assistant. Moreover, the certification is only granted to you after you pass a 4-part exam. This is why the salary of paralegal certification holders is much more than individuals who have simply obtained a paralegal certificate.

The American Alliance of Paralegals (AAPI) administers the American Alliance Certification Program (AACP), eligibility for which is again five years work experience as a paralegal/legal assistant. It leads you to the AACP certification, without the need for an exam. You can choose to join any of the above three paralegal certification programs.

An accredited paralegal certificate program does not have a job enabling value, unless the program and its institution have been approved and certified so by the ABA (American Bar Association). This is as observed on the basis of the current trends. Moreover, you cannot even sit for the CLA exam, unless the paralegal certificate course you attended is ABA approved.

The ABA represents the interests of attorneys throughout the US. Moreover, since legal assistants need to serve the attorneys, it is justified that the ABA have a say in the approval of formal paralegal certificate programs drafted by educational institutions. A standing committee of the US attorneys' organization oversees and approves every ABA paralegal program.

Candidates must therefore take care to join only those paralegal certificate programs, which are accredited by a government approved agency and approved by the ABA. You need to ensure this to enable you to bag a good job. This may surprise the candidates as the paralegal industry has till date not been formally provided licensure status. However, they need to go along with the current trends if they want to bag a good job as a paralegal assistant.

Another class of paralegal courses is that provided under paralegal studies programs. These are basically at the level of Associate/Bachelor of/in Science degree programs in paralegal. They differ from paralegal certificate programs in that they provide degrees, whereas the latter don't.

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