Legal and Paralegal

Paralegal Specialty Certificate

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

USF’s Paralegal Specialty Certificates provide you with the opportunity to concentrate on the high-demand segments of the law that you’re 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 — 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

Examine the paralegal role at every stage of a bankruptcy proceeding, and learn a practical introduction to the code and rules. The course covers everything you need to become a competent bankruptcy paralegal in all areas of bankruptcy. The primary features of the program 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’s role at every stage of the bankruptcy proceeding.

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Elder Law

This Paralegal Specialist course explores the legal realities of America’s growing elderly population. Essential Elder Law topics, such as advance directives, guardianship and conservatorship issues, Medicaid and Medicare planning, long-term care planning, financial planning, end-of-life, discrimination and other family matters are studied. The Wills course covers the planning and administration of wills, trusts, and estates and trains students in the nuts and bolts of will drafting and administration. Further, students learn either Legal Ethics or eDiscovery to enhance their knowledge of Elder Law.

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Employment Law

Explore the history of employment law, labor and unions, ADA, sexual harassment, discrimination, age discrimination, and employees' rights. Introduction to Labor and Employment Law examines the historical development of labor and employment law in America alongside the nature of the employment relationship. Labor-Management Relations in the Union Setting introduces 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. “Employment Discrimination” deals with the various forms of discrimination and the methods and procedures of pursuing employment discrimination claims. 

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Healthcare Law

This course provides essential information necessary for students pursuing careers in the growing health care sector, as paralegals, managers, or compliance/ethics professionals. The program focuses on key information such as the types of health care entities, and the laws and ethics that govern them, and discusses the major areas of health care law, including regulatory research and administrative law review. Also highlighted are important contemporary topics such as electronic health records, corporate compliance, HIPAA privacy and security, physician professional relationships, and prepares students for their careers with real-world examples.

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Immigration 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 course 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.

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Intellectual Property 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. The comprehensive overview of each field is complemented by sample agreements, checklists, and other practical guides throughout the book. You will investigate 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.

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Law Office Administration

This course was created to present knowledge of the legal industry, an understanding of how a law office functions, and to provide essential skills. It is a comprehensive introduction to law office management, emphasizing ethics, law office culture, law office systems, and “soft skills,” such as communications and critical thinking. The content is drawn from real-world law office management situations and supported by innovative visual aids and learning tools. Students get hands-on practice with timekeeping, conflicts-checking, file management, trust accounting, business planning, correspondence, and much more. Students are exposed to law office software and learn to perform vital functions using other software and even freeware. Career profiles emphasize the importance of involvement in professional organizations and advancement in the legal field without obtaining a law degree.

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Litigation Law

You will be introduced to a substantive view of Evidence Law. This course combines content with relevant cases, allowing students to learn and analyze the legal reasoning and court decision-making process behind the laws. Students study the major legal principles found in the Constitution and in the Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Constitution, as well as how Evidence and Constitutional law affect the practice of law. Further, students learn either Legal Ethics or eDiscovery to enhance their knowledge of Litigation. The curriculum 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.

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Personal Injury Law

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. 

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Real Estate 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’s 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