The purpose of the General Legal Studies Program at Tulane School of Professional Advancement is reflected in our mission statement: The General Legal Studies Program provides our students with the skills, wisdom, and integrity to create, communicate and conserve knowledge and to pursue careers as efficient, ethical legal professionals who are prepared to assist attorneys in courts, governmental agencies, law firms, and other legal services offices, or to apply to law school after graduation, if they choose.
Both the General Legal Studies Bachelor of Arts degree plus Paralegal Certificate and the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Paralegal Studies were approved by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Paralegals in the 1980s, making ours the oldest ABA-approved program in the region Our general legal studies curriculum reflects the rigor and quality that ABA requires and legal employers demand.
Many of our graduates are now pursuing successful careers as paralegals in law firms, courts, corporations, government agencies, non-profit legal service providers, and other legal offices, while others enter law school and become attorneys.
General Legal Studies Program Learning Outcomes
On completion of the General Legal Studies Program curriculum, graduates will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Describe and analyze the differences among the jurisdictions and functions of the state and federal civil, criminal, and administrative court systems.
- Interpret and apply legal terminology.
- Describe the primary differences between the Louisiana Civil Law legal system and the common law legal system.
- Perform legal research using both traditional and electronic methods and summarize findings in legal memoranda and briefs.
- Perform factual investigations using both traditional and electronic methods.
- Cite authorities consistent with the adopted legal citation manual (The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation).
- Draft memoranda of law and legal correspondence.
- Locate, identify, and apply state and federal court filing and e-filing requirements.
- Draft the documents required to initiate, file, and respond to a civil action.
- Draft discovery requests and responses and pre-trial motions.
- Use industry-standard law office technology to organize and manage documents, files, billing data, and dockets for trial and for other law practice management purposes.
- Identify and apply the rules and principles of legal ethics applicable to the paralegal profession.
Bachelor’s Degree Programs and Paralegal Certificate
The General Legal Studies Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree and accompanying Paralegal Certificate, awarded simultaneously, require 120 credits for completion, including 36 credits in the GLSP major. Carefully sequenced coursework begins with core skills classes that emphasize legal research, writing, and analysis, along with law office technology and other practical aspects of the legal profession. In ensuing semesters, upper-level electives allow you to explore important areas of substantive law. Finally, the practicum course, with its 100-hour law office internship and classroom component, lets you apply your new skills in a professional setting, while developing professionalism and career success skills in the classroom.
Our GLSP courses are offered in asynchronous (fully online), synchronous remote (weekly meetings via Zoom), and in-person formats. Subject to the ABA requirement that each student complete at least 3 classes (9 credits) synchronously, you may take your GLSP classes from wherever you may be, in the format that suits your needs and preferences.
Credit Transfers toward BA in General Legal Studies
Tulane’s General Legal Studies Program does not accept the transfer of credits for paralegal courses completed at paralegal or legal studies programs that were not approved by ABA’s Standing Committee on Paralegals at the time the courses were taken.
Consistent with Tulane SoPA’s undergraduate credit transfer policy, students pursing the General Legal Studies BA and Paralegal Certificate may be permitted to transfer in up to 18 (50%) of the 36 legal studies/paralegal course credits required for the GLSP major, provided each course (1) meets all SoPA undergraduate course transfer requirements; (2) was completed at a paralegal or legal studies program that was approved by ABA’s Standing Committee on Paralegals at the time the class was completed; and (3) has been reviewed and approved by the General Legal Studies Program Director.
