Hottest Paralegal Schools Offering Paralegal Studies
USLegal Paralegals
What is a Paralegal?
The American Bar Association House of Delegates adopted the ABA definition of legal assistant/paralegal in August 1997, as follows:
“A legal assistant or paralegal is a person, qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible”
According to the American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE), there are more than 120,000 paralegals in the United States. Paralegals work in a myriad of positions in law firms, corporations, real estate companies, governmental entities, and public agencies (including the criminal justice system and the courts).
Brief History of the Paralegal Profession and its National Organizations
Six national paralegal organizations were created since the recognition of paralegals in the mid-60s. These organizations now represent more than 30,000 paralegals and legal assistants, 500 paralegal managers and more than 400 paralegal programs in the United States, and some in Canada and Australia. They include the following organizations:
- American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE),
- American Bar Association (ABA),
- Association for Legal Administrators (ALA),
- International Paralegal Management Association (IPMA),
- National Association of Legal Assistants · Paralegals (NALA), and
- National Federal of Paralegal Associations (NFPA).
How Can USLegal Paralegals Help You?
USLegal Paralegals is your answer to finding resources that will help you prepare to become a paralegal, such as selecting your paralegal school from the many paralegal schools available and choosing your field of study. USLegal Paralegals will provide you information about the various paralegal schools and their paralegal programs, including the required paralegal courses to enable you to make informed choices.
Types of Paralegal Studies
- Associate’s Degree
- Bachelor’s Degree
- Paralegal Certificate
- Diplomas
ABA Approved Schools
The best way to get your paralegal degree is at an American Bar Association approved school. According to Peggy C. Wallace, Staff Counsel for the ABA Standing Committee on Paralegals, there are no all-online ABA approved paralegal education programs. Many of the programs offer some of the classes in an alternative delivery format. The ABA Guidelines for Approval of Paralegal Education Programs require a certain number of credits/hours to be taken in the traditional format. We have posted the list of ABA approved programs on our site at http://paralegals.uslegal.com/paralegal-schools/.
Online Paralegal Programs
Since many potential paralegals cannot attend a full-time paralegal school, paralegal online courses are an alternative method of obtaining your paralegal degree or paralegal certificate. Many small and med-sized law firms hire paralegals who are not from ABA approved paralegal schools. As previously mentioned, it is best to go to an ABA approved school, but if you don’t have the time or cannot afford to attend a fulltime school, there are many excellent online paralegal schools.
You can take an online class at home while your kids may be sleeping, and your husband/wife is at work is an ideal situation. There are many expenses eliminated, such as commuting expenses. USLegal Paralegals will to introduce you to the best paralegal programs online through its Review and Evaluation program. Ultimately, it is important for you to find out which one is best for you. There is no right or wrong choices once you know the best online programs.
Paralegal Courses
In preparation for making a decision about which paralegal school to attend, we will provide you information about the requirements necessary for your paralegal education, or online paralegal education, such as the paralegal courses or online paralegal course you will need to take to get your paralegal degree, online paralegal degree, or paralegal certificate.
Paralegal School Reviews and Evaluations
As a service to our members, USLegal Paralegals will publish reviews and evaluations of the various schools, including interviews with students and graduates.
Paralegal Training
Once you get your paralegal degree, paralegal certificate, or an online paralegal degree through your paralegal home study program, USLegal Paralegals will be a valuable resource to guide you through your paralegal training or online paralegal training. We will provide paralegal job descriptions for you for all fields of study, including litigation paralegal, real estate, bankruptcy, intellectual property, corporate, family law, and many others.
Paralegal Career
Part of preparing for your paralegal career is deciding what paralegal services you want to provide. A primary consideration when you first begin your job search is what the paralegal salaries are, and what paralegal salary you can command. Once you become a paralegal, USLegal Paralegals will provide you information, resources, and tools to help you excel in your profession.
Featured BookLESSONS FROM THE TOP PARALEGAL EXPERTS Lessons From Top Paralegals Experts, the 15 Most Successful Paralegals in America and What you can Learn from Them |
| Author: Carole Bruno
Edition: 001 |
| Description |
|
LESSONS from the Top Paralegal Experts is a unique and much needed reference as there is nothing else like it for paralegal students and professionals on the market. It not only covers success stories about paralegal professionals but also shares their insights on how they do their work.The primary goal of the book is to help students learn hands-on techniques directly from paralegal leaders in the field.These top paralegal experts share the secrets that have helped them become the best of the best in their profession.The top fifteen paralegal experts helped to expand the paralegal profession and improve the efficiency of performing paralegal duties including creativity, leadership, and expertise in their specialty, technical skills, knowledge, mentoring, and organization. The paralegal experts practice in various specialties and the premise of this book is that students and professionals can learn most effectively from the experiences of others. |
| Product Benefits |
| Caveats written by Therese A. Cannon, Esq., are included throughout, guiding the reader on the ethical rules paralegals must follow:
§ Checklists are included that may be used in class or in the job enabling the user to make sure their forms and writings include every item or action they need. § Discovery Shortcuts – For those paralegals, who work in litigation or are studying litigation, the five Paralegal Litigation Experts discuss their shortcuts and how to save time. § Client Interactions and Interviewing |
| What paralegals are saying about LESSONS:“… I just got it [“Lessons from the Top Paralegal Experts”] today…The book is AWESOME!!!! I finished reading it a week or so ago.” Suzann D (Missouri)
“I read your book “Lessons from the Top Paralegal Experts” with great interest and learned a lot. Thanks for sharing and blazing trails in the paralegal field.” David Bui (Houston) “This is the book! I’ve spent most of the weekend reading and loving it. Carole, thank you for generously sharing so much fascinating information in such a clear and concise format. Have just ordered Paralegal’s Litigation Handbook . . . and can’t wait for it to arrive.” Eve Vevhr (Chicago) TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I. Litigation Chapter 3: Michele M. Boerder, CP Part II. Intellectual Property Part III. Legal Research and Writing Part IV. Commercial Real Estate Part V. Residential Real Estate PART VI. Corporate and Business PART VII. Family Law Part VIII. Bankruptcy Chapter 14: Mathew D. Laskowski |
Lessons from Top Paralegals
LESSONS from the Top Paralegal Experts is a unique and much needed reference as there is nothing else like it for paralegal students and professionals on the market. It not only covers success stories about paralegal professionals but also shares their insights on how they do their work.
