Paralegal
Partnered with Gatlin Education
GES 209 -- 300 hours
The paralegal profession has grown tremendously since it first appeared in the mid-1960's. There are now more than 120,000 paralegals in the United States. Presently, paralegals are involved in sophisticated legal work in traditional law office settings and in the corporate, government, and public arenas. The occupation has achieved recognition and has moved rapidly to professional stature.
All GES Paralegal students receive free access to NALA Campus certification exam prep and Westlaw!
Through a special arrangement between Gatlin Education and NALA Campus, your tuition includes free access to the seven (7) prep exam courses offered at the NALA Campus. Regardless whether you are eligible for, or plan to sit for the certification, the NALA Campus prep courses are a value-added extension of your paralegal education.
GES also provides all paralegal students with free access to Westlaw to complete their assigned research projects! Westlaw is an online legal research service that provides fast and easy access to an extensive collection of legal resources, news, business, and public records information. Students taking the paralegal course will benefit tremendously as they perform their legal research course assignments at the #1 rated online legal resource.
Obtaining a quality paralegal education is the best way to prepare for the paralegal profession. This self-paced, web-based program prepares students for an entry-level paralegal position. Students will be paired with an instructor for one-on-one assistance.
This training program is designed to provide the skills and knowledge necessary to both gain employment and successfully complete the National Association of Legal Assistants certification exam. Students in California with a bachelor’s degree will need one year of experience working for an attorney before they can use the term Paralegal (instead of NALA certification). California students with a bachelor’s degree can use this training program to gain employment working under the supervision of an attorney to meet the requirements of California Business and Professional Code §6450. To view the code click here. Students without a bachelor’s degree can use this training program to gain employment as a legal secretary.
Upon registering, you are given an initial six months to complete the program. Should you need more time, you may request a 6-month extension at no additional charge.
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After completing this course, you should be able to describe:
- What a paralegal is.
- Common responsibilities and duties of paralegals.
- Types of positions available and common employers of paralegals.
- The paralegal's likely work environment.
- How paralegalism is regulated.
- Ethics for attorneys and paralegals.
- How the American legal system is structured, and how it operates.
- How to perform legal analysis.
- How to perform a legal interview.
- The legal investigation process.
- What makes a good witness?
- The duties of a litigation assistant in the four stages of litigation.
- Methods of legal research.
- Guidelines and proper etiquette for legal writing.
- How computers are used in the modern law office.
- What is commonly involved in law office administration?
- Methods of formal and informal administrative advocacy.
- The key terms associated with each chapter.
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- 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 Assistantship
- Legal Research
- Legal Writing
- Introduction to the Use of Computers
- Introduction to Law Office Administration
- Informal and Formal Administrative Advocacy
- Tort Law, Product Liability, & Consumer Law
- Contracts and Intellectual Property Law
- Insurance & Real Property Law
- Estates & Family Law
- Laws Affecting Business
- Criminal Law & Procedures
- Preparing for the CLA
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Paralegal students must have a High School Diploma or GED equivalent.
Also Recommended:
Computer Skills: Keyboarding (minimum 60 wpm)
MS Office Suite (particularly MS Word and PowerPoint)
English Skills: Grammar, spelling, punctuation, composition
Note: If you plan to pursue the National Association of Legal
Assistants (NALA) Certified Paralegal/Certified Legal Assistant
(CP/CLA) credential, you must meet one of the requirements for
eligibility shown below under the heading NALA Certification
Eligibility Requirements. This Paralegal course is 300 clock hours. In
order to meet the eligibility requirements to sit for the CP/CLA
credentialing exam using this course, you must also hold a Bachelor's
Degree in any field, or you must have seven years of experience as a
legal assistant under the supervision of a member of the Bar.
NALA Certification Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for the CLA examination, a legal assistant must meet one of the following alternate requirements:
- Graduation from a legal assistant program that is:
- Approved by the American Bar Association; or
- An associate degree program; or
- A post-baccalaureate certificate program in legal assistant studies; or
- A bachelor's degree program in legal assistant studies; or
- A legal assistant program which consists of a minimum of 60 semester hours (900 clock hours or 90 quarter hours) of which at least 15 semester hours (225 clock hours or 22.5 quarter hours) are substantive legal courses.
- A bachelor's degree in any field plus one year of experience
as a legal assistant. Successful completion of at least 15 semester
hours (or 22.5 quarter hours or 225 clock hours) of substantive legal
assistant courses will be considered equivalent to one year's
experience as a legal assistant.
- A high school diploma or equivalent plus seven (7) years of experience as a legal assistant under the supervision of a member of the Bar, plus evidence of a minimum of twenty (20) hours of continuing legal education credit to have been completed within a two (2) year period prior to the examination date.
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This course is compatible with the Windows Vista operating system.
This course can be taken from either a Mac or a PC.
Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Acrobat Reader are required for this course.
Click here to download the Acrobat Reader.
Click here to download the Flash Player.
GES will provide the required text for this program. Students will receive Introduction to Paralegalism, by William P. Statsky.
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Casey Thompson has been a licensed Texas attorney since 2000.
His major areas of practice are business and corporate law,
entertainment law, and intellectual property rights.
Casey
received his Bachelor's of Business Administration degree, with his
major concentration in management, from Texas Tech University in 1994.
After working in the business arena for two years, he enrolled in the
evening law school program at Texas Wesleyan University in 1996. He
graduated and passed the Bar exam in 2000.
He currently serves as In-House Counsel for a specialty engineering and
manufacturing company as well as maintaining a sole-practitioner
office.
Pearlie Bush was born and raised in a small town in Louisiana. After graduating high school, she attended Southern University where she majored in Political Science with a minor in English. While conducting her undergraduate studies, she was also active in politics and had the opportunity to work on the campaign of Senator Willie Crain and Charles Jones, as well as serve as Senator Crain’s committee clerk at the Louisiana State Capital.
Pearlie went on to earn her law degree from the Southern University Law Center, where she concentrated her studies in the areas of contract and constitutional law. Throughout law school she worked as a law clerk for the Louisiana Public Defender’s Office, where she drafted various motions and briefs on several landmark cases.
After graduating Law School, Pearlie moved to Georgia where she ran a private law office and worked as a case law editor for Lexis-Nexis. She edited and prepared final drafts for legal cases stored in the company's data base. Pearlie has taught various legal courses at a variety of institutions.
In her free time, as little as it is, she enjoys volunteering and spending time with her spouse, children, friends, and family. She enjoys outdoor activities and attends all Atlanta Falcons football games. GO FALCONS!
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Click here to view a demo of this class.
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