Paralegal Studies

Build your case for a brighter future

Get into the legal profession in less time and with fewer costs than law school. As law firms try to increase the efficiency of legal services and reduce their costs, the need for paralegals and legal assistants is rising. If you’re interested in the challenges of this growing field, a degree in paralegal studies offers plenty of opportunity to advance in this highly-respected industry drafting legal documents, conducting legal research, and preparing for trials under the supervision of a licensed attorney.

Ethics Statement: Legal Assistants, Paralegals and other non-lawyers cannot give legal advice to members of the public, except as permitted by law.

A minimum of nine credit hours of substantive legal specialty courses must be taken through synchronous lecture.

Program Objectives: 

The Paralegal Studies program is designed to prepare professional and ethical paralegals to work in diverse settings. Graduates will be able to competently assist attorneys in legal research, drafting of legal documents, and trial preparation in a variety of practice areas dependent upon selection of electives within the program.

1. All Paralegal AAS degree students will demonstrate requisite skills involved in assisting attorneys with trial preparation. 

2. All Paralegal Studies graduates will demonstrate knowledge of computerized legal software and databases.

3. All Paralegal Studies graduates will demonstrate knowledge of legal research.

4. All Paralegal Studies graduates will demonstrate knowledge of legal writing.

5. All paralegal studies students will demonstrate an ability to analyze ethics issues and apply principles of legal ethics to resolve