"Everyone absolutely loved the instructor…pace was great, information was easy to follow along with, and overall, it was a very enjoyable class. It exceeded our expectations."
Sonja Morgan, Human Resources Manager, Barnes Aerospace Phoenix
Paralegal (Voucher Included)
The Paralegal Online Training Program will prepare you for success in this growing career field. You’ll learn about the U.S. legal system, how to conduct legal research and legal interviews, how to perform legal analyses, and more. Your training will prepare you to become a legal secretary or paralegal and to take the Certified Paralegal certification exam through the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA).
All materials are included in the cost of this program. Upon successfully completing, you will receive a voucher to sit for the Certified Paralegal exam.
NALA Certifying Board Announces New Exam Specifications Effective with 2018 Administrations
New applicants for the May 2017 and September 2017 testing windows:
- Candidates who have not yet taken any sections prior to the May 2017 testing window have the option to sit for the examination in May 2017 or September 2017 but will have to complete the exam and pass all sections by the closing of the September 2017 testing window. If candidates do not take and pass all sections by the closing of the September 2017 testing window, NALA will require these candidates to retake the examination in its new format beginning in 2018.
- Candidates who have not yet taken any sections of the exam also have the option to wait until 2018 to sit for the examination and the application will be transferred to 2018 upon request.
Candidates in retake status:
- Candidates who first sat for any section in September 2015 through January 2016 will have the full two years provided in their original application to take and pass all sections of the exam since the applications will expire after the September 2017 testing window closes.
- Candidates who first sat for any section in the testing windows beginning May 2016 through January 2017 will need to successfully complete any remaining sections of the examination by the September 2017 testing window.
- Any candidates who do not successfully complete all sections by the September 2017 examination will retake the entire exam in its new format starting in 2018. Candidates in this situation have a reduction in time to complete the examination from the time allowed in the initial application. These candidates will be permitted to re-take the new exam once at half cost since the time period to complete the examination has been reduced. Any subsequent re-takes will be at full price.
For additional information, please see New Exam.
Job Outlook
You can expect to make an average of $47,680 as a Paralegal / Legal Assistant in your area.
$36k Minimum: $47k Average: $55k Maximum
Companies hiring in your area include:
- Hg.Org
- CVS Caremark
- Sonja Cotton & Associates
- Petsmart
- Drivetime
Skills for Success
- Organizational Skills
- Litigation
- Communication Skills
- Writing
- Microsoft Excel
Career Opportunities
This program can prepare you for the following careers:
- Title Examiner / Abstractor
- Office Manager
- Law Clerk
- Legal Secretary
- Contract Administrator
| Fee | $2195 |
| Location | Online |
| Course type | Online - Self Paced |
| Start dates | TBD |
Course Requirements
This program is compatible with the Windows XP and later operating systems and IE 7 and later browsers and can be taken from either a Mac or a PC.
Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Acrobat Reader are required for this program.
Click here to download the Acrobat Reader.
Click here to download the Flash Player.
It is recommended that students have Microsoft Office suite (especially Word and PowerPoint).
ed2go will provide the required materials for this program. They include:
- Introduction to Paralegalism, by William P. Statsky,
- Paralegal Today: The Legal Team at Work, by Roger Miller and Mary Meinzinger
- Access to Westlaw: Legal Solutions
- After successful completion of the program and financial obligation you will receive access to the Certified Paralegal Exam review self-study courses, which includes:
- Membership
- Access to the self-study courses
- Voucher for the Certified Paralegal exam
For additional information about the 2018 exam changes, please see New Exam.
Prerequisites
In order to enroll in this program, you must have a high school diploma or GED equivalent. We also recommend that you have computer skills, including knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite (especially Word and PowerPoint), and good keyboarding skills (60 words per minute or faster). Also helpful are good skills in English grammar, spelling, punctuation, and 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 Online Training Program 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 programs will be considered equivalent to one year's experience as a legal assistant.
3. A high school diploma or equivalent, plus seven 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-year period prior to the examination date.
If you do not meet the eligibility requirements above, our Legal Secretary program is a nice alternative: Legal Secretary.
Instructor Bio
Casey Thompson received his Bachelors of Business Administration degree, with his major concentration in Management, from Texas Tech University in 1994. After beginning his business career, he enrolled in the evening law school program at Texas A&M (formerly Texas Wesleyan) School of Law in 1996. Casey worked full time while attending law school at night. He graduated and passed the Bar exam in 2000. This experience gives Casey a better understanding of the requirements of the non-traditional student.
Casey became a licensed attorney in the State of Texas in 2000. His major areas of practice were business and corporate law, entertainment law, and intellectual property rights. Along with this online Paralegal program, he also currently teaches as a traditional college classroom instructor in the areas of state and federal government.