Legal Assistant Diploma Online Part-time

This twelve semester diploma program prepares you for a wide range of employment opportunities in legal support services. This is a growing field with excellent employment prospects. This diploma schedule enables participants to complete the entire program at a part-time pace in approximately 4 years, giving graduates an opportunity to enter a legal career while maintaining their current lifestyle.

Career Possibilities

Legal assistants work under the supervision of lawyers and assist lawyers. Employment exists in law firms, legal departments of large corporations, real estate companies, insurance companies, financial organizations, and government agencies. Specific examples of legal assistant duties include handling real estate transactions, preparing common forms of wills, estates, probate work, collection work, and litigation and corporate work. Legal assistants also perform general office and clerical duties.

Courses in Program

FALL 2012 - SEMESTER 1
ADMN 154: Keyboarding/Skillbuilding I
LEGL 250: Introduction to Law

WINTER 2013 - SEMESTER 2
COMP 152: Microsoft Word (Prerequisite: ADMN 154)
COMP 200: Legal Document Processing I (Prerequisite: ADMN 154)
LEGL 251: Litigation I

SPRING 2013 - SEMESTER 3
COMM 250: Legal Office Communications (Prerequisites: ADMN 154, COMP 152, COMP 200)
ADMN 157: Keyboarding/Skillbuilding II (Prerequisite: ADMN 154)
COMP 201: Legal Document Processing II (Prerequisite: COMP 200)

FALL 2013 - SEMESTER 4
LEGL 255: Corporate Law
LEGL 252: Litigation II (Prerequisite: LEGL 251)

WINTER 2014 - SEMESTER 5
ADMN 158: Keyboarding/Skillbuilding III (Prerequisite: ADMN 157)
LEGL 259: Wills & Estates (Prerequisites: ADMN 154, LEGL 250, COMP 152, COMP 200)

SPRING 2014 - SEMESTER 6
ADMN 161: Advanced Legal Word Processing (Prerequisites: ADMN 154, COMP 152)
LEGL 274: Family Law (Prerequisite: LEGL 252)

FALL 2014 - SEMESTER 7
LEGL 264: Introduction to Real Estate (Prerequisites: ADMN 154, LEGL 250, COMP 152, COMP 200)

WINTER 2015 - SEMESTER 8
ADMN 159: Keyboarding/Skillbuilding IV (Prerequisite: ADMN 158)
LEGL 269: Credit & Collections (Prerequisite: LEGL 252)
ADMN 163: Law Office Procedures (Prerequisites: ADMN 158, ADMN 161)

SPRING 2015 - SEMESTER 9
LEGL 265: Intermediate Real Estate (Prerequisite: LEGL 264)
COMP 216: Legal Information Processing I (Prerequisite: ADMN 159)

FALL 2015 - SEMESTER 10
LEGL 258: Commercial Law (Prerequisites: ADMN 158, ADMN 161, COMP 201, COMM 250, LEGL 255, LEGL 265)
ADMN 162: Legal Transcription (Prerequisites: ADMN 158, ADMN 161, COMP 201, COMM 250)

WINTER 2016 - SEMESTER 11
LEGL 275: Securities Law (Prerequisites: ADMN 158, LEGL 255)
JOBS 102: Prepare for Employment
BUS 0058: Intro to Legal Accounting

SPRING 2016 - SEMESTER 12
BUS 0020: Intro to Employment Law

Note: Fall 2012 courses will be offered again in fall 2013. Registration into the online courses of Legal Assistant can be completed through eCampusAlberta.ca. Students who are not able to access Bow Valley College for testing must choose a partner college that will provide testing services to them during the course of study.

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Admission Requirements

Academic Requirements

• Credit in English 30-1 or 30-2 or equivalent
• Credit in Grade 10 Math (10-4 and 16 levels) or equivalent

OR

• Successful completion of the General Equivalency Development test (GED) with a standard score of 520 in Language Arts; Reading and Writing; and 450 in Math

OR

• Satisfactory results on the BVC Admissions Test

English Language Proficiency Requirement
In addition to academic requirements, applicants whose first language is NOT English must also meet the Business Department English Language Proficiency Requirement.

Transferability

Graduates of this program may be accepted into:

• Athabasca University (Communication Studies) - Bachelor of Professional Arts degree 60 Block credits
• Royal Roads University - Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies
• Thompson Rivers University (Open Learning Division) - Bachelor of Commerce degree 24 Block credits

Some transfer credit is also available from:

• Alberta Association of Legal Assistant - eligibility for membership upon application to the association