General Purposes, Procedures and Definitions

• Pages: 3-14

GENERAL PURPOSES, PROCEDURES, AND

DEFINITIONS

G-101

The American Bar Association is vitally and actively interested in ways and

means of extending legal services in the United States. These Guidelines for

the Approval of Paralegal Education Programs by the American Bar

Association are promulgated in pursuit of that objective.

G-102

The American Bar Association believes that there should be a number of

ways in which a person can demonstrate competence as a paralegal, one of

which is the completion of an approved program as determined by this

document. Although this document is concerned only with formal education

programs for the training of paralegals, it is not intended to limit entry into

this career field by other means.

G-103

As Used In The Guidelines:

(a) “Program” means the entity or unit within the institution that provides

the paralegal education;

(b) “Committee” means the American Bar Association Standing Committee

on Paralegals;

(c) “Approval Commission” means the Approval Commission of the

Standing Committee on Paralegals;

(d) A legal assistant or paralegal is a person, qualified by education,

training, or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law

office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs

specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is

responsible. For the purposes of the Guidelines, the terms “legal assistant”

and “paralegal” are used interchangeably.

A. “Program option” means a course of study or curriculum for the education of

paralegals. A “program option” is differentiated from a “program,” which is

the entity or unit within an institution that offers paralegal education.

B. A “paralegal minor” offered by an institution that awards the baccalaureate

degree is ordinarily considered to be a program option as defined in A above,

and must therefore comply with these Guidelines. However, if the minor is

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