ABA Requirements

Classroom Classes

CVTC offers paralegal classes in a variety of options:  traditional classroom courses, evening and weekend courses, and distance education format which is in the form of internet/online courses.  All paralegal courses, 110-xxx, are available online at some point in time. However, you may not take all of your courses online.  The American Bar Association (ABA) requires that at least four of your legal speciality courses (12 credits in 110-xxx courses) be in a traditional classroom setting.

CVTC has identified the following courses as legal specialty courses:

Examinations for Online Classes

When online legal specialty courses have examinations, the ABA requires the examinations to be proctored. At the beginning of each semester, students will be notified if proctored examinations will be given in their online class.  If so, students have the following options:

• Take the examination in the Paralegal Program department offices by arrangement with the instructor at the Eau Claire campus.
• Obtain a suitable proctor at a  nearby technical college or other educational institution and provide the name, address, and telephone number of the institution and for the instructor at the other educational institution so the student's instructor can make appropriate proctoring arrangements.
• Obtain a suitable proctor at the student's place of work and provide the name, address, and telephone number for the place of employment and the individual at the place of employment who will be the proctor so the student's instructor can make appropriate proctoring arrangements.

The student must complete all examinations in one session.  The student may not start the examination, leave, and return later to complete the examination.

Library Facilities for Online Courses

The ABA requires online students to have access to a library contain the following materials available in hard copy:

• The code for the state in which the educational institution is located
• The state reporter for the state in which the educational institution is locaed or the regional reporter which includes the state in which the institution is located (for the preceding 25 years)
• Current digests for the state in which the educational institution is located or the regional digests which includes the state in which the institution is located (for the preceding 25 years)
• Texts, practice manuals, and form books in all areas of instruction
• Local and state bar journals and appropriate legal periodicals
• Texts on the role of the paralegal and materials on the legal profession
• Law dictionaries

The library must also contain the following materials, either in hard copy or through computer technology:

• Shepard's Citations for the state in which the educational institution is located or regional Shepard's Citations for the state in which the educational institution is located
• Current legal encyclopedia:  Corpur Juris Secundum or  American Jurisprudence

If online students are not able to use CVTC's library, which has all of the above materials, the student are required to locate a library meeting the above requirements.  Good chioces include county law libraries, universities, law schools, and other technical colleges with a paralegal program.  Students should inquire at the library they plan to use (if not the CVTC library) and obtain the librarian's signature on a checklist provided by CVTC's Paralegal Program.