4 Legal Certifications To Consider Pursuing

Legal certifications can help you launch a successful career in law or legal-related occupations such as a legal assistant, legal secretary, or paralegal. These certifications can give you added credibility and professionalism and broaden your opportunities in the field. If you're interested in expanding your professional skill set and increasing your knowledge of the field of law, you may consider pursuing a legal certification. In this article, we explain what legal certifications are, explore advantages and disadvantages of pursuing them, review a list of four certifications you can pursue and answer some frequently asked questions about legal certifications.

What are Legal Certifications?

Legal certifications are credentials you can obtain that confirm your expertise in a specific field of law and allow you to practice in your role. These certifications can prove that you hold certain legal skills and have specific knowledge of the field. You can earn legal certifications through colleges or universities or through certifying organizations.

Advantages of pursuing legal certifications

There are several benefits to earning legal certifications, including:

Increased employment opportunities

In many cases, hiring managers prefer to hire candidates who are as qualified for the position as possible. Earning specific legal certifications can provide you with more job opportunities and make you an ideal candidate for the position you're interested in obtaining. Ultimately, having these credentials can show potential employers that you're qualified for the role and can perform well in it.

Added credibility

Having legal certifications can add to your credibility as a professional in the field of law. This added credibility can help attract clients and maintain their trust and loyalty, earning respect from peers and ultimately allowing you to function to the best of your ability as a professional. Earning these certifications can also give you an added level of professionalism, which can improve your public and professional image and reputation.

Expanded knowledge and skill set

Pursuing legal certifications can also allow you to increase your knowledge of the field and expand your professional and field-specific skill set. Usually, in order to earn legal certifications, there are certain legal courses to take, on-the-job training to undergo or professional experience to earn to qualify for them. While undergoing these experiences, you likely learn a lot about the field of law.

Disadvantages of pursuing legal certifications

There are also a few potential disadvantages you may find when pursuing legal certifications, including:

Process can be costly

There are typically costs associated with earning certifications. Depending on how you go about obtaining these types of certifications, you may spend upwards of thousands of dollars or as little as a couple of hundred dollars to earn your legal certifications, depending on the program you choose. Budgeting and planning for these costs ahead of time can help alleviate these costs.

May require a significant time commitment

Earning legal certifications can take a significant amount of time. Between studying for examinations and attending required courses, workshops or conferences, you may spend many hours each day or week working toward obtaining a certification. With careful planning and excellent time-management skills, you can assemble a schedule that can work for you and your goals.

Education may be more limited compared to a degree

It's possible that pursuing a certification program instead of a degree program may not offer you as much knowledge about the field of law. This varies from person to person and may or may not prove to be a critical area of concern in terms of obtaining a job. Earning experience in the field and other legal certifications may combat this potential issue.

4 legal certifications to consider pursuing

You can earn a variety of different legal certifications to excel in your role. Consider these four legal certifications to pursue:

1. Certified paralegal

This type of certification is available for paralegal professionals who assist attorneys with legal work and have likely passed an exam and fulfilled specific work requirements as specified by the certifying entity. People sometimes confuse a paralegal certification with a paralegal certificate, but these credentials are different and allow the professional to perform different tasks. Common paralegal certification entities include the American Alliance of Paralegals Inc. (AACI), the National Association for Legal Support Professionals (NALS) and the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA), all of which have different requirements for earning this certification.

2. Accredited Legal Professional (ALP) certification

This type of certification offered by the National Association for Legal Support Professionals is available to entry-level legal professionals and students. To obtain this certification, you may complete an accredited legal or business course, complete the NALS legal training course or have a minimum of one year of experience in any general office setting. Then, you can pass the ALP examination. An ALP certification can show that you're competent in assisting with legal tasks in an office setting.

3. Legal studies certification

This type of general certificate is typically available for people who are interested in pursuing law-related occupations but aren't interested in becoming an attorney. Usually, colleges and universities offer this type of certificate to students pursuing an undergraduate degree with the interest in working in a specific area of law, such as bank regulations, real estate law, education law, restaurant and food industry regulations and more. Sometimes, experienced professionals may pursue this certificate as a means of expanding their professional ability if they'd like to work in law.

4. Professional Legal Secretary (PLS) certification

This certification is also offered by the National Association for Legal Support Professionals and is available for professionals who have a minimum of three years of legal work experience and want to prove they're a competent legal secretary. To obtain this certification, you can meet the minimum number of years of work experience or have a post-secondary degree and less than three years of experience in the field. Then, you can take and pass the ALP exam. Earning this certification can show that you have mastered office skills, are a dedicated professional and are actively working to develop in your career.

FAQs about legal certifications

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions regarding legal certifications:

How do you choose which certification to get?

Choosing which legal certification, you'd like to get can be a simple and easy process if you consider your professional goals. If you're interested in involving yourself more with court cases and trial paperwork, for instance, you may consider pursuing a paralegal certification. If you're more interested in handling office-related legal work, such as organizing files and documents, preparing reports and answering phone calls, for instance, you may consider pursuing an ALP certification instead.

Do you need a degree to get a certification?

Whether or not you need a degree to get a certification depends on what type of certification you're interested in getting. Some certifications do require you to have an undergraduate degree to complement the certification. Other certification programs don't require any formal education as a term of eligibility.

How much do legal certifications cost?

The amount of money it costs to obtain a legal certification varies. Depending on what type of certification you get and how you go about getting it, you may pay for course fees, exam fees and processing fees. Typically, earning a legal certification costs a couple of hundred dollars, though earning a certification through a college or university program may cost more.

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