May 2024 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
    Dec 04, 2024  
May 2024 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Associate of Science in Legal Assisting/Paralegal


**Effective March 2024, Herzing University is no longer actively enrolling new students in this program.

Only the Herzing University paralegal programs at Atlanta are approved by the American Bar Association (ABA). The Herzing Legal Studies program offered online is not approved by the ABA.

Program Description

The program prepares students with the skills and academic knowledge necessary for a career as a legal assistant/paralegal working under the supervision of a licensed attorney. The American Bar Association defines a paralegal as “a person qualified by education, training, or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, government agency, or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible.” These career opportunities may be in small or large firms working as a legal assistant/paralegal. The duties of a legal assistant/paralegal include assisting the lawyer with research, brief preparation, and other legal office administration. Duties do not include practicing law, advising clients, or setting fees since paralegals may not provide legal services directly to the public, except as permitted by law.

Special Admissions

Students at the Atlanta campus must complete all paralegal courses at the campus in a traditional classroom format.

Program Outcomes

Upon completion of this program, the student should be able to:

  1. Describe the US legal system.
  2. Describe the changing functions of the paralegal as the delivery of legal services evolves.
  3. Demonstrate mastery of standard technology tools used in legal environments
  4. Evaluate ethical decision-making practices in a legal environment.

Program Content

A minimum of 65.00 semester credit hours is required for graduation.

Required Courses


All courses, 30.00 semester credit hours, are required.

Elective Courses


A minimum of 9.00 semester credit hours is required. At least 6.00 semester credit hours must be paralegal (PL) courses.

General Education Requirements


Students enrolled in this associate degree must complete a minimum of 24.00 semester credit hours in general education distributed among the following disciplines. Refer to the General Education section of the catalog for specific information about courses within each discipline.

9.00 Semester Credit Hours in Communications

6.00 Semester Credit Hours in Humanities (must include 3 semester credit hours of cultural diversity)

3.00 Semester Credit Hours in Mathematics

3.00 Semester Credit Hours in Science

3.00 Semester Credit Hours in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Personal and Professional Development Courses


2.00 semester credit hours are required.