The CLA/CP (Certified Legal Assistant/Certified Paralegal) program is the state’s first certification procedure for paralegals. It was established in 1976, and according to NALA, over 11,000 have used this exam to evaluate their professional knowledge.

The CLA/CP program is recognized by the U.S.A as a means of identifying qualified paralegals. The Certifying Board for Legal Assistants is responsible for the standards, content and administration of the Certified Paralegal exam.

The CLA/CP exam is a two-day comprehensive exam, based on federal law and procedure. The main subject areas of the CLA exam are:

• Communications
• Ethics
• Legal Research
• Human Relations
• Interviewing Techniques
• Judgment
• Analytical Ability & Legal Terminology

The substantive law part of the CLA test consists of five small issues that comprise the American justice system in four areas. The four areas are selectable.

Paralegals who pass the test of the CLA know that they are good enough and can be useful and eligible to work for law firms and other corporations that need legal consultation. Recent surveys showed that the test is especially useful if you intend to be a legal assistant at a major firm where the competition is great.

The CLA/CP exam has been recognized by the American Bar Association, as well as by over 47 organizations in the legal-assistant field.

The CLA exam is computer-based

Each part of the exam is time-limited. The exact times and details of every part are described in the NALA website. The exam is computer-based, which allows the timing of each exam section to be enforced automatically. The timer starts running when the test is started by the examinee.

When the time has expired, the exam will be closed automatically by the computer, and the examinee will not be able to enter it again. If you don’t manage to complete the test on time you still get credits for completed parts. Questions that are not completed will be scored as incorrect answers.

There are no scheduled breaks during the exam. If you must take a break, the timer will continue to run and you will lose time. That is why it is recommended you avoid such breaks.

Two parts

NALA’s CP test consists of two parts: Objective questions and Essay questions.

Objective questions

• Each objective question will be given consecutively, following the completion of the previous question. Once you have selected an answer, you will be instructed to click “Next”.

• If you are not sure about the answer, you can mark any question by checking the box called “Mark for Review”. The box appear below the answer choices. The selected answer can be changed later in the review process.

• The list of questions appears at the end – you can review this list before submitting a test for scoring. Questions that have been marked for review will be highlighted and thus made easier to identify. You can also select the text of each question to open it for review, or for correction, if the time allows it. When the time has expired, you will no longer have access to the questions, and the test will be submitted for scoring.

Essay questions

Essay questions are the second part of the exam, which includes the communications, judgment and analytical ability sections of the exam. These sections require a lot of reading.

The overseer will provide the examinees with the question on typewritten pages. There will be enough space for you to input the answers in the computer. You will be required to bring back the pages before you leave the room. Please note that any comments or marks you have written on these pages will not be considered and you will not be credited. The rating committee can only credit you with answers written on computer software.

These questions will be rated by members or former members of the certifying board. To avoid unpleasantness, there is no need to fill in your name, so that grading will be done on the most professional and objective manner.

Items that are not allowed in the room

You cannot take the following items into the test room:

• Cell phones or pagers
• Programmable clocks
• Various music players (mp3, mp4, iPod etc.)
• Cameras and other electronic devices that can record, send or receive information.
• Purses, backpacks and suitcases.

In addition, examiners will forbid clothing like coats and hats. They will ask you to leave them out of the test room (the examiners usually allocate a particular area for these items). Examiners can also ask you to leave any other items outside the exam room if they see it as problematic or unnecessary.

In order to avoid inconvenience, it is best to go without noisy items (accessories or jewels), or anything else that might disturb the concentration of the other examinees in the room.

The requirements:

You must meet one of the following requirements in order to be eligible for the CLA exam:

• Graduate from a program that is approved by the American Bar Association, an associate degree program or a post-baccalaureate certificate program in paralegal studies; or graduate from a bachelor’s degree program in paralegal studies or from a program that consists of a minimum of 60 semester hours, of which at least 15 semester hours are substantive legal courses.

• A bachelor’s degree in any field combined with one year of experience as a paralegal can get you in, too. If you don’t have the 1-year experience don’t worry, 15 semester hours of substantive paralegal courses can replace the required one year of work experience as a paralegal.

• Have a high school diploma or equivalent, plus at least 7 years of work experience as a paralegal (under the supervision of a member in of the American Bar Association). In addition, you will need to prove a minimum of 20 hours of continuing legal education (within a two-year period prior to the examination date).

Locations and Schedule

You can do the CLA exam in a variety of places around the country. There are three known dates every year: March/April, July and December.

The test will spread over two days and will always start on Friday. To avoid last-minute pressures, find out the date of the exam in advance and get yourself a day off (or preferably a few days off) to relax.

Friday:
09:30 AM – 11:00 AM: Communications.
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Lunch break and rest
12:30 PM – 03:00 PM: Judgment, Analytical Ability & Legal Terminology

Saturday:
09:30 AM – 10:30 AM: Ethics
11:00 Am – 12:30 PM: Legal Research
12:30 PM – 13:45 PM: Lunch break and rest
13:45 PM – 15:45 PM: Substantive Law

50 hours of CLE every five years

If you think your school days are over once you pass the exam, think again. Just like doctors, lawyers and other professionals, paralegals need to be updated and develop their professionalism from time to time.

To keep your certification valid you will be required to complete 50 hours of CLE every five years. Those hours must include at least five hours of legal ethics. Do not worry though, because these hours can be very interesting and useful to you, professionally. They can include professional conferences, seminars, teaching, participation in workshops, taking additional courses of NALA, and research or writing articles for legal journals. It will also give you an opportunity to meet other paralegals, as networking is always a good thing.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 at 8:45 am and is filed under Getting the certification. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.