Become a Paralegal

If you are organized, detail-oriented, and enjoy research, writing, and working with complex information, a career as a paralegal may be a great fit. Paralegals support attorneys by organizing files, preparing drafts, conducting research, tracking deadlines, and communicating with clients. This course will introduce you to the profession and the practical steps involved in pursuing employment or freelance paralegal work.

What Happens in the Paralegal Certificate Course

The Paralegal Certificate Course is an online learning program with suggested readings from the textbook (IAP Career College Guide to Become a Paralegal). This course is self-directed, which means you may study and complete assignments at times that are most convenient for you from the comfort of your own home.

This part-time Paralegal Certificate Course has a recommended completion date of 6 weeks from the start of the program, however, you may choose to complete the course in as little as 2 weeks or as long as 12 weeks, depending on your schedule.

The Paralegal Certificate Course has been created to allow you to complete it without any teaching assistance. However, if you have questions or need assistance, you can receive help from a Faculty Member throughout the 6 weeks of the course. Your Faculty Member is a valuable resource person who can provide you with personal teaching assistance to help you succeed in the course and advice to help you succeed in the career.

Register Now
Join 500,000+ Career Changers Since 1999

Course Topics

The Paralegal Certificate Course has been developed to meet high academic standards, ensuring that as a graduate you can display with pride the Paralegal Certificate you will earn from the International Association of Professions Career College (IAP Career College).

Topics covered in this course include:

Introduction to the Paralegal Profession

  • A Career as a Paralegal
  • About the Paralegal Industry
  • Benefits of Being a Paralegal

What a Paralegal Does

  • Practice Areas and Types of Paralegal Work
  • Tools and Technology
  • Organizing Legal Matters and Files
  • Legal Research and Drafting
  • Deadlines, Calendaring, and Court Procedures
  • Discovery, Document Review, and Fact Gathering
  • Working With Lawyers and Clients
  • Closing and Maintaining Files

Getting Ready to Become a Paralegal

  • Skills and Knowledge You Will Need
  • Learning by Doing
  • Learning From Other Legal Professionals
  • Educational Programs
  • Certification and Licensing
  • Continuing Education and Professional Development

Getting Hired as a Paralegal

  • Types of Employers
  • How to Find Job Openings
  • Job-Hunting Materials
  • Job Interviews
  • The Job Offer

Starting Your Freelance Paralegal Business

  • Getting Started
  • Financial Matters
  • Building Your Business Systems
  • Getting Help and Growing the Business

Each of the five chapters opens with learning objectives and closes with key takeaways, a practical Apply It exercise, a short chapter quiz with an answer key, and critical reflection questions. The course also includes a welcome orientation, a brief conclusion, and an Appendix of Key Terms you can return to whenever you need it.

Register Now
Join 500,000+ Career Changers Since 1999

What Is Included in the Paralegal Certificate Course

This all-inclusive Paralegal Certificate Course Online package includes:

  • Registration for the Paralegal Certificate Course Online
  • Lifetime access to course materials
  • Access to a Faculty Member to provide you with personal teaching assistance
  • Downloadable Paralegal Certificate personalized with your name and the seal of the International Association of Professions Career College which you may print
  • (Optional) Opportunity to order official certificates printed on fine linen paper and embossed with the gold seal of the college
  • (Optional) 2026 membership in the IAPO International Association of Professional Paralegals for only US$ 2.99 per month

 

Register for the Paralegal Certificate Course


FALL SPECIAL
Easy changes and cancellations
It’s easy to change or cancel your course registration. See our FAQ page for details.

You can have all this for an incredible price. It can cost hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars to take other programs. (We found courses based on old editions of our guides with registration fees of up to $999 and more.) We are able to offer you online courses at a significantly lower cost to you because of our expertise from over 20 years of producing the leading online guides for non-traditional careers.

Our online certificate courses have previously been offered for a registration fee of $297 U.S. and include a textbook and professional membership – a total value of almost $377.

FALL SPECIAL: This all-inclusive registration package for the Paralegal Certificate Course is priced as only US$ 189.00 for the October 12, 2026 course.

Associated Courses

Register today for the Paralegal Certificate Course. Enrollment is limited and registration is on a first come first served basis, so we recommend that you register early for the Paralegal Certificate Course online to avoid disappointment.

If the course is full, please email support@iapcollege.com to be notified when a new course date is scheduled.

To ensure your complete satisfaction all certificate courses are backed by our full 100% money back guarantee.

About a Career as a Paralegal

If you’re the organized person in every office you have worked in, the one who knows where the documents are, what still needs to be done, and when the next deadline falls, paralegal work may suit you very well.

Paralegals do substantive legal work under the supervision of an attorney. Depending on the practice area, that can include organizing files, gathering facts, conducting research, preparing drafts, tracking deadlines, communicating with clients, working through discovery, and preparing materials for hearings, negotiations, transactions, or other legal proceedings.

A big part of the job is noticing things. A date does not match. A document mentioned in an email is missing from the file. A client has asked a legal question that needs to go to the attorney. A deadline is approaching and something still has to happen first. Good paralegals keep the work organized enough that those details do not get lost.

You might do that work in:

  • a private law firm, from a small office to a large firm with specialized departments
  • a corporate legal department
  • a government office or court
  • a legal aid clinic or nonprofit organization
  • a freelance practice of your own, providing support to attorneys and law firms

The work can look very different from one setting to another. A litigation paralegal may spend a great deal of time with pleadings, discovery, records, and court deadlines. A corporate paralegal may work more with business records, transactions, filings, and due diligence. Paralegals also work in areas such as family law, estates, immigration, real estate, and criminal law.

Some paralegals eventually choose to work freelance. An attorney may need outside help during a busy period, while a solo or small firm may need regular support without hiring another full-time employee. Freelancing can give you more control over your schedule and the kind of work you take on, but it also means running a business: setting fees, invoicing, keeping records, protecting confidential information, and finding attorney clients.

People enter the profession in different ways. Some complete a paralegal certificate or degree program, while others begin in a legal office and build their skills through experience and further training. Professional associations also offer voluntary certifications.

Requirements vary depending on where you live and work. Some jurisdictions regulate the paralegal title or require particular education or licensing, while others do not. In some places, separately licensed paralegals may also provide certain legal services directly to the public. Before beginning work, you will need to find out what applies in your own jurisdiction.

This course will introduce you to the profession, the work paralegals do, the skills and training that can help you prepare, and the practical steps involved in finding employment or building a freelance paralegal business.

If you like work that rewards organization, careful reading, clear writing, and attention to detail, paralegal work can offer a lot of room to grow.

Why Get a Certificate?

How can you benefit with a certificate from the International Association of Professions Career College (IAP Career College)?

A certificate from the International Association of Professions Career College may give you:

  • Respect as a professional
  • A competitive advantage when marketing your services
  • A sense of achievement and confidence
  • A credential for your resume when applying for jobs
  • Assurance to clients of your professionalism
  • Evidence of your expertise
  • Higher earnings (according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in Certificates: A fast track to careers)

With the International Association of Professions Career College, you can earn a certificate online more quickly and affordably than many other educational options.

Student Spotlight: A Graduate's Success Story

David Belsito

“IAP helped turn my passion into a successful career.”

Taking a course through IAP College gave David the foundation and confidence to launch his own business. He’s now in his third year of operations, and the business continues to grow every year. What started as a solo operation has now expanded to a team of four employees, and they’ve built a reputation for quality service in the community.

“I’m looking forward to taking more courses in the near future with IAP.”

Why Choose IAP Career College?

The International Association of Professions Career College (also known as IAP Career College) aims to offer the finest in affordable online certificate programs for dream careers.

The textbooks for most of our courses were developed by our parent company, the leading online publisher of career guide books on how to get started in a dream career, with an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

Our guides have been used as textbooks for more than a decade, and you can find them in the career centers and library collections of many famed colleges and universities – from the University of Texas to the Fashion Institute of Technology – as well as in numerous public libraries in cities from Vancouver to New York.

It can cost hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars to take other certificate programs. When we discovered online courses based on old editions of our career guides costing over US$ 1,000.00, we knew it was time to offer our own online certificate programs.

Now, the leader in online career guides for dream careers, along with a team of respected academics, have created online certificate programs through IAP Career College, allowing you to study and earn a certificate from the comfort of your own home.

Established online in 1999, the parent company of IAP Career College (known as FabJob) is an award-winning organization named “the #1 place to get published online” by Writer’s Digest. Our company and career guides have been featured in media ranging from ABC to Oprah’s newsletter and respected news sites ranging from CNN to the Wall Street Journal online.

We continue this tradition of excellence in online career education with the International Association of Professions Career College. Each of our career certificate programs has been developed to meet high academic standards, ensuring that as a graduate you can display with pride the certificate you will earn from the International Association of Professions Career College.

We invite you to learn more about the online certificate courses we offer you by visiting our Certificate Courses page. We are also happy to answer any of your questions to help you decide whether an online certificate course from the International Association of Professions Career College is right for you.

Have questions or need help?

Contact an Academic Advisor at International Association of Professions Career College:

support@iapcollege.com

Student Service Center
(For registered students only)
1-844-204-7982

If you are not a student you can email support@iapcollege.com or use live chat for inquiries.

Live Chat (24 hours a day)
Click on “Ask Us a Question” at the bottom of this screen.

About IAP Career College

IAP Career College, also known as the International Association of Professions Career College, is a private online career college affiliated with FabJob Inc, the leading online publisher of guide books on how to get started in a dream career, serving hundreds of thousands of career changers on six continents since 1999. Learn more about us.

Get a $10 discount code!

Your Privacy Is Protected

We protect your privacy. Privacy Policy

website security
Click for the BBB Review of IAP Career College
  • What does a paralegal do?
    A paralegal does substantive legal work on a matter under an attorney's supervision. That means organizing a client's documents into a numbered index and a chronology, drafting pleadings and agreements from the attorney's outline and a prior form, keeping every deadline in the matter calendar, working through discovery, assembling the binder for a mediation, and closing the file. The attorney decides the claims, signs the filings, and gives all the legal advice.
  • What will I learn in the Paralegal Certificate Course?
    The course follows one civil matter, a landscaping contractor's claim for an unpaid balance, from the attorney's first email to the closed file. You learn to take an assignment by settling six questions, scan a client's box on site, build a document index and a chronology, draft from an outline and a form, work through discovery, calendar a scheduling order, and send a Friday status email. Chapter 5 covers the freelance business.
  • How long does the Paralegal Certificate Course take to complete?
    The Paralegal Certificate Course is designed to be self-paced, with a recommended completion time of 6 weeks. However, you have the flexibility to complete it in as little as 2 weeks or extend it up to 12 weeks, depending on your schedule. Need more time? No problem. All of IAP’s Courses include lifetime access.
  • How much can I earn as a paralegal?
    The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported median pay for paralegals and legal assistants of $62,890 per year, or $30.24 per hour, in 2025, with 404,900 jobs and little or no change in employment projected to 2035. Read that as a wage figure, not a freelancer's income after costs. A freelance paralegal sets what she charges the attorney, built from a cost list and unbilled hours, and Chapter 5 shows how.
  • Can I start my own freelance paralegal business after completing this course?
    Yes. That is the path the course is built for. Chapter 5 sets up the minimum practice: a business name and any registration that applies, a workspace with a door that closes and a cabinet that locks, secure file sharing, professional liability insurance, a conflicts list, time tracking and simple bookkeeping. You also write an engagement agreement, build a rate, estimate tasks and invoice. Your clients are attorneys, never members of the public.
  • Do I need any prior experience or education to enroll in this course?
    No. This course is designed for beginners. You do not need law firm experience, a legal background, or a college degree, and in most of the United States and Canada paralegal work is not a licensed occupation, though a few jurisdictions license a separate class of paralegal. What you do need is a willingness to read precisely, keep a calendar nobody else checks, and hold everything you see in confidence. Everything else is taught step by step.
  • Can I take the Paralegal Certificate Course from outside of North America?
    Yes. The course is 100% online and self-paced, which means you can enroll and complete it from anywhere in the world. All course materials are accessible 24/7 on your schedule.
  • Will I receive a certificate when I finish the course?
    Yes! Upon completing the course, you will receive a Paralegal Certificate from IAP Career College. This certificate will demonstrate your proficiency in paralegal work and help you stand out as you pursue your career in this field.
  • What is IAP Career College?
    The International Association of Professions Career College (IAP Career College) is a leading online career college offering online certificate courses and professional certifications for non-traditional and “dream” careers. Since 1999, we’ve helped over 500,000 students across six continents get started in dream careers, from life coaching to event planning to end-of-life care. Our courses are flexible, beginner-friendly, and designed for adult learners looking for practical, self-paced options.