Paralegals play a vital role in the legal profession. These qualified professionals take on a variety of tasks ranging from legal research to drafting legal documents in traditional law office settings and in the corporate, government, and public arenas. Obtaining formal training is a critical part of preparing for a career as a paralegal.
The Certified Paralegal course will help you gain the skills you need to enter the paralegal workforce. You will learn how to conduct legal research and legal interviews, how to perform legal analyses, and more. As you prepare for your paralegal career, you will also receive soft skills training to increase workplace effectiveness.
This paralegal certification course includes the development of a professional portfolio of legal deliverables. Your portfolio will include a variety of memos, an analysis brief, a settlement brochure, a client intake report, and documentation of your research conducted using the Westlaw platform. You will learn how to refine your resume and LinkedIn profile to encompass your specialized skill set and showcase the impact you can make for your next employer.
Upon completion of the Certified Paralegal program, you will be prepared to sit for the Certified Paralegal exam through the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) upon eligibility. Please review the exam requirements prior to registering for this course. Through a partnership with NALA, you will also receive membership and access to NALA's Certified Paralegal (CP) Exam Review courses, should you choose to take the NALA CP exam.
This paralegal course offers enrollment with or without a voucher. The voucher covers the cost to sit for the Certified Paralegal exam upon eligibility. Proctor fees may apply, which are not included.
Instructor(s):Casey Thompson
Casey Thompson is a licensed attorney in Texas. Before he started teaching, his major areas of practice were business and corporate law, entertainment law, and intellectual property rights. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas Tech University and holds a law degree from the Texas A&M School of Law. Along with his online paralegal courses, Thompson also teaches at the college level in the areas of state and federal government.
Trina Brown
Trina Brown is an accomplished paralegal with over three decades of experience in the field. Since 2013, she has also been providing education to aspiring paralegals. In addition to her educational role, Trina serves as a court-appointed mediator for the Dallas and Tarrant County courthouses and is a mediation panelist for the Texas Department of Insurance.
Trina has made significant contributions to the legal community, including her work on the State Bar of Texas Paralegal Ethics Handbook and articles published in The Legal Educator magazine. Furthermore, she is a Certified Arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Her extensive qualifications have been recognized in the Texas Bar Journal, showcasing current mediation credential holders in the state.
Trina holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in organizational dynamics from Immaculata University and a Master of Professional Studies in paralegal studies from The George Washington University. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in mediation. Her commitment to service is further demonstrated by her membership in the Paralegal Division of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas, an honor society chartered by the Supreme Court of Texas.
Requirements:
Hardware Requirements:
- This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.
Software Requirements:
- PC: Windows 8 or later.
- Mac: macOS 12 or later.
- Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
- Microsoft Office (not included in enrollment).
- Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.
Other:
- Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.
Instructional Material Requirements:
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online. The following digital textbooks for the Certified Paralegal course are accessed via links in the course lessons:
- Introduction to Paralegalism: Perspectives, Problems, and Skills (eBook)
- Paralegal Today: The Legal Team at Work (eBook)
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Lesson 1
- Paralegal in the Legal System
- Paralegal Employment
- On-the-Job Realities
- Regulation of Paralegals
- Attorney and Paralegal Ethics
- Introduction to the Legal System
- Introduction to Legal Analysis
- Legal Interviewing
- Investigation in a Law Office
- Litigation Management
- Legal Research 101
- Advanced Legal Research
- Legal Writing
- Introduction to the Use of Computers
- Introduction to Law Office Administration
- Tort Law, Product Liability, and Consumer Law
- Contracts, Insurance, and Property Law
- Estates and Family Law
- Laws Affecting Business
- Criminal Law
- Capstone
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