How to Get Started As a Paralegal
So you want to be a paralegal but don’t know what to do to get started? Well, paralegals require legal education to perform their job responsibilities. Those responsibilities usually include legal research and writing; corresponding with clients, opposing counsel, and court clerks; obtaining documents such as medical records from third parties; and drafting legal documents such as court pleadings and contracts for attorney review. Because there are rules of ethics, court procedural rules, federal privacy laws, and legal terminology involved in these activities, paralegals absolutely need an educational background to work effectively.
You want to know: where do I go? Whether you are in the State of Washington or Washington, DC; California or Connecticut; Montana or Maine, our instructors can train you. The Associate of Occupational Science in Paralegal Studies (AOSPS) degree from Community Care College (CCC) is just the program to prepare you for work as a paralegal. It is an online, 22-month-long, accredited program comprised of eleven paralegal courses, ten business courses, and a Career & Life Development (CLD) course. Between the CLD course and lifelong access to CCC’s Career Services, it’s as though our students and graduates have a life coach in their back pocket.
When you work as a paralegal, you progress along a career. It’s not just a job, and the legal field is so diverse that there’s always another area of law in which to venture. Between 2012 and 2013, 87.5% of CCC’s degree earners were placed in jobs in their industry or a related industry. Happily, the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA), the respected national paralegal association, has approved holders of our AOSPS degree to sit for its certification exam. Successful examinees receive the Certified Paralegal (CP) designation, a credential that is not required by law, but certainly coveted.
Now you know step one to becoming a paralegal: enroll in the AOSPS program at CCC. Get started here!