Paralegal Certificate
CIP 220302 (LGA2)
Paralegals (Legal Assistants) play an important role in assisting attorneys to provide affordable legal services.
ACC's American Bar Association – approved Paralegal Program provides a solid foundation of knowledge and practical experience to prepare students for this profession. While paralegals may not practice law, they work under the supervision of attorneys in private law firms or businesses, as well as in many government agencies. Tasks performed by paralegals include interviewing, investigation, research, preparing legal forms, assisting attorneys in court and other activities.
Please contact the Paralegal Department Chair or Coordinator if you have questions about the academic requirements.
ABA approval
The Paralegal Program has been approved by the American Bar Association since 1977. The approval process ensures that the program complies with the high academic standards of the American Bar Association. If you have questions about the approval process, the American Bar Association may be reached at 321 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60610, 312-988-5000.
Admission Requirements
- Admission to Arapahoe Community College
- Admission requires one of the following:
- A baccalaureate degree or an associate of arts or science degree from an accredited post-secondary institution. This does not include an associate of applied science degree or equivalent occupational or vocational degree.
- An official transcript must be on file in Admissions and Records prior to enrolling in paralegal classes.
- Students must contact the Program Chair, full-time Faculty member or Program Coordinator for advising and program planning prior to enrolling in any PAR courses. Once the advising process is completed students may enroll in PAR classes; enrollment in classes will not be permitted without such Program approval.
- Program approval is required in order to transfer in credit for paralegal classes (PAR) from other institutions; courses may be transferred to the program ONLY if they were taken from an ABA-approved program at a regionally accredited institution, and out-of-state courses may only be transferred in if the law content is not state-specific. A maximum of (nine) semester credit hours of paralegal courses may be transferred to ACC and such courses must be approved by the Paralegal Department Chair
- The Paralegal Department expects all students In the paralegal program to abide by the code of ethics promulgated by the American Bar Association (ABA) and National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) . The code of ethics may be viewed at www.americanbar.org and www.nala.org
Program Requirements
Choose nine credit hours from the following:
- PAR - Any PAR elective 3 Credits
Progression and Course Completion
In order to progress through the Paralegal program:
- A student must successfully complete each course in the Paralegal curriculum by achieving a grade of "C" or better
- If a student withdraws from a PAR class, this will be treated the same as a failure to successfully complete a course
- If a student earns a grade lower than a "C" in any PAR course, or withdraws from any PAR class, the student will be allowed to retake the course a maximum of one time.
- No more than two PAR classes may be retaken during the completion of the Paralegal program
- If a student is not successful, i.e., a "C" or higher grade on the re-take attempt, the student will be dismissed from the Paralegal program.
- If the student withdraws for reasons other than academic reasons, the student may provide documented proof of reasons and petition the Paralegal Program for an additional one-time opportunity to retake the class. Approval of the exception is strictly the decision of the Program Chair.
Graduation Requirements
- All paralegal courses required for the certificate must be completed with a grade of "C" or better
- To graduate, students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher
- Students must complete a Paralegal Exit Survey/Interview
- At least 27 (twenty-seven) hours of paralegal (PAR) courses must be taken at Arapahoe Community College
- Paralegal (PAR) courses must be taken within six years of a student's graduation. General education courses are not subject to this six-year requirement
- Apply for graduation online at www.arapahoe.edu/graduation.
- As a graduate of a Career and Technical Education program you will be contacted by an ACC employee in approximately six months to verify your employment information. This information gathering is a federal requirement to ensure that ACC receives certain federal funding.