Not A Doubt

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Paralegal College - Common Sense Strategies on Finding the Right College

Although not quite, “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” the fact remains that a paralegal is still not required to pass any type of post educational exam (i.e. bar exam equivalent) in order to work in the field of law. Indeed, a surprising truth that after nearly 50 years of existence, the position of paralegal is still an unlicensed profession. However, common sense dictates that for those that do become certified comes better opportunities and increased status and therefore, more and more paralegals are taking one of the many certification exams available to them to help take their careers to the next level.

Essential yardsticks to bear in mind when looking at any paralegal program:

1. The central purpose of any high quality paralegal college should be total intellectual maturation of their students. Accomplishing this goal is accomplished by teaching applicable, common sense, usable job skills in addition to a solid core of legal theory. The paralegal programs curriculum must also be broad enough to include subjects ranging from ethics, business organization and torts to legal research and writing. Additionally, the best paralegal degree schools will expend time and effort on developing a well-rounded, critical thinking student with outstanding communication, and organizational skills.

2. Who put together and who is running the paralegal program at the paralegal school you are committing your future career too? Do the teachers and the “dean” of the paralegal department have the required educational and field distinction you feel comfortable with? Are they considered “experts” in the subjects they are teaching or at least, do they have the experience and references to be top notch?

3. Online learning, also called distance learning has become the latest craze in the pursuit of paralegal degree excellence but an important question to ask your-self before taking the online plunge is is it right for me? Pursuing a paralegal degree online is obviously different than campus learning because regardless of how the material is delivered (video or web-based content or tele-courses, etc.) the entire teacher / student relationship is much different and you need to decide if you can learn that way. If yes, go for it because there are many benefits; if not, then you need to find the nearest campus based paralegal school.

Unquestionably, exploring a paralegal career isn’t for every Tom, Dick or Harry or Sally or Susie for that matter but for those individuals that yearn to dip their toe into the field of law, and still enjoy the status and professional satisfaction of a law career without having to attend law school for 4 years, then becoming a paralegal is your ticket.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 9:42 am and is filed under Better Business, Education Portal, Legal Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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