The Evolution of Paralegal Education in North Carolina
by
Director, Paralegal Program, Meredith College
NOTE: Further information and links to the enabling statutes and administrative rules can be found at www.apps-nc.org.
Background
In October 2000, the North Carolina Paralegal Association (NCPA) invited all known paralegal organizations and paralegal educators in North Carolina to attend a meeting they were sponsoring concerning the creation of paralegal regulation. For five years, the NCPA had been researching paralegal education and administered a number of polls for paralegals around the state. In addition to the work being done by NCPA, the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (NCATL) and the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA), through its real property section, had been involved in similar activity. A consensus was forming that the idea of paralegal regulation was generally supported in theory, but that creating such regulation would take an additional level of commitment and support. The meeting in October 2000 led to the creation of the North Carolina Alliance for Paralegal Professional Standards (APPS). The attendees at that first meeting were enthusiastic about developing new regulation and determined that any regulation must have broad popular support and take into account the needs of the paralegals, attorneys, paralegal educators, and the public.
I was one of the attendees at the October meeting. Eventually, APPS would be a group with representatives from each of the following groups: the NCPA, the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers Legal Assistants Division (NCATLLAD), the North Carolina Bar Association's Legal Assistants Division (NCBALAD), the Raleigh-Wake Paralegal Association, Metrolina Paralegal Association, Freelance Paralegals, and Paralegal Educators. The APPS representatives met for one Saturday every month and a half (including subcommittee work and special meetings). I was elected and have served as Secretary/Treasurer of APPS.
The APPS Mission Statement is:
- To develop and facilitate implementation of generally acceptable professional standards for the paralegal profession in North Carolina.
- To advance, foster, and promote the paralegal profession in North Carolina.
- To provide a unified voice to accomplish the mission.
- To monitor developments and to collect and disseminate information from any source affecting the mission.
When the Paralegal Profession Act was introduced in the NC General Assembly in April 2003, the North Carolina State Bar (NCSB), the agency tasked with the regulation of the practice of law in North Carolina, expressed to APPS its belief that regulation of paralegals should be within its jurisdiction. Following preliminary discussions with APPS, the NCSB formed its Legislative Study Committee on Paralegal Regulation in July, 2003 to study the need for paralegal regulation in North Carolina and draft regulation within the NCSB's framework that all affected parties could endorse. The Study Committee worked closely with APPS to develop statutory authority for the NCSB to regulate paralegals and to create administrative rules. Those rules in large part incorporated APPS original proposal and are supported by APPS.
In July 2004 the North Carolina State Bar received the statutory authority to regulate North Carolina Certified Paralegals and to seek injunctive relief for the improper use of the title. This authority becomes effective October 1, 2004. The Rules have been submitted to the North Carolina Supreme Court for final approval. It is anticipated that the initial Board of Paralegal Certification, which will implement the Plan for Paralegal Certification, will be appointed in late October 2004.
The Paralegal Plan
The Paralegal Regulation creates a new paralegal designation: "North Carolina Certified Paralegal (NCCP)", or "North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal (NCSB/CP)" or "Paralegal Certified by the North Carolina State Board of Paralegal Certification." I will use "NCCP" for the designation for the remainder of this article. The designation is not mandatory, and attorneys may still hire whomever they wish to perform substantive legal work and call them a paralegal, legal assistant, etc. The regulation only limits the use of the new paralegal designations.
The main certification requirements will be education, continuing education, and testing. The NCSB is also tasked with the oversight and enforcement of those requirements.
What type of education will be required? An associate's, bachelor's or master's degree or postbaccalaureate certificate from a qualified paralegal studies program, or an associate's or bachelor's degree in any discipline from any institution of post-secondary education and successful completion of 18 or more semester credits at a qualified paralegal studies program.
What is a qualified program? A program of paralegal or legal assistant studies that has been approved by the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, or that offers at least the equivalent of 18 semester credits of coursework in paralegal studies as prescribed by the ABA Guidelines for the Approval of Paralegal Education Programs and is an institutional member of SACS or other regional accrediting agency as recognized by the US Department of Education.
I believe that this basic educational requirement represents a profound shift in attorney attitudes towards paralegal education. Not only does the regulation identify the need for education, it shows a commitment to the standards that have been articulated by the ABA and the recognition that the ABA has expertise in this area.
The regulation also will create a market for continuing education courses for paralegals - those certified under the plan will be required to complete at least six hours of continuing education per year. Meredith College, for example, is growing its continuing education program to meet the requirements. However, we are looking at the offering of continuing education programs not just as a source of revenue, but as a way to develop closer ties to the legal community and better serve the needs of that community.
Finally, a test will be developed to make certain that regulated paralegals have developed competency in North Carolina law. The test will serve as a benchmark for basic standards that all paralegals, regardless of type of paralegal program attended, will have to meet.
The regulation provides for a two-year grandfather clause which will allow those paralegals with experience to become certified upon application as long as they have completed a minimum number of hours of work in the paralegal field and take a three hour class in professional responsibility.
I have worked with APPS and with the NCSB on this regulation since October 2000. While I would have liked to have seen the term "paralegal" regulated, I believe this regulation meets the needs and concerns of all of the members of the legal community in North Carolina. It clearly recognizes education and continuing education as the bedrock of necessary training for paralegals. It is my hope that the regulation will not be seen as the gold standard for paralegals in the state of North Carolina, but as the minimum standard.
Marisa S. Campbell is the Director of Meredith College's Paralegal Program, an ABA-approved post-baccalaureate certificate program in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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Taken from the Fall (October) 2004 UPdate Newsletter.
