Paralegal

[humboldtjake]

Hi,

Was thinking about going to law school, but I realized I only wanted to learn how to effectively construct contracts and research legal matters. I also saw that the salaries lawyers got were not that high. It is more effective for me to be a paralegal and hire a lawyer to review my documents. Does one of the big 3 offer a paralegal course or bachelors for someone already with a BA? Has anyone done a self-paced paralegal course before?

Thanks!

[sanantone]

I recommend Penn Foster. Once you already have a BA, it's really not that important where you get your paralegal certificate from. As always, getting your paralegal certificate from a prestigious or well-known school looks better, but the Big 3 don't fall into that category. The salary potential for lawyers is high, but the field is oversaturated. The Big 3 aren't going to be your cheapest options either unless you can find paralegal courses at a cheaper school to transfer. Charter Oak offers a certificate program and a bachelor's concentration in paralegal studies. They also charge $339 per credit hour. Excelsior offers a non-credit, paralegal program for $1995.

[humboldtjake]

I recommend Penn Foster. Once you already have a BA, it's really not that important where you get your paralegal certificate from. As always, getting your paralegal certificate from a prestigious or well-known school looks better, but the Big 3 don't fall into that category. The salary potential for lawyers is high, but the field is oversaturated. The Big 3 aren't going to be your cheapest options either unless you can find paralegal courses at a cheaper school to transfer. Charter Oak offers a certificate program and a bachelor's concentration in paralegal studies. They also charge $339 per credit hour. Excelsior offers a non-credit, paralegal program for $1995.

Found a cheaper and better one:

Paralegal Class Certificate | Paralegal Training University | Legal Nurse Consultant | The Center For Legal Studies

You take it thru extension programs of major universities. Like I can get one from University of California, Santa Cruz or University of the Pacific. I can even take it from my alma mater, Humboldt State. Plus, since these are California schools, then I qualify to become a LDA in the State of CA.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Plus, since these are California schools, then I qualify to become a LDA in the State of CA.

I'm almost certain this is not true.

6402.1. To be eligible to apply for registration under this chapter as a legal document assistant, the applicant shall possess at least one of the following:
(a) A high school diploma or general equivalency diploma, and either a minimum of two years of law-related experience under the supervision of a licensed attorney, or a minimum of two years experience, prior to January 1, 1999, providing self-help service.
(b) A baccalaureate degree in any field and either a minimum of one year of law-related experience under the supervision of a licensed attorney, or a minimum of one year of experience, prior to January 1, 1999, providing self-help service.
© A certificate of completion from a paralegal program that is institutionally accredited but not approved by the American Bar Association, that requires successful completion of a minimum of 24 semester units, or the equivalent, in legal specialization courses.
(d) A certificate of completion from a paralegal program approved by the American Bar Association.

Business and Professions Code, Section 6402-6407 (leginfo.ca.gov) See also What Legislation involves Legal Document Assistants? (California Association of Legal Document Assistants)

The law doesn't say anything about preferring California schools.
Clauses (a) and (b) grandfather pre-1999 paralegals or legal document assistants. Clause (d) requires ABA approval of the paralegal program, which I don't believe any Center for Legal Studies (or Penn Foster) program holds.

Clause ©, for a paralegal program from an institutionally accredited but non-ABA paralegal program, "requires successful completion of a minimum of 24 semester units, or the equivalent, in legal specialization courses."

I would be surprised if any accredited school transcripted 24 semester units or the equivalent for a Center for Legal Studies paralegal certificate. There's a flyer [pdf] from Adams State College (now University) in Colorado hosted on the Center for Legal Studies site that suggests they'd award 6 semester hours for two 7-week CLS Paralegal Certificate courses taken through Adams State.

Also, your statement implies that whether a school is located in California bears on eligibility of their graduates for LDA registration. I don't see anything to that effect in the law. A qualifying paralegal program from inside or outside California would serve equally well. I don't think the basic CLS Paralegal Certificate program would qualify through any school. Perhaps you could stack other legal courses CLS offers, through a school that awarded credit, to total 24 semester hours. If any school would do this.

[Johann]

I read the Center for Legal Studies site fairly quickly -- and found a couple of things that don't seem to have been mentioned yet:

(1) CLS says for paralegal practice in California, you need two courses - the basic and advanced. The advanced course costs (generally) $1650 online or $550 text-only. This no-frills version is available from Adams State U. Taking it raises the total ante to around $2,000. The CLS course description doesn't say anything about credit-hours, though Jonathan - who is always 200% reliable - told us that Adams State says it would award 6 credits for 2 CLS courses. $2,000 for 6 credits is no particular bargain. Adams State's own distance courses used to go for less - or maybe that's changed. And just how much would you end up paying CLS - at 6 credits for two courses, for the 24 credits you need to be a LDA?

(2) CLS say on completion of the 6 modules-or-whatever of the advanced course, you get 27 CEUs (Continuing Education Units.) CEU's do NOT translate into credits. The purpose of CEUs is to satisfy ongoing professional training requirements. Many professions specify so many a year, to maintain licensing. I've read of numerous people hoping to exchange CEUs for college credit-hours. Doesn't generally work, even though they're both based on contact hours. Partial reason: not all CEU courses are considered college/university level. Aside from what our ever-reliable Jonathan has told us about Adams State, how much do we really know about other RA schools' policy on credit hours for these courses? Specifically, how much (if any) and from which schools?

Johann

[humboldtjake]

I was under the impression that the Advanced Course satisfies CA requirements. Thats what it seems according to the website.

[Johann]

I was under the impression that the Advanced Course satisfies CA requirements. Thats what it seems according to the website.

Nope - you pretty much need to read it like a lawyer. You need both. From the site:

"Most students who wish to be paralegals in the state of California will need to take the Paralegal Certificate Course and the Advanced Paralegal Certificate Course from one of our California Schools to be in compliance with California Business and Professions Code §6450"

So -- California schools. I guess the cheap Adams State option is out. The complete program will cost even more. Like, $3,000?

Johann

[Jonathan Whatley]

The requirements to qualify as a Paralegal, who must work "under the direction and supervision" of a lawyer, and to qualify as a Legal Document Assistant, who has some authority to fill out legal documents outside of the direction of a lawyer, but "may not provide any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation to a consumer about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection of forms, or strategies," are separate and different.

[humboldtjake]

The requirements to qualify as a Paralegal, who must work "under the direction and supervision" of a lawyer, and to qualify as a Legal Document Assistant, who has some authority to fill out legal documents outside of the direction of a lawyer, but "may not provide any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation to a consumer about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection of forms, or strategies," are separate and different.

18. What are the educational requirements for registering? [Section 6402.1]
To be eligible to apply for registration under this chapter as a legal document assistant, the applicant shall possess at least one of the following:

A high school diploma or general equivalency diploma, and either a minimum of two years of law-related experience under the supervision of a licensed attorney, or a minimum of two years experience, prior to January 1, 1999, providing self-help service.
A baccalaureate degree in any field and either a minimum of one year law-related experience under the supervision of a licensed attorney, or a minimum of one year of experience, prior to January 1, 1999, providing self-help service.
A certificate of completion from a paralegal program that is institutionally accredited but not approved by the American Bar Association, that requires successful completion of a minimum of 24 semester units, or the equivalent, in legal specialization courses.
A certificate of completion from a paralegal program approved by the American Bar Association.

Therefore, this class qualifies. I am trying to be a Licensed Document Assistant.

[Jonathan Whatley]

A certificate of completion from a paralegal program that is institutionally accredited but not approved by the American Bar Association, that requires successful completion of a minimum of 24 semester units, or the equivalent, in legal specialization courses. […]

Therefore, this class qualifies. I am trying to be a Licensed Document Assistant.

Where are you seeing evidence that any of the Center for Legal Studies courses through a California school, or any school, "requires successful completion of a minimum of 24 semester units, or the equivalent, in legal specialization courses?"

You specified the Advanced Paralegal Certificate course. The CLS states there that:

The two parts in combination [Paralegal Certificate and Advanced Paralegal Certificate] have been designed to meet the requirements of the California Business and Professional Code §6450, legislation that took effect in California on 1/1/01.

Section 6450 is for Paralegals. A different section, 6402, describes the requirements for Legal Document Assistants. CLS doesn't seem to claim any correspondence between their courses and the requirements of 6402.

Back to "24 semester units, or the equivalent." For the Advanced Paralegal Certificate, CLS says

Online participants should expect to spend at least 45-50 hours reading and preparing assignments and tests for each course. Participants who successfully complete six of the topics required of the Advanced Paralegal Course will earn up to 27 CEU’s and will receive a certificate of completion from the college or university with which they have registered.

CEUs, Continuing Education Units, are absolutely not the equivalent of semester units (semester hours).

For the Advanced Paralegal Certificate, 6 courses x (45 to 50 hours each) = 270 to 300 hrs. expected.

California law follows national Carnegie Unit standards in defining the semester unit. According to a California CC that's published a handy guide on the subject [pdf],

a unit of credit equates to three hours of student work per week (1 hour lecture plus 2 hours of homework OR 3 hours of lab) for 16 weeks. In certain circumstances, it is possible to have more hours, but not less.

For the Paralegal Certificate, let's say you were credited with 6 semester units consistent with the Adams State brochure. You'd need a further certificate requiring that plus 18 more semester units or equivalent in legal specialization courses to meet the 24 semester unit requirement in the law.

3 hrs x 16 = 48 hrs. of work expected at minimum per semester unit
48 hrs x 18 semester units = 864 hrs. expected at minimum for 18 semester units

But the clearly published student work expectations for the Advanced Paralegal Certificate are only 270 to 300 hrs.

The CLS Paralegal Certificate plus the Advanced Paralegal Certificate together don't appear to meet the "24 semester units, or the equivalent" test for the pathway to qualifying as an LDA in California highlighted above.