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WVC HOME › PARALEGAL PROGRAM › PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

West Valley College Paralegal Program

An ABA-Approved Paralegal Program

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Paralegal Program

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Program Requirements

Required Courses for both the Certificate and the A.S. Degree

Course Number	Course Name	Units
Para 18	Legal Analysis	3
Para 19	Intro to Paralegal Studies	3
Para 21	Intro to American Law	3
Para 22	Civil Litigation	3
Para 23	Research and Writing	3
Para 24	Advanced Research and Writing	3
Para 25	Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility	1.5
Para 29	Internship (120 hours by arrangement)	3
Para 40	Advanced Civil Litigation	3
Para 65B	Word Processing for the Law Office	3

PLUS CORE ELECTIVES:

Select a total of 12 units from Program electives.

Note: These are the current program electives. Not all electives are offered every semester and new electives, not on this list, may be created in the future. Check the current semester schedule to see what electives are being offered.

Business Oriented Courses

Course Number	Course Name	Units
Para 27	Corporate Law	3
Para 30	Business Contract Laws	3
Para 33	Real Estate Law	3
Para 34	Bankruptcy Law	3
Para 49	Securities Regulation	3
Para 70	Employment Law	3

Intellectual Property Courses

Course Number	Course Name	Units
Para 37	Intellectual Property	3
Para 47	Trademark Law	3
Para 48	Copyright Law	3
Para 83C	Patent Administration	3

Litigation Skills Courses

Course Number	Course Name	Units
Para 39	Interviewing and Investigation	3
Para 41	Torts and Personal Injury	3
Para 42	Criminal Trial Techniques	3
Para 43	Law Office Management	3
Para 81C	Legal Correspondence	1
Para 83A	Evidence and Trial Preparation	3

Technology Skills Courses

Course Number	Course Name	Units
Para 26	Technology in the Law Office	3
Para 83B	Electronic Discovery	1
CA 46B	Presentation, Power Point	1
CA 62B	Beg. Spreadsheets, MS Excel	1
CA 81B	Beg. Database, MS Access	1

Probate Courses

Course Number	Course Name	Units
Para 35	Probate	3
Para 36	Wills and Estate Planning	3

Research Skills Courses

Course Number	Course Name	Units
Para 66	Legal Research on the Internet	.5
Para 67	Introduction to Legal Database Services	1

Miscellaneous Legal Specialty Courses

Course Number	Course Name	Units
Para 32	Family Law	3
Para 38	Constitutional Law	3
Para 76	Immigration Law	3

To be awarded a certificate in Paralegal, a student must:

Have an AA/AS degree or higher in Paralegal or any other subject that meets College standards.
Complete 40.5 or more units in Paralegal courses - 28.5 in required courses and 12 units in paralegal electives.

To be awarded an A.S. degree in Paralegal, a student must:

Complete 40.5 units in Paralegal courses - 28.5 in required courses and 12 units in paralegal electives.
Take Additional units to meet both the College and ABA general education graduation requirements. (Check with Counseling.)

NOTE: Students are strongly encouraged to plan for eventually earning a bachelor's degree. A student should choose general education requirements which apply both toward college graduation requirements and toward the bachelor's degree requirements at the four-year institution in which he/she plans to transfer.

Students must see a counselor or the Program Chair about the general education courses that are approved by the American Bar Association for the Paralegal Degree. Eighteen of the 25 units needed to complete the general education requirement for an A.S. degree must be from the A.B.A. approved list.

Students seeking the Paralegal A.S. Degree are strongly urged to begin the general education requirements at the onset of their paralegal degree plan. In particular, students should complete English 1A (College Composition) at the beginning of their program.

SUGGESTED SEQUENCE - varies depending on whether your first semester is Fall or Spring:

1^st Semester-Fall	2^nd Semester-Spring	3^rd Semester-Fall	4^th Semester-Spring
Para 19 Para 21 0 - 1 Para Elective	Para 18 Para 22 Para 65B 1 - 2 Para Electives	Para 23 Para 40 1-2 Para Electives	Para 24 Para 25 Para 29 1-2 Para Electives

1^st Semester-Spring	2^nd Semester-Fall	3^rd Semester-Spring	4^th Semester-Fall
Para 18 Para 19 Para 21 0 - 1 Para Elective	Para 23 Para 25 Para 65B 1 - 2 Para Electives	Para 22 Para 24 1-2 Para Electives	Para 29 Para 40 1-2 Para Electives

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• last updated: August 19, 2008 •