Administrative Support Technology: Legal Assistant Specialization, AAS

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Degree: Associate of Applied Science in Business and Office with a major in Administrative Support Technology and a Specialization in Legal Assistant.

Length: Four-semester (two-year) program

Purpose: The Legal Assistant Specialization is designed to teach the technical skills and critical thinking skills required of the legal assistant. Legal assistants perform independent legal work under the supervision of an attorney. Some of the legal assistant’s most important tasks include helping lawyers prepare for closings, hearings, trials, and corporate meetings. Legal assistants may help prepare legal arguments, draft pleadings and motions to be filed with the court, obtain affidavits, and draft contracts, mortgages, and separation agreements.

Occupational Objectives:
Paralegal/Legal Assistant
Corporate Paralegal
Paralegal Supervisor

Admission Requirements: In addition to the admission requirements established for the college, entry into the Administrative Support Technology: Legal Assistant Specialization program requires competency in English and Math Essentials MTE 1-3 as demonstrated through the placement and diagnostic tests, or by satisfactorily completing the required MTE units or equivalent.

The following list is a suggested sequence in which students may plan their class schedules to ensure graduation in two years.

First semester

AST 101 Keyboarding I 3 credits ¹
AST 136 Office Record Keeping 3 credits
ENG 111 College Composition I 3 credits
LGL 110 Introduction to the Law and the Legal Assistant 3 credits
SDV 100 College Success Skills 1 credits
Elective Social/Behavioral Science 3 credits ²

Suggested Credits for Semester: 16

Second Semester

AST 102 Keyboarding II 3 credits
AST 236 Specialized Software Applications 3 credits (Excel)
CST 110 Introduction to Communication 3 credits
LGL 126 Legal Writing 3 credits
HLT/PED Health/Physical Education 2 credits
Elective Legal Elective 3 credits ³

Suggested Credits for Semester: 17

Third Semester

AST 107 Editing/Proofreading Skills 3 credits
AST 141 Word Processing I 3 credits (Word)
AST 234 Records and Database Management 3 credits (Access)
AST 243 Office Administration I 3 credits
Elective Legal Elective 3 credits ³
Elective Natural Science, AST, or IT Elec 3 credits ⁵

Suggested Credits for Semester: 18

Fourth Semester

AST 247 Legal Machine Transcription 3 credits
AST 253 Advanced Desktop Publishing I 3 credits
AST 298 Seminar and Project in Administrative Support Technology 3 credits *
MTH 141 Business Mathematics I 3 credits
Elective Humanities/Fine Arts Elective 3 credits ⁴

Suggested Credits for Semester: 15

Total Minimum Credits Required for this Curriculum: 66

¹Students who possess keyboarding skills may petition for advanced placement with Credit by Examination.

²Courses may be chosen from the Social Science General Electives .

³The legal assisting student may select from the following electives to fulfill the Legal Assistant degree program: LGL 115 Real Estate Law for Legal Assistants ; LGL 116 Domestic Relations and Consumer Law ; LGL 117 Family Law ; LGL 218 Criminal Law or ADJ 211 ; LGL 225 Estate Planning and Probate .**

⁴Courses may be chosen from the Transfer Humanities Electives .

⁵Students may choose from NAS, AST, or ITE/ITD/ITN electives.

*This is a capstone course and should be taken the last semester.

**LGL courses are not offered during the summer semester.