The paralegal profession is an interesting, exciting and fulfilling field.
The outlook for this particular profession is exceedingly promising for the next few years with the increasing demand for paralegal services.
To start on this very promising career, a person will need some paralegal training.
Paralegal training can be acquired in two main ways:
On the job training and formal training.
For a long time, firms were hiring graduates fresh from high school and training them on the job to be paralegals.
On the job training is still widely practiced but more and more employers want to hire people who have some sort of qualification in paralegal studies.
This qualification can either be a certificate, an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree.
On the job training for paralegals exists because there are no certification requirements for paralegals in all states except in California.
From the year 2000, California enacted a law that requires all paralegals wishing to practice in the state be certified.
Formal training is becoming almost mandatory due to the increase in the number of people wanting to be paralegals.
Getting a qualification in paralegal studies betters a person’s chances in this highly competitive field.
Where Can You Find Paralegal Training?
Paralegal training is done at community colleges, vocational schools, business schools and even at some universities.
The different levels of training programs will offer different courses.
However, guidelines offered by the American Bar Association state that a paralegal training program should offer a minimum of 60 hours of classroom training with a third of this time being dedicated to the legal system and the law.
Some of the courses taught in paralegal schools include legal research and writing, ethics, contracts, civil procedure, torts, business law, jurisprudence, dispute resolution, civil litigation and real estate law.
An associate degree program which is completed after two years of full time study will incorporate other courses such as courses in math, English, science, computers and business studies.
A certificate program which may last anything from 3 months to 12 months will be more concentrated on the specific paralegal studies.
As the duration is limited, a typical program will cover the basics of law and other necessary skills a paralegal needs.
Certificate programs will more often than not offer specialization courses rather than general ones.
There are several areas of paralegal training specializations which include health, family law, real estate law, corporate or business law, environmental law, litigation, labor law, trusts, probate and criminal law.