Paralegal program earns American Bar Association approval

Hanceville, AL — Wallace State Community College announces its Paralegal program has been granted approval by the American Bar Association. The House of Delegates of the American Bar Association (ABA), acting on the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Paralegals, granted approval to the Paralegal Program at Wallace State this spring. The approval is endorsed through February 2030.

“This announcement has been a long time coming,” said Rita Nicholas, Paralegal instructor at Wallace State. “We’ve been working through the steps to earn approval by the American Bar Association for quite a while and are pleased that approval has been granted.”

The rigorous approval process is similar to accreditation procedures for schools and colleges. The program conducted a self-study and created a self-evaluation report, provided supporting documents and met with members of the House of Delegates for review.

“This means that we meet certain standards that are established by the American Bar Association,” Nicholas said. “It shows we’ve reached and maintained excellence in our program.”

Nicholas said students graduating as early as this May will be able to put on their resumes that they are graduates from an ABA-approved paralegal program, which indicates both the students and the program have met ABA standards.

The approval of the Paralegal program means all programs at Wallace State are now accredited or approved by discipline-specific organizations in addition to the college’s longtime overarching SACSCOC accreditation.

“This prestigious ABA designation has been a goal for our college and part of our long-term vision for program excellence. I commend Program Director Rita Nicholas for the work she put into achieving it,” said Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics. “Our students will be better positioned to seek and advance their careers and our program more attractive and competitive to prospective students for it.”

Priority registration for summer and fall semesters is underway at Wallace State. Summer 2023 classes begin May 24. Fall 2023 classes begin Aug. 18. For more information, visit www.wallacestate.edu, call 256.352.8000 or come by Lion Central in the lobby of the James C. Bailey Center Monday-Wednesday 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or Friday 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.