A legal assistant or paralegal is a person, qualified by education, training or
work experience, who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental/public agency, bank,
industry or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is
responsible.The paralegal program is designed niether for aattorneys nor law office administrators. Paralegals
are prohibited from performing the unauthorized practice of law.
This curriculum, which is approved by the American Bar Association, provides students with a background in law
as practiced in legal offices and trains them to prepare documents such as probate forms, title searches and
closing statements, pleadings and discovery proceedings, legal memoranda, and corporate minutes and filings.
Skilled use of the English language is essential, and a high level of verbal competence is required for
completion of the curriculum. Knowledge of word processing software packages is strongly recommended.
Not all legal courses are offered on each campus each semester. Students are strongly urged to meet with a
paralegal academic advisor to plan their program. Failure to do so may result in delayed completion of the
program.
Admission Procedures and Requirements
For entering students, minimum requirements for admission are an 80 high school average, Regents English, strong
reading and writing skills, and a combined score of 1000 on the SAT or a composite score of 21 on the ACT.
Continuing college students need 12 credits with a 3.0 GPA which include a B or better in
EG11 and
BL40.
Students are admitted on a rolling basis, fall and spring, with most students who meet minimum standards admitted.
Note: students who do not meet the admission criteria may be admitted on a provisional basis.
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