Paralegal Studies, AAS

About

This major will prepare students with the knowledge and skills needed to work with teams that support the legal interests and needs of individuals, companies, and society.  Paralegals support the work of attorneys conducting legal research; drafting legal correspondences, motions, briefs, etc; Interviewing witnesses, communicating with clients, training and supporting coworkers with using databases, researching legal issues.

The Paralegal Certificate is a great choice for students who have already earned an Associate’s degree or higher and wish to explore their interest in legal work. Students of the Paralegal Certificate program are introduced to Paralegal work in the four required courses and then choose two of our eight law electives for a total of 18 credits.

Transferring to LaGuardia
Students who have completed paralegal courses at other accredited institutions who wish to transfer those credits to LaGuardia Community College’s Paralegal Studies Program may request a review of those credits by the program director. The credits will be evaluated carefully to assure comparability in nature, content and level of credit. See additional information. For the evaluation, the following must included:

• A school catalog/bulletin from the institution; and
• A course syllabus from the specific paralegal course.

Transferability is based on the following:

• Comparability of the course including evaluation of practical assignments;
• Assurance that the student will have at least 9 semester credits of legal specialty courses through synchronous instruction;
• Credit for courses more than seven years old cannot be transferred into the program.
• Documented proof that the grade received was a ‘C’ or above;
• Transfer credits in the student’s major will be limited to nine credits for associate students and six credits for the Certificate program.

With respect to legal specialty courses, transfer of international credits or credits from schools that are not ABA-approved will be up to the discretion of the Program Director. In addition, coursed developed and taught in departments other than paralegal or legal studies program or courses that address theoretical content without a component of paralegal proficiencies and legal ethics, such as criminal justice or political science, generally do not qualify as legal specialty courses.

CLEP and challenge examinations will not be given for paralegal courses.