By Charles Neshah :
American Bar Association (ABA ) approves Paralegal Studies institutions based on the following characteristics
1. ABA curriculum, tailored towards providing you with adequate legal training is run by the institutions.
2. Faculty is qualified to lecture students to successfully complete paralegal studies with skills that eable them to work as lawyers’s assistantsts in research, document preparation, client interviews and drafting of legal documents.
As a qualified Paralegal you should be able to hold your fort in legal departments of corporations, firms and organizations. You can also take the pre-law specialization studies that prepares students for the law school proper.
ABA approved Paralegal institutions, aside from associates an bachelors degrees onl paralegal studies, offer several paralegal post degree certificates as specializations. Certificate in Legal Nurse Consulting is another program offered by ABA approved paralegal studies institutions.
The minimum course duration fo ABA approved Paralegal institutions is 1 – 2 academic years, and internship is mandatory in most schools for specific courses.
To find an ABA approved Paralegal Education Program, research the Standing Committee on Paralegals Directory of ABA approved Paralegal Education Programs online.
Although you can find students who are fresh from high school as paralegal students,most paralegal students are usually people who are already holding day jobs in the legal system or other jobs who are desirous of become qualified paralegals.
Courses can run for between 2 (for community and junior colleges) to 4 years in a University. Aside from the general requirements above, the ABA Standing Committee Directory listing carry varying standard requirements for different instructions in terms of duration of course, course content and admission requirements, depending on the type of institution.
Institutions offering Paralegal degree and certificate programs in the United States of America are more than a thousand. The ABA approved ones are in the ABA standing committee Directory of Paralegal schools.
NOTE: ABA approval for Paralegal schools or instructions is not mandatory by law so it is not a measure of the quality of or reputability of an institution that it is ABA approved, yet institutions have found it necessary to get ABA approval by meeting the ABA requirement in order to, I suppose, bluster their image. My advise is that you should go for ABA approved institutions for your paralegal studies.
Written by odidis