2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Paralegal - Associate of Technical Arts Degree
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Program Description The Paralegal Associate of Technical Arts Degree program is approved by the American Bar Association and is designed for students who are preparing to enter the workforce as a paralegal at a law firm, corporate legal department, governmental agency, or public service organization. Paralegals perform specifically-delegated substantive, non-clerical legal work under the direction and supervision of licensed attorneys. Paralegals are not licensed to practice law and may not offer legal advice or perform any duty specifically reserved for licensed attorneys. This degree requires the successful completion of a minimum of 93 credits, as outlined.
Advising Note This program requirement sheet is not a substitute for meeting with an academic advisor. Meeting the requirements to graduate with an Edmonds College certificate or degree is ultimately the responsibility of the student.
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General Education Requirements (20 credits)
*See General Education Requirements Notes Communication Skills (10 credits)
OUTCOME: Communicate and interact effectively through a variety of methods appropriate to audience, context, purpose, and field/discipline. Human Relations Skills (5 credits )
OUTCOME: Act responsibly in applying professional and academic standards associated with success in educational, workplace, community, and group settings. Quantitative Analysis/Symbolic Reasoning Skills (5 credits)
OUTCOME: Reason clearly using academic or professional modes of inquiry; using quantitative or symbolic reasoning; and/or using other discipline/field specific methods to explore and create ideas; identify information needs; process, evaluate, and use information; and recognize, analyze, and solve problems.
Cultural Diversity Skills
Outcome: Explore and apply multiple perspectives in order to examine cultural differences and influences; maintain effective professional/working relationships; and/or interact effectively in multicultural settings. ____ Cultural Diversity Requirement met Distribution Requirements (15 credits)
**See Distribution Requirements Notes
Career and College Success (3 credits)
OUTCOME: Develop professional and academic skills and strategies for career and college success. ____Career and College Success Requirement met Note: The Career and College Success course should be completed within the first two quarters. Students who transfer in 30 or more college-level credits with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher may be exempt from the Career and College Success course; see faculty advisor.
Legal Program Requirements (25 credits)
OUTCOMES: - Demonstrate and apply legal knowledge and practical skills necessary to perform substantive legal work under the direction of an attorney.
- Identify and apply the procedural rules and practical skills necessary to perform tasks, under the direction of an attorney, in preparation of judicial, administrative, and alternative dispute resolution proceedings.
- Demonstrate the ability to use a variety of print and electronic resources to research and update primary and secondary legal authority.
- Apply effective writing, speaking, and listening skills to work collaboratively with others involved in the delivery of legal services to the public.
- Prepare legal correspondence, legal memoranda, transactional and operative documents, and litigation-related documents in appropriate format and tone to effectively communicate the necessary information.
- Demonstrate the ability to use computers and technology necessary to perform paralegal tasks.
- Demonstrate an awareness of legal ethics; the rules of professional conduct; the role of paralegals in the delivery of legal services to the public; and how social, economic, cultural, and ethnic factors affect equal access to the justice system.
- Career Management: Demonstrate the ability to research employment opportunities, prepare an effective employment package, and present oneself positively in a job interview.
Legal Program Electives (30 credits minimum)
****See Legal Program Electives Notes Program Notes
The program code for this degree is LAPPAAPT. For financial aid, advising, and other reasons, students should work with their advisor to ensure that this code is properly recorded on their academic record.
- Advising Due to the complex requirements of this degree, all Paralegal Associate of Technical Arts Degree students are required to meet with an advisor to design their educational plan.
- 93-Credit Requirement The Paralegal Associate of Technical Arts Degree program requires a minimum of 93 credits for completion. Specifically, this program requires 58 credits of Legal courses ( 25 credits required, 3 credits of Legal 100 required, and 30 credits as electives) and 35 credits of non-legal courses (of which 25 credits must be from Liberal Arts courses).
- Transfer of Credits
- Non-legal credits will transfer from any accredited college to satisfy some or all of the 35 non-legal credit requirements. An associate of arts/sciences transfer degree (DTA) will satisfy all non-paralegal requirements including ENGL& 101.
- Legal credits from any other American Bar Association (ABA) approved paralegal program may be transferred to satisfy some of the 58 legal credits required. Up to 20 legal credits may be transferred from other ABA-approved paralegal programs. Legal courses from schools or departments that are not part of an ABA-approved paralegal program will not be accepted as legal credits under the requirements of this degree.
- Any paralegal course transfer approval must be in writing and signed by a paralegal program faculty advisor. Requests for evaluation of transfer of credits may be completed in the GATE system. This should be done during the student’s first quarter at the college. See an advisor if you have any questions about the transfer of credits.
- Credit/Grade Requirements A minimum of 30 credits or one-third of the required credits, whichever is less, must be earned at Edmonds College. A minimum of 25 of these 30 credits must be earned in the paralegal program at Edmonds College. Students are required to maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 in all college-level courses and must have a minimum 2.0 grade in each of LEGAL 100, LEGAL 200, LEGAL 205, LEGAL 210, LEGAL 228, and LEGAL 240.
LEGAL 100 Grade: ______
LEGAL 200 Grade: ______
LEGAL 205 Grade: ______
LEGAL 210 Grade: ______
LEGAL 228 Grade: ______
LEGAL 240 Grade: ______
- Technology Skills Requirement As an American Bar Association approved paralegal program, students must demonstrate proficient technology skills prior to graduating. This requirement is met by completing LEGAL 228 with a minimum grade of 2.0. Alternatively, a student may request a course substitution for LEGAL 228 by obtaining written approval from a faculty advisor that the course adequately demonstrates equivalence in all of LEGAL 228’s course-level learning objectives.
- On-Campus Requirement As an American Bar Association approved paralegal program, students are required to complete a minimum of 15 legal credits taught in a traditional on-campus classroom at Edmonds College or in a course taught in a synchronous format. All on-campus legal courses count toward this requirement, except for LEGAL 291, LEGAL 299, and one-credit hybrid courses. A five-credit hybrid course counts as four traditional on-campus credits; a three-credit hybrid course counts as two traditional on-campus credits; and a two-credit hybrid course counts as one traditional on-campus credit. Online courses do not count toward this requirement but courses offered in a synchronous format meet this requirement. The paralegal program’s on-campus requirement will be verified by the paralegal department prior to graduation.
On-Campus Course Taken: _____________________________ Credits: ______
On-Campus Course Taken: _____________________________ Credits: ______
On-Campus Course Taken: _____________________________ Credits: ______
The advisors for this program are:
Scott Haddock | scott.haddock@edcc.edu | 425.640.1185
Theresa Pouley | theresa.pouley@edcc.edu | 425.640.1688
Department website:
Paralegal | edcc.edu/legal
*General Education Requirements Notes
- ENGL& 101, MATH& 107 (or higher level math course), PHIL& 120, and any CMST class count toward the 30-credit Liberal Arts Requirement.
- Human Relations Skills: Human Relations courses meet the Liberal Arts Requirement of 30 minimum credits.
**General Education and Distribution Requirements Notes
- Students in this program must complete at least 30 credits of approved liberal arts courses identified in the General Education and Distribution List. Students may take 35 credits from these lists or 30 credits from these and 5 non-legal credits to total 35.
- General Education Requirement courses, such as ENGL& 101, MATH& 107 (or higher level math course), PHIL& 120, any CMST class, and the listed Human Relations courses may count toward the 10-15 credits from the Distribution List. Other courses in similar categories may meet the requirements. Consult a faculty advisor to insure your course meets the requirements.
- ACCT 101 and BUS 130 do not meet the
Distribution requirement. These courses, if taken, will count as non-legal electives.
- ABA Requirement ABA Guidelines require that students select courses from at least three (3) disciplines (departments).
***Non-Legal Electives Notes
- Additional credits necessary to a total of 35 non-legal credits may be selected from any college-level, non-legal course(s) of your choice, provided that requirements in General Education and Distribution List sections are also met.
****Program Electives Notes
- Legal Electives A maximum of five (5) credits may be earned in each of these classes: LEGAL 291, 296, and 299 with a total combined limit of 10 credits that can be earned in all of these courses cumulatively.
- Professional Development To gain valuable work experience students are strongly encouraged to consider taking LEGAL 291 as an elective. This is particularly true for students who are not currently or have not recently worked in a legal setting. Students may take up to five (5) credits of Legal Internship (LEGAL 291) and are encouraged to complete a legal internship prior to graduation. One (1) credit will be earned for every 30 hours of paralegal internship work performed during the quarter. For more information on legal internships, students should meet with a faculty advisor.
Associate of Technical Arts General Information
Program of Study Outcomes Edmonds College’s four General Education Outcomes (Communicate, Act Responsibly, Reason, and Explore) are promoted throughout the college’s programs. Instructional programs of 45 credits or more foster learning in all four General Education Outcomes.
Student achievement is assessed in the general and program specific outcomes via the courses and course objectives that align with those outcomes. More information about program outcomes and course objectives can be found on the Using Program Requirement Sheets page.
Credit/Grade Requirements A minimum of 30 credits or one-third of the required college-level (100-level or above) credits, whichever is less, must be earned at Edmonds College. Students are required to maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 in all college level courses.
Students Are Advised To:
- Plan your schedule several quarters in advance in order to accommodate courses that are offered only once or twice a year;
- Review the college catalog for required course prerequisites and include these in schedule planning;
- Communicate with an academic advisor and/or a faculty advisor; and
- At least three quarters before you plan to graduate, contact any college(s) where you have earned credits and have your official transcript(s) sent to Edmonds College. Then, submit an Evaluation Request - Transfer Credits Form (available in Enrollment Services) to activate the process of transferring credits to Edmonds College.
Graduation Application A completed Graduation Application form must be submitted online by the 10th day of the quarter in which the student expects to graduate. Note: Applications for summer quarter are due by the 8th day of the quarter.
Transferring to Another University or College
- This degree is not designed to transfer to another university or college.
- If you are interested in a four-year degree, you should discuss the need for additional requirements with an advisor from the transfer institution.
Common Course Numbering Please refer to www.edcc.edu/ccn for more information.
Cultural Diversity Requirement All students earning a degree or certificate of 45 credits or more must meet a cultural diversity (CD) requirement by taking at least five (5) credits of CD courses. To learn more, go to Academic Information – Cultural Diversity Requirement in the online academic catalog.
College Resources
Internal Coding
PLAN/STACK - LAPPAAPT
TC - 93
CIP - 220302
Last revised - 2021/05/18
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