Paralegal Certificate (PLG.CT)

The Paralegal Certificate program provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to enter the paralegal profession. A paralegal is a legal assistant who is qualified by education, training, or work experience who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for a law office, corporation, government agency, or other entity under the supervision of a responsible lawyer. The program includes studies in a variety of areas: ethical rules for members of the legal community; strategies for conducting legal research; basic legal writing skills; skills in interpreting legal documents; strategies for understanding and interpreting case law; investigating the facts of a case; preparing a case for trial; analyzing and handling procedural problems; and an overview of law. Students who earn the Paralegal Certificate will have the necessary skills to gain entry-level employment in such careers as paralegals, title examiners, trust officers, contract clerks, legal investigators, and law firm administrators. Successful completion of this program will also qualify students to sit for the Arizona Legal Document Preparer Examination. Note that except as specifically authorized by the Supreme Court of Arizona, persons not admitted to the State Bar of Arizona are prohibited from practicing law. Challenge exams are not available for any PAR-prefixed course. For more information regarding the Paralegal Certificate, see the Paralegal webpage.

Note: For a course to be eligible for transfer, the student must receive a “C” or better. Acceptance of a transfer course is determined by the receiving institution.