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Paralegal Specialty Certificate

In today鈥檚 ultra-competitive labor market, you need skills that will help you stand out amongst the crowd. With USF鈥檚 convenient, self-paced legal courses, you can advance your legal career in only a matter of months!

USF鈥檚 Paralegal Specialty Certificates provide you with the opportunity to concentrate on the high-demand segments of the law that you鈥檙e most passionate about.

• Complete the online programs at your own pace, with no trips to campus required.
• Learn from a distinguished faculty of legal professionals. Each participant is assigned their own judge mentor and facilitator.
• Earn a sought-after credential backed by a major research university.
• Showcase your skills and stand apart from colleagues and competitors with a USF digital badge for your social media profiles, including LinkedIn.
• Convenient registration happens on an open-enrollment basis 鈥� no application required.

Curriculum & Course Details

Each Paralegal Specialty Certificate Program includes two required courses (listed below) and one elective course. Participants can choose between Legal Ethics or eDiscovery to satisfy the elective requirement.

Bankruptcy Law

• Bankruptcy law
• Family Law
  This course examines the paralegal role at every stage of a bankruptcy proceeding and is a practical introduction to the code and rules. The class covers everything you need to become a competent bankruptcy paralegal in all areas of bankruptcy. The primary features of the course include the following: consumer representation, creditor representation, assisting with the handling of a Chapter 11 case, a helpful overview of the bankruptcy code and rules, Step-by-step guidance through the paralegal鈥檚 role at every stage of the bankruptcy proceeding.

 Elder Law

• Elder Law Wills
• Trusts and Estates
   This course is designed to introduce the realities of a modern elder law practice in serving the needs of America鈥檚 growing elderly population. The text book is well-organized, and easy-to-read, and the material appeals to a wide audience with or without a legal background. Practical tips addressing cultural and generational differences between young adults and the elderly are included with up-to-date resources, including crossword puzzles, helpful definitions, review questions and practice exercises. Essential elder law topics covered include advance directives, guardianship and conservatorship issues, Medicaid and Medicare planning, long-term care planning, financial planning, end-of-life, discrimination and other family matters.

 Employment Law

• Employment Law
• Administrative Law
  The Employment Law course covers the history of employment law, labor and unions, ADA, sexual harassment, discrimination, age discrimination, and employees' rights. The text鈥檚 three-part structure breaks down the material in an easy to understand and manageable way: 鈥淚ntroduction to Labor and Employment Law鈥� examines the historical development of labor and employment law in America alongside the nature of the employment relationship. 鈥淟abor-Management Relations in the Union Setting鈥� shows how American labor law regulates labor-management relations and includes methods of selecting collective bargaining representatives, unfair labor practices by employers and unions, economic weapons in labor disputes and the formation and administration of labor contracts. 鈥淓mployment Discrimination鈥� deals with the various forms of discrimination and the methods and procedures of pursuing employment discrimination claims. Each chapter also features marginal definitions, fact scenarios illustrating the concepts, and questions about specific facts for the students to consider. A variety of forms are provided to the student to help understand processes and provide a ready reference.

Healthcare Law

• Healthcare Law
• Tort Law
  This course, Health Care Law, provides essential information necessary for students pursuing careers in the growing health care sector, as paralegals, managers, or compliance/ethics professionals. The associated text offers students easy-to-read chapters that provide outlines, learning objectives, summaries, and exercises to assist students with comprehension. The program focuses on key information such as the types of health care entities, and the laws and ethics that govern them, and discuss the major areas of health care law, including regulatory research and administrative law review. Also highlighted are important contemporary topics like electronic health records, corporate compliance, HIPAA privacy and security, physician professional relationships, and prepares students for their careers with real-world examples.

 Immigration Law

• Immigration Law
• Constitutional Law
  At a time when the status of Immigration Law is constantly fluctuating, this course offers a thorough, practical and accessible approach in the understanding and application of U.S. laws and regulations to help protect refugees, bring needed workers to the U.S, prevent separation of and reunite families, and provide relief to foreign nationals facing removal proceedings. The text provides students with in-depth information and highlights recent changes and ongoing litigation where applicable. Materials additionally include the use of Executive Orders and procedural changes affecting the implementation and application of the law, updated discussions of significant legal changes arising from case law, examples and cases from real life, learning objectives, key terms, and documents and illustrations from actual practice.

 Intellectual Property Law

• Intellectual Property Law
• Contract Law
  The Intellectual Property course provides a thorough guide to the four fields of intellectual property law; trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets, covering topics such as the duration of rights, protection from infringement, and new and international developments in each field. This program is on the forefront of Intellectual Property law, covering new and cutting-edge issues in the field, such as proposals for patent reform, the rise of patent trolls, copyright pre-registration, and Section 337 ITC investigations. In the required text book, the comprehensive overview of each field is complemented by sample agreements, checklists, and other practical guides throughout the book. Each chapter contains realistic case studies and trivia to engage students and provide real world insight into the field of intellectual property law. Intellectual Property also includes invaluable resources that students will refer to throughout their careers, such as useful intellectual property Web sites, internet research questions and an "Ethics Edge" section that relates to ethical issues raised in the chapter.

 Law Office Administration

• Law Office Administration
• Family Law 

Litigation

• Evidence
• Constitutional Law
  This course offers a general, yet substantive, view of evidence law. It combines content with relevant cases, allowing students to learn and analyze the legal reasoning and court decision-making process behind the laws. The required text book, written in a reader-friendly format, features elements that enhance instruction and helps readers develop essential skills while focusing on the practical applications of the Federal Rules of Evidence and how the rules relate to paralegal practice. The material includes short case summaries, readable examples, marginal definitions of terms, marginal cross-references to the Rules of Evidence, review questions, and hypotheticals.

 Personal Injury Law

• Tort Law
• Evidence
  This course provides an accessible overview of tort law for paralegals who work on personal injury matters. Real life scenarios and clear examples demonstrate how abstract tort law pertains to real life accidents and injuries. In addition, expanded coverage and hot button issues give readers an opportunity to apply key concepts to the types of cases they will encounter on the job. Built-in learning aids include Student Contributor sections, Ethics, discussions, chapter summaries, key terms, review questions, web links and exercises. 

 Real Estate Law

• Real Estate Law
• Contract Law
   Offering consistent coverage of both substantive and procedural law, this course delves into the legal theories and terminology, explaining why real estate law is a world onto itself, while also introducing students to increasingly more complex real estate concepts and transactions. Upon completion, students will be able to: explain the basic concepts that underly real estate law, describe the various methods for transferring ownership in real estate, define the elements of a real estate contract for sale of property, explain the bundle of rights that accompany ownership in real estate and describe the components of various types of deeds. The text also includes real world perspectives in each chapter, providing practical and timely discussions of new developments in real estate law, case excerpts reflecting new developments in the law, and graphs, exhibits, and other visual aids demonstrating current trends.

Requirements

Successful participants in these programs have already completed their Paralegal Certificate, have a degree in Paralegal Studies, or have substantive experience (at least 4 years) as a Paralegal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who should enroll? 

We recommend that participants in USF鈥檚 Paralegal Specialty Certificates have experience with any of the following:

• Have a degree in Paralegal Studies
• Completed their Paralegal Certificate
• Have substantive experience (at least four years) as a Paralegal