3rd Annual
Unique Paralegal Programs Spotlight
Innovative programs provide
winning education options.
By Tim Pareti
January/February 2006 Issue
In the world of
paralegal education, there are many paths to success. The options might
vary, but the end result is the same — quality education that fills a
niche. Such is the case for active Army personnel who can obtain a
paralegal degree from almost anywhere in the world through an innovative
distance-learning program at the University of Great Falls in Montana.
Or consider the nontraditional paralegal student at Illinois’ Elgin
Community College, where working parents can provide pro bono
services any time from their homes. Networking with local attorneys is a
possibility at Syracuse University in New York, where paralegal students
can join the local bar association. At Virginia’s Marymount University,
paralegal students are required to conduct pro bono work, an
impressive item on any résumé. And students at The University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga can make themselves more marketable by adding a
social science specialty to their paralegal degrees. Many quality
paralegal programs serve the different needs of students throughout the
nation and the world. The schools mentioned in this article are just a
handful of good examples.
Pro Bono for
the Nontraditional Student
Elgin Community College
Elgin, Ill.
www.elgin.edu
(847) 214-7466
The
paralegal program at Elgin Community College, located in Elgin, Ill.,
began in 1989 and was American Bar Association approved in 1992. Most
paralegal students at ECC are working parents who are embarking on
their second or third career, and would like to give back to the
community despite their busy lives. Two years ago it was a perfect fit
when the college joined forces with the Center for Disability and Elder
Law in Chicago to provide pro bono legal services: The paralegal
students could work from their own homes and gain real-world experience
at the same time, said Laurel Vietzen, coordinator of ECC’s paralegal
program.
Previously, Vietzen
said she looked into possible at-home pro bono opportunities for
students to gain practical experience outside of the classroom, but
there was nothing ongoing. “Pro bono for working students, and in
fact any kind of internship or practical experience for working
students, was a problem since the beginning,” Vietzen said. At the same
time, Ron Kowalczyk, a pro bono attorney and part-time ECC
paralegal professor, was looking for pro bono help for CDEL, for
which he serves on the board of directors. CDEL had been relying on
working lawyers and paralegals to provide pro bono services, but
as a professor at the college, he recognized the need for students to
gain real-world experience, and helping the center could fill that need.
Kowalczyk introduced Vietzen to the CDEL board, and within two weeks,
the center provided training for the volunteer paralegal students. Twice
a year, a CDEL representative comes to the campus to conduct training
sessions, teaching paralegal students how to conduct phone interviews
and write reports, Vietzen said.
ECC paralegal students
who work with the center then can call potential clients from home and
interview them. After the interviews, they write reports, which are then
sent to a volunteer attorney who determines what kind of legal help is
needed. The nonprofit private charity provides pro bono legal
services to thousands of people who are impoverished or disabled. The
paralegal students are the first ones to make contact with the
potential candidates, getting the facts and background information of
the case, Vietzen said. “They learn a lot about interviewing and dealing
with people who are real clients,” Vietzen said. “It makes the students
feel good, and it adds to their résumés. It’s a win-win situation for
everyone.”
So far, more than 30
ECC paralegal students have provided pro bono services to CDEL,
Vietzen said. Participation in the program is not required but is
popular among the students.
ECC also offers a Tech
Prep paralegal program for area students to earn college credit while
still in high school. More than a half-dozen high school students take
advantage of the Tech Prep program each year. The courses are limited to
seniors who can take up to four courses, including legal tech and
business law. “It’s an excellent way for young people to see if they
really want a career in law before they commit to that,” Vietzen said.
ECC offers an associate
of applied science degree in paralegal studies, a basic vocational
specialist paralegal certificate for those who already have a bachelor’s
degree, and a nurse legal consultant certificate.
A Pro Bono
Requirement
Marymount University
Arlington, Va.
www.marymount.edu
(703) 522-5600
Marymount University, a private catholic university in Arlington, Va.,
just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., has a long
tradition in community service. Now, in the spirit of the university’s
founders, the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, the school of about
3,700 students requires its paralegal students to conduct at least 24
hours of pro bono work to graduate.
“It gives the students
real work experience,” said Susanne Ninassi, assistant professor and
paralegal studies program director at Marymount. “It also provides legal
services, under the direction of a licensed attorney, to those who might
not have access to legal services.”
The requirement went
into effect in September 2003 and has won accolades from the community.
Students choose where they conduct their pro bono work, but sites
must be approved by the paralegal program director.
Most students opt to
perform pro bono services with the Florian Foundation, a
charitable organization that offers free legal help to public safety
officers. Sandra Doptis, a Marymount alumna and member of Marymount’s
Paralegal Advisory Committee, and her business partner, Andrea Buchaman,
founded the charity in 2001. Paralegal students assist attorneys in
preparing wills, advance medical directives and powers of attorney for
police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel.
Although the Florian
Foundation is not tied to the school or located on campus, the nonprofit
organization does use the school’s conference rooms to conduct
estate-planning meetings with local public safety officers. That is
convenient because the students meet on campus to do the pro bono
work, Ninassi said. Students perform their pro bono services at
the foundation’s site as well.
Other paralegal
students do their pro bono activities through the National
Capital Area Paralegal Association at the Divorce Clinic in Fairfax,
Va., and the Legal Services of Northern Virginia, Ninassi said. “The
students are happy with our program,” she said. “It’s a solid program,
and they are very satisfied, and the community is very pleased with our
pro bono work.”
About 60 students
currently are enrolled in the university’s ABA-approved paralegal
program, which includes four-year degrees in business law and
paralegal studies, an undergraduate paralegal certificate, a graduate
paralegal certificate and a graduate degree in legal administration. The
undergraduate program began in 1984, and according to Ninassi, Marymount
was the first university to offer a master’s degree in paralegal studies
in 1996.
A Bond With the Local
Bar
Syracuse
University
Syracuse, N.Y.
www.suce.syr.edu
(315) 443-3299
At
Syracuse University, paralegal students have the unusual opportunity to
become active members in the local bar association. Most other New York
bar associations don’t have student paralegals as members.
Currently, about 20
paralegal students from Syracuse are affiliate members of the Onondaga
County Bar Association in the state of New York. The paralegal students
can participate in various activities with the bar association, and
working paralegals also can be members of the bar. There are
approximately 150 paralegal members out of 1,500 members.
In 2001, Bruce Hamm,
director of Syracuse’s Legal Studies Program, persuaded Onondaga County
Bar Association officials to change the group’s membership bylaws to
allow the student members to join the bar association. Hamm pointed out
at a board meeting that the bar already had working paralegal members
and law students as members, so why not admit student paralegals? “I
felt it was important for my students to get connected to the local bar
as soon as possible for jobs, networking, involvement in activities,
benefits, continuing legal education — all the things the bar offers its
regular members,” said Hamm, who has been Syracuse’s program director
since 1997.
Since students have
been able to become members, they have attended the association’s
monthly meetings and luncheons, served on committees, helped with
various pro bono projects and participated in the bar’s Law Day
activities. Some of the pro bono work the students participate in
includes pro se divorce clinics, elder law fairs and Habitat for
Humanity events, according to Hamm.
The partnership
provides paralegal students with a unique opportunity to network with
local attorneys. Through internships, contacts and other volunteer
activities, students gain exposure needed to land a good job after
graduation, Hamm said. “It gives them a real kick start to get to know
people in the legal community,” he added.
In addition, the
ABA-approved legal studies program recently expanded the partnership by
combining its employment listserv with the bar’s job bank. There are
about two to three job postings each week, Hamm said.
Another spin-off from
the partnership was a CLE course on paralegal utilization conducted by
several partners in local law firms. The school and bar also joined
forces to bring in the state’s regional attorney general, who conducted
a luncheon program on the unauthorized practice of law. The school and
the bar have jointly conducted surveys on topics such as paralegal
utilization and technology needs.
Also, the local bar has
helped students find internships and assisted in providing guest
speakers for classroom lectures. Representatives of the bar regularly
attend the program’s graduation ceremonies and other events held at the
university. “We have a very cohesive group of paralegals, and I think
having the relationship with the association is a good thing for
everyone,” Hamm said. “It’s good for our students because they get out
in the real world before they graduate.”
Syracuse offers a
120-credit hour bachelor’s degree in legal studies and a
26-credit hour paralegal certificate for those who already have an
associate’s degree. Syracuse’s paralegal program began in 1979, and was
ABA-approved in 1983.
A proposed minor in
legal studies was considered by the University Senate in December. The
proposed minor requires 19 credit hours, and if approved, will be
offered in the fall.
Paralegal Degree for Army Personnel
University of Great Falls
Great Falls, Mont.
www.ugf.edu
(800) 856-9544
Active personnel in the U.S. Army stationed anywhere in the world now
can obtain a paralegal degree on the Internet from the University of
Great Falls, a private catholic university in Great Falls, Mont. The
paralegal program began in 1979.
For more than two
decades, UGF has offered distance learning education to its students. In
2004, administrators decided to expand the distance-learning education
to meet the needs of the U.S. Army, and in April 2005, the ABA approved
an Internet-based, distance-learning Army Judge Advocate General
paralegal degree program at UGF. It’s one of three such programs
approved by the ABA. All ABA-approved programs require that students
take a minimum of 10 semester credit hours of legal specialty courses in
a traditional classroom setting. Fortunately for JAG students, the ABA
has approved specific face-to-face JAG training courses that fulfill
this requirement. JAG students can then complete the balance of their
credits through the university’s distance learning program. “It gives
them a choice where to attend in a flexible format,” said Dan Shannon,
assistant professor of paralegal studies at UGF. “They can work at their
own pace at their own time. And, we offer a quality product.”
What makes UGF’s JAG
paralegal program unique is that students attend class online in real
time. Once a week, through a unique telecom system UGF developed, the
students participate in a live, online audio-conference with the
instructor. For it to work, students need a personal computer, sound
card, microphone and speakers. Each week, students attend a live lecture
with the professor on the Internet. The telecom system allows each
student to take turns speaking through their microphone. Only one person
can speak at a time, so the instructor moderates the discussion, and the
class discussion is posted on the class Web pages for review. “The
telecom system is like a walkie-talkie,” Shannon said. “You can’t talk
at the same time. You have to say, ‘I am done,’ and the next person
talks.”
Taped lectures of each
course are converted into CDs, DVDs or videotapes and mailed to the JAG
students. Class syllabi, exams and assignments are accessed through the
university’s Web site. UGF provides the students access to LexisNexis
and Westlaw to conduct legal research.
“What sets our program
apart is the fact that we have been in the distance-learning mode for
almost 20 years,” Shannon said. “We have small class sizes offered at
various and convenient times, have a low student-to-faculty ratio, and
cater to the student who is working and wishes to obtain advanced
training or an advanced degree in the evening or on the weekends. Our
curriculum is grounded upon application.”
The new JAG paralegal
program also is a good fit for the university, which can tap into
personnel with military law experience from nearby Malmstrom Air Force
Base. JAG students can obtain either a 128 credit-hour bachelor of arts
degree or a 64 credit-hour associate of arts degree in paralegal
studies. They also can earn an online minor degree in psychology,
criminal justice, addiction counseling or university studies. Most of
the courses are offered online.
So far, six students
from California to as far as Germany are enrolled in the Army paralegal
program. “You can tell they are military. It’s ‘yes sir, no sir,’”
Shannon said. “They are very gracious and professional.”
UGF also offers
associate of arts and bachelor of arts degrees in paralegals studies for
civilians. Currently, more than 60 students are majoring in paralegal
studies at UGF.
An Emphasis on the
Sciences
The
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tenn.
www.utc.edu
(423) 425-4135
The
legal assistant studies program at The University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga, which started in the fall of 1996 and obtained ABA approval
in the spring of 2004, has expanded in an effort to create the perfect,
all-around paralegal. Rather than simply train a paralegal in
traditional legal skills — such as document preparation, filing and
database management — the school now offers an interdisciplinary
approach in which students can take courses outside traditional legal
studies.
A paralegal student at
UTC can choose to obtain a bachelor of science degree in legal assistant
studies or a bachelor of science degree in legal assistant studies with
a social science concentration, according to Karen McGuffee, coordinator
of UTC’s Legal Assistant Studies Program. Both programs are 120-semester
credit hours. The social science concentration program consists of the
core courses, plus additional courses in statistics, research methods,
psychology and criminal justice. “The student not only gets legal
training, but also a specialty focused in research,” McGuffee said.
The idea behind the
specialty in social sciences blossomed several years ago when a local
judge on the program’s advisory board suggested that paralegal students
get additional training in research and statistics. The faculty
then sought input from local law firms to see what skills they would
like from paralegals. Firms wanted paralegals to be able to interpret
statistical data and act as jury consultants, McGuffee said. In
addition, local attorneys wanted paralegals to be skilled in
interviewing and qualifying expert witnesses.
So in the fall of 2003,
UTC added the social science concentration. When interviewing expert
witnesses, attorneys and paralegals often are dealing with someone who
has a Ph.D., McGuffee said. “Since lawyers are not trained in social
science research, the paralegals can help understand and communicate
with the expert,” she added.
The UTC paralegal
graduate also will have some rudimentary expertise to conduct jury
research, evaluate statistical methodology and understand relevant
bodies of literature in the social sciences. They could help serve as an
in-house jury consultant, McGuffee said. “Rather than hire an expensive
jury consultant, a paralegal would be able to look at and understand
research studies to qualify jury members. [He or she] can be in the
forefront, and say ‘Yes, I have the foundation to interpret the data.’”
While no one has
graduated with the social science specialty yet, there are six students
enrolled in the program, McGuffee said.
The bachelor’s degree
in legal assistant studies is one of only a few four-year legal
assistant studies programs in Tennessee. UTC also offers a minor in
legal studies.
___________________________________________________
The workplace is in a
constant state of change. Evolving technology, growth industries,
demographics and law trends are just some of the things that the movers
and shakers of paralegal schools must take into account. To meet those
needs and still remain competitive, school administrators must be
innovative, creative and willing to take risks in the education game.
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