Get on the fast track to becoming a paralegal. Market demand for paralegals has grown significantly in the last thirty years, and is expected to continue growing in the future. While demand is rising, so is competition for the best jobs in the field. Through UNC-Chapel Hill’s Paralegal Certificate Program, you’ll be competitively positioned to step into the fast-growing paralegal job market with a certificate from one of the nation’s top public universities.
The North Carolina State Bar has designated UNC-Chapel Hill as a qualified paralegal studies program. UNC-Chapel Hill is a member of the American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE).
Overview
Spring session: January 26–June 5, 2010
The UNC-Chapel Hill Paralegal Certificate Program is an intensive program of study that takes place over nineteen weeks, during which the student will attend evening and Saturday classes for approximately ten hours per week. Outside of the classroom, students will be required to complete at least 110 hours of study, as well as conduct research and prepare writing assignments.
Instructors
Program instructors have extensive experience as attorneys or paralegals.
Steven A. McCloskey
Academic Director and Lead Instructor
Steve McCloskey received a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech in 1974. From 1974 to 1978, he was a police officer in Greensboro, NC. He then spent several years in real estate and entered the School of Law at North Carolina Central University in 1996. He earned his JD degree, cum laude, from NC Central in 1999. Since 1999, McCloskey has had a law practice in Winston-Salem, where he concentrates in the areas of torts and contract law. McCloskey has taught paralegal studies since 2004, and has appeared as a guest lecturer for the NC Paralegal Association. He is currently writing his first book, involving the origin and development of substantive due process from 1880 to 1938.
"My passions are the law and teaching, and I am fortunate to be able to combine them in offering this Paralegal Certificate program with UNC-Chapel Hill. I went to law school relatively late, and so I appreciate how important it is for people to have the opportunity to change career paths, which can translate into changing one's life path. Helping students to learn about the law, and knowing they are using that knowledge to thrive in their new profession, is a privilege and a joy. I invite you to join us for the UNC Paralegal Program … and change your life forever." —Steve McCloskey, Academic Director
“Steve transformed an intensive course on all the practical aspects of being a paralegal into a lively blending of skills and theory. He energized the class with his wry sense of humor and a contagious enthusiasm for the law. Steve’s sincere enjoyment of both teaching and learning inspired every class.”—Bronson Stephens, NCCP
“I have enormous respect for Steve McCloskey—a bright and enthusiastic former student, a skilled legal practitioner, and an experienced teacher. He is legally knowledgeable, personally engaging, wise, and humane. He will be an outstanding paralegal instructor.”—Jack Boger, Dean, UNC School of Law
John Nieman
Criminal Law
After graduating from the North Carolina Central School of Law, John Nieman began his legal career as a sole practitioner in Chapel Hill. He then served as a prosecutor with the Guilford County District Attorney's Office, and later became a member of the litigation department at the law firm of Donaldson and Black in Greensboro, NC. In 2004 he joined the Office of the Public Defender in Guilford County. John Nieman’s primary area of practice has been criminal law. John has been teaching criminal law, family law, contracts, torts, and property law to paralegals since 1995. He was formerly on the faculty of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys, where he taught trial advocacy and evidence and co-created the evidence curriculum still being used for new prosecutors in North Carolina.
Dawn T. Snead, NCCP
Technology in the Law Office
Finding Employment & Succeeding As a Paralegal
Dawn Snead is a paralegal with Pulley, Watson, King & Lischer, PA, in Durham. Dawn earned a Bachelor of Arts in English: Writing and Editing in 1985 from North Carolina State University and earned her North Carolina Paralegal Certification in 2006.
Melissa Rutledge, NCCP
Law Office Management
Paralegal Ethics
Melissa A. Rutledge is a paralegal with Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Inc. She earned an Executive B.B.A. (magna cum laude) from Greensboro College in 2006. She received her Paralegal Certificate in 2003 and has been working with intellectual property since 2001. Prior to her paralegal profession, she was a member of the United States Navy from 1997 to 2001. Melissa is Public Relations/Senior Editor of the North Carolina Paralegal Association (NCPA) and Media/Public Relations Chair of the Research Triangle Paralegal Association (RTPA).
Course Content
The Paralegal Certificate Program consists of approximately 300 hours of overall academic engagement (including 190 in-class hours and a minimum of 110 hours for completing assignments) over a period of nineteen weeks. The content is organized into a Paralegal Skills course, four Law courses, and three Survey courses.
See an Overview of the Paralegal Certificate Program (PDF).
Paralegal Skills (80 in-class hours)
Paralegal Skills teaches the basic “nuts and bolts” of being a paralegal, regardless of the type of law firm or legal environment. The first part of Paralegal Skills is devoted to legal terminology. The course also covers professional responsibility and legal ethics, the federal and state court systems, rules of evidence, rules of civil procedure, proper citation of cases and statutes, legal research (online and in a law library), and legal writing (such as demand letters, complaints, motions, and briefs). Students take three examinations (including a final exam) and complete several writing assignments during the Paralegal Skills course.
Law Courses (four courses, 16–20 in-class hours each)
The Law courses cover four major areas of law. Each Law course is four to five weeks in length, and the courses are scheduled throughout the nineteen weeks of the program. Students must pass one examination at the end of each Law course with a minimum grade of 70 percent. While there are dozens of specialized areas of law, the Law courses provide students with a breadth of basic legal knowledge that will enable them to perform well in most law office environments.
- Contracts: Students learn the fundamentals of contracts, including mutual assent (offer and acceptance), consideration and consideration substitutes, damages, and defenses to contract formation, such as duress, incapacity, statute of frauds, statute of limitations, and mutual mistake.
- Criminal Law: Students learn the fundamentals of criminal law and procedure, including the elements of various crimes, probable cause, arrest, search and seizure, indictment, discovery, and trial practice.
- Real Estate: Students learn about the various forms of ownership of real property (types of estates), easements, eminent domain and condemnation, water rights, trespass to property, landlord-tenant law, and the basics of title searching and closings.
- Torts: Students learn about the intentional torts, including assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, trespass, conversion, and invasion of privacy. Students also learn about unintentional torts, including simple negligence, negligent hiring/supervision, premises liability, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Survey Courses (three courses, 4–8 in-class hours each)
In addition to the four Law courses, the Paralegal Certificate Program also includes Survey courses that present overviews of the law in the following areas:
- Business Organizations
- Family Law
- Wills, Trusts, and Estates.
These courses offer students an insight into the breadth and diversity of the law, as well as help to prepare students for the Paralegal Certification Examination.
Facilities
Classes are held at the Friday Center, UNC-Chapel Hill’s premier adult education facility. The Friday Center offers ample free parking and is located about three miles east of the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, just off Highway 54 East (Raleigh Road). The Center is a short distance from Interstate 40 (from Raleigh, I-40 exit 273A; from Greensboro, I-40 exit 273). See Directions to the Friday Center.
Spring 2010 Course Dates
[Click the calendar for a larger version in a new window.]
Weekday classes are from 6 pm to 10 pm. Saturday classes are from 9 am to 4 pm.
Students will not be permitted to enter the program after the semester has been underway for two or more weeks.
Entrance Requirements
Students are required to have a minimum of an associate’s degree in order to enroll in the program.
Program Cost
The program cost is $5,495. This includes tuition, books, and supplies.
Payment is due upon enrollment, or a payment plan is available. If you choose the payment plan, it is necessary to register by telephone, fax, or mail.
Enrollment
Enrollment is closed for the spring offering of the Paralegal Certificate Program.
Refund Policy
A full tuition refund, less a $100 administrative fee, will be made to individuals who cancel at least one week before the start of classes. Cancellations must be received in writing. Refunds cannot be made after the start of classes; however, special circumstances will be considered on an individual basis. Substitutions can be made at any time.
Program Policies
- Attendance: Class attendance in the Paralegal Certificate Program is required. The in-class lectures expand on the required reading and provide students with information that is geared specifically to North Carolina law. Students must attend at least 70 percent of the classes in each course to be eligible to take the examination for that course. Students who fail to meet the 70 percent attendance requirement may be asked to leave the program.
- Make-up work: Students are expected to complete all assignments in a timely manner. Requests for extensions of due dates must be made in writing in advance of the due date.
- Tardiness: Occasional instances of tardiness may be excused at the discretion of the instructor. Students who have recurring tardiness problems are required to work with the instructor to resolve the situation.
- Unsatisfactory performance: If a student’s performance is unsatisfactory, the instructor will counsel the student about the consequences. If, after counseling, the student fails to perform satisfactorily on assignments or exams, the student may be asked to leave the program.
- Appropriate conduct: Students may be dismissed from the program for conduct that is disruptive, unsatisfactory, or that would be considered unprofessional for a paralegal. At the discretion of UNC-Chapel Hill, a student who has been dismissed from the program for unsatisfactory conduct may be readmitted to a future program.
- Readmission: The Paralegal Certificate Program is intensive, and if a student is asked to leave the Program, he or she may not be readmitted for that same semester.
Grading System
The Paralegal Skills course includes three multiple-choice examinations as well as writing assignments. Examinations are graded on a numerical basis; writing assignments are graded on a pass/fail basis. The overall Paralegal Skills course is graded as pass/fail. The Law courses (Torts, Contracts, Criminal Law, and Real Estate) are graded on a numerical or letter grade basis.
Minimum satisfactory grades: Students must achieve a grade of 70 percent in each Law course, a grade of 70 percent on each of the three Paralegal Skills multiple-choice exams, and a passing grade on each writing assignment. If a student does not achieve a passing grade of 70 percent on a test, the instructor may permit the student to retake the test.
For More Information
Contact:
Jill Conrad, conradj@email.unc.edu
Professional Development and Enrichment Programs
The Friday Center
800-845-8640 or 919-962-2643