Membership

5,000 individual members

$100 new member7
($90/yr after)
$45 associate8
$19 student

5,000 individual members

$100 new member7
($90/yr after)
$45 associate8
$19 student

6,000 individual members

$99 new member - active2
$84 associate3
$40 student
$50 sustaining4

15,000
(includes affiliate organizations, no information is available on individual members)

$70 new member (paralegal or paralegal supervisor)
$60 associate5
$50 student
$120 sustaining6

13,958 CLA
(eff 02/07)

1,126 CLAS
(advanced certification) (eff 02/07)

Eligibility to Test
Education and/or Employment

Five years’ experience performing paralegal duties

Partial waivers:
(1) A two-year waiver for a candidate with a paralegal degree, or

(2) A maximum one-year waiver for post-secondary degrees, successful completion of the PLS exam, or other certifications

Three years’ experience in the legal field

Partial waiver:
A maximum one year waiver for post-secondary degrees, successful completion of the ALS exam, or other certifications

(1) Graduation from legal assistant program approved by ABA or associate degree program or postbaccalaureate certificate program in legal assistant studies, or bachelor’s degree program in legal assistant studies, or legal assistant program of 60+ hours, 15 hours in substantive legal courses

(2) Bachelor’s degree in any field plus one year’s experience as legal assistant (15 hours of substantive legal courses equivalent to one year’s experience as legal assistant)

(3) High school diploma or equivalent plus seven years’ experience as a legal assistant under supervision of attorney, plus minimum of 20 hours of CLE within two-year period prior to exam date

Part 1 - Written Communications:Grammar and word usage, spelling, punctuation, number usage, capitalization, composition and expression

Part 2 - Legal Knowledge and Skills: Legal research, citations, legal terminology, the court system and ADR, and the legal skills of interviewing clients and witnesses, planning and conducting investigations, and docketing

Part 3 - Ethics and Judgment: Ethical situations involving contact with clients, the public, coworkers, and subordinates; other ethical considerations for the legal profession; decisionmaking and analytical ability; and ability to recognize priorities

Part 4 - All areas of substantive law, including administrative; business organizations and
contracts; civil procedure and litigation; criminal; family; real property; torts; wills, trusts, and estates; admiralty and maritime; antitrust; bankruptcy; environmental; federal civil rights and employment discrimination; immigration; intellectual property; labor; oil and gas; pension and profit sharing; taxation; water; workers’ compensation

Part 1- Written Communications: Grammar and word usage, punctuation, number usage, capitalization, spelling, and composition and expression

Part 2 - Office Procedures and Technology: records management, computer information systems, equipment/ information services, office procedures and practices, office accounting

Part 3 - Ethics and Judgment: Ethical situations involving contact with clients, the public, coworkers; ethical considerations for legal profession; decisionmaking and analytical ability; ability to recognize priorities

Part 4 - Legal Knowledge and Skills: Legal Knowledge: citations, legal research, and the ability to prepare legal documents based on oral instructions and materials; all areas of substantive law

Federal law and procedure, major subject areas include communications, ethics, legal research, human relations and interviewing techniques, judgment and analytical ability, legal terminology.

Section on Substantive Law includes five miniexaminations covering the American Legal System and four of the following areas: administrative law, bankruptcy, business, organizations/ corporations, contracts, family law, criminal law and procedure, litigation, probate and estate planning, real estate.

Domain I - Administration of client legal matters: conflict checks; develop, organize and maintain client files; develop and maintain calendar/tickler systems; develop/maintain databases; coordinate client services

Domain II - Development of client legal matters: client interviews; analyze information; collaborate with counsel; prepare, file, and serve legal documents/exhibits; prepare clients/witnesses for legal proceedings

Domain III - Factual/legal research: obtain factual/legal information; investigate/compile facts; inspect/evaluate evidence; ascertain/analyze legal authority

Domain IV - Factual/legal writing: communicate with client/counsel; draft legal analytical documents

Domain V - Office Administration: personnel management; acquire technology; coordinate and utilize vendor services; create and maintain library of legal resources; develop/maintain billing system

(Ethics imbedded throughout)

Cost
Member

Nonmember

$225 (retake $50/section)
$250 (retake $50/section)

Recertification
Frequency

CLE Required

Topics

Every five years

75 hours (five hours legal ethics)

Minimum of 50 hours on substantive areas, minimum of 5 hours on ethics, and maximum of 20 hours on other areas. Substantive areas should include those that reflect the substantive nature of a paralegal's work, enhance a paralegal's knowledge of the profession, update knowledge of the law, or relate to the Professional Paralegal examination; including, but not limited to, procedural and communications skills, legal research and citations, and procedural and substantive law.

Every five years

75 hours

Education on PLS exam topics or teaching, lecturing, writing, earning college credit, earning other certifications

Every five years

50 hours

Legal assistant topics or teaching

Every two years

12 hours (one hour legal ethics)

Substantive law; specific nature of paralegal profession, i.e., computer skills, research techniques, management skills, etc.; ethics