Paralegal CLE Requirements by State
Paralegal CLE requirements vary greatly, depending on your certification and the state you work in. We’ll review each state’s continuing education requirements below.
If your state does not have a certification or registration program, there are several national certifications that are available you. Those include the following:
The National Association of Legal Assistants has a voluntary paralegal certification program. As of 2019, NALA reports that there are over 19,000 Certified Paralegals (CP) and 3,400 Advanced Certified Paralegals (ACP) in the United States. You can read about NALA’s Eligibility Requirements to see if you qualify to sit for the exam. In order to maintain those certifications, a paralegal must complete 50 hours of continuing legal education (with 5 of those being ethics credits) every five years.
The National Federation of Paralegal Associations also offers a national paralegal certification program. You can read about NFPA’s Eligibility Requirements to see if you qualify to sit for their PACE exam. If you are a Registered Paralegal (RP) you will need 8 hours of paralegal CLE credits (with 1 ethics credit) every two years. If you pass the Paralegal Core Competency Exam and receive the CRP credential, you will need 12 hours of paralegal CLE credits (with 1 ethics credit) every two years.
The National Association of Legal Secretaries is now the association for legal professionals, including paralegals. NALS has several different certifications for legal professionals. You can read about their eligibility requirements here. Their Paralegal Professional (PP) certification requires 75 hours of continuing legal education (with 5 ethics credits) every five years.
Paralegal CLE by State
If your local paralegal association is currently exploring some level of voluntary certification or registration program this year, please contact us so that we can keep this chart up to date.
About the Author
Ann Pearson is the Founder of the Paralegal Boot Camp, specializing in training for paralegals that focuses on the important paralegal skills not taught in certificate programs. The Paralegal Boot Camp bridges the gap between what they teach in paralegal programs and what a paralegal actually does on the job.
Ann started her paralegal career as a litigation paralegal and then was a manager of paralegals for many years prior to starting her own company in 2010.
When she’s not working, you can usually find Ann somewhere near an ocean – either scuba diving, boating, cleaning up a beach, or volunteering to help save sea turtles.