ONLINE COURSES!
Certificate Courses for Paralegal & Legal Secretary
Although lawyers assume ultimate responsibility for legal work, they often delegate many of their tasks to paralegals. In fact, paralegals (also known as legal assistants) are continuing to assume new responsibilities in legal offices. The U.S. Dept. of Labor reports that the paralegal profession will rise 28% by the year 2018.
Paralegal certificates can be earned in as little as 6-14 weeks with tuition of only $1,189.
The Office of Extended Education has teamed up with the Center for Legal Studies (CLS) to offer these three certificate courses.
Paralegal Certificate Course
This intensive course is for beginning as well as advanced legal workers.
Students will be trained to interview witnesses, investigate complex fact patterns, research the law, prepare legal documents, and assist in preparing cases for courtroom litigation.
The instruction is practice-oriented and relates to those areas of law in which paralegals are in most demand, including legal terminology, documents. ethics and the litigation process, introduction to the evidentiary predicate, identifying relevant authority, introduction to legal research, research practice, writing and appellate procedure.
Students will be expected to complete a significant amount of homework for each session.
Fee for this course is $1,189. Texts are not included.
Required texts: Federal Civil Rules Booklet; Introduction to Paralegalism, 7th edition, by William Stasky; Sample Pages by West Group, Paralegal Certificate Course Workbook by Margaret J. Kirk and Paralegal Career for Dummies, by Scott and Lisa Hatch. WESTLAW access is required for the second half of the course and is available for purchase from CLS for $75.
Black’s Law Pocket Dictionary is not required, but is highly recommended for those students with little or no legal experience.
Advanced Paralegal Certificate Course
Students may take topics individually. A certificate will be issued only if the student completes six of the fourteen advanced topics. Prerequisite: Paralegal Certificate Course.
- Bankruptcy Law
- Victim Advocacy
- Advanced Legal Research
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Business Law and Practices
- Estate Planning: Probate, Wills & Trusts
- Criminal Law
- Family Law
- Constitutional Law and Civil Liberties
- Water Law
- Immigration Law
- Education Law
- Criminal Procedure
- Intellectual Property
Fee for this course is $1,650. Texts are not included. Texts vary depending on area of study.
WESTLAW access may be required and is available for purchase from CLS for $75.
Legal Secretary Certificate Course
This intensive program is designed for both beginning and experienced secretaries who are interested in improving their skills and working more efficiently within the law office.
Students will be introduced to the theory of law, the legal process, and the nature of the practice of law. Discussion will include the process of law as well as the specific legal terminology. Ethics are also covered. Students will also be introduced to the basics of legal research and proper citation format.
Students will be exposed to actual court documents and will prepare some of these documents as part of their homework.
Students will examine the intricacies of the law office, including office procedure manuals, billing techniques, and overall management techniques of the law office.
Topics covered include legal terminology; legal process; jurisdiction and venue; ethics; written communications including letters, pleadings, discovery, notices and motions; filing procedures, billing and accounting; time management; records management; overview of commonly-used word and data processing programs; legal research; memoranda preparation, and citation format.
Job search strategies and placement possibilities will also be discussed.
Fee for this course is $575. Texts are not included.
Required texts: Uniform System of Citation, most recent edition, by Harvard Law Review.