Legal Certification Chart
This chart compares the certification exams offered by:
NALS...the association for legal professionals
National Association for Legal Assistants (NALA)
National Federation of Paralegal Associations, Inc. (NFPA)
| Professional Paralegal (PP) - NALS | PLS...the advanced certification for legal professionals (PLS) - NALS | Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) or Paralegal (CP) - NALA | Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE) - Registered Paralegal (RP) | |
Organization
Established |
1929,
incorporated in 1949 |
1929,
incorporated in 1949 |
1975 |
1974 |
Certification
Established |
2004 |
1960 |
1976 |
1996 |
Membership |
5,000 individual members $100
new member7 |
5,000 individual members $100
new member7 |
6,000 individual members $99
new member - active2 |
15,000 $70
new member (paralegal or paralegal supervisor) |
Number
Certified |
436
(eff 03/09) |
5,544
(eff 03/09) |
14,344
CLA 1,126
CLAS |
587
(eff 12/06) |
Eligibility
to Test |
Five years’ experience performing paralegal duties Partial
waivers: |
Three years’ experience in the legal field Partial
waiver: |
(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 |
An
associates degree in paralegal studies obtained from an institutionally
accredited and/or ABA approved paralegal education program and
six years substantive paralegal experience; OR Bachelor’s degree in any course of study obtained from an institutionally accredited school and three years of substantive paralegal experience; OR Bachelor’s degree and completion of a paralegal program within an institutionally accredited school (which may be embodied in the bachelor’s degree) and a minimum of two years substantive paralegal experience; OR Four years substantive paralegal experience completed on or before December 31, 2000 |
Examination
Topics |
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 |
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) |
Length |
one
day |
one
day |
two
days |
four
hours - 200 questions |
Sites |
nationally/most
major cities |
nationally/most
major cities |
nationally/most
major cities |
200+
Sylvan Learning Centers |
Frequency |
First
Saturday in March Last Saturday in September (no waiting period to retest) |
First
Saturday in March Last Saturday in September (no waiting period to retest) |
March April July December |
Within
90 days of approval of application (six month waiting period to
retest) |
Cost Nonmember |
$200 (retake $50/section) $250 (retake $60/section) PLS Members Part 4: $150 (retake $50) PLS Nonmember Part 4: $200 (retake $60) |
$150 (retake $40/section) $200 (retake $50/section) |
|
$225 (no section retake) $225 (no section retake) |
Recertification CLE Required
|
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. |
75 hours |
50 hours
|
12 hours (one hour legal ethics) Substantive law; specific nature of paralegal profession, i.e., computer skills, research techniques, management skills, etc.; ethics |
| Costs | $75 | $75 | $50 | $25 (if a topic is not pre-approved by NFPA, individual or speaker may request approval - $25 for a speaker or non-member; $10 for individual member) |
200,000 paralegals nationwide per U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://stats.bls.gov (3/21/04) Anyone who completed CLA exam; graduated from ABA program for legal assistants; graduated from legal assistant accredited course not ABA approved/not less than 60 semester hours of study; graduated from legal assistant course/not less than six months of in-house training as legal assistant whose attorney-employer attests individual is qualified as legal assistant (“attorney attests”); or earned baccalaureate degree in any field plus at least six months in-house training as legal assistant whose attorney attests; person with at least three years of law-related experience and at least six months in-house training as a legal assistant whose attorney attests; or person who has a minimum of two years in-house training as a legal assistant whose attorney attests. Attorneys, educators, legal assistant supervisors. Individuals, law firms, corporations and legal assistant program representatives who endorse or promote the legal assistant concept or promote the legal assistant profession. Nonvoting; former paralegal or legal professional other than paralegal Nonvoting; persons, partnerships, corporations, associations supporting purposes and activities of NFPA. Members include those who work for attorneys, e.g., paralegals/legal assistants, secretaries, office managers. court personnel. This fee does not include state or local chapter dues. Educators, judges, attorneys
Legal Certification Comparison Chart prepared by
Kathleen L. McRae, PLS, RP and Lyn M. Hurlbutt, PP, PLS, CLA, RP, CPS.
