Paralegal Certificate

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Paralegal education prepares the student to assist with substantive legal work under the supervision of an attorney or to work in a law-related setting. It does not lead to licensure as an attorney or to the practice of law.

Objectives

(1) To provide an American Bar Association-approved program with a curriculum leading to a paralegal certificate; (2) to provide a liberal arts based education for undergraduate paralegal students; (3) to develop in each paralegal student superior writing, speaking, and analytical skills; (4) to offer high quality specific legal training to liberal arts students and bachelor’s degree holders seeking to become paralegals; and (5) to instill respect for legal and practical values and ethics.

This program is open to undergraduate students in all majors and to post-baccalaureate students.

For information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program, and other program characteristics, please visit http://www.hamline.edu/cla/legal-studies/paralegal-disclosures.html.

Certificate Requirements

Required courses

Legal specialty courses

Twelve (12) additional credits of legal specialty courses from the following list:

Elective courses

Select 4 credits of additional coursework from all legal studies (LGST) courses listed above or the following interdisciplinary courses:

Note

Post Baccalaureate Certificate students must repeat the following core courses for credit if the course work is seven or more years old:

LGST 1250 – Legal Research and Writing
LGST 3520 – Litigation and Trial Practice
LGST 5900 – Legal Studies Practicum

Other courses seven or more years old are subject to legal studies department approval for application towards the paralegal certificate. When courses are repeated to fulfill Paralegal Certificate requirements, the repeated course credit will be changed to zero and the resulting grade will be excluded in the grade point average computation.