I have summarized the general contents of each certification exam that is offered to Texas legal assistants. You can find additional information from the NALA, TBLS, and NFPA web sites.

The Certified Legal Assistant Exam

The CLA exam is a two day comprehensive exam that consists of seven subject areas or "mini-exams". To pass the CLA exam, you must score at least 70% on each subject area. The NALA Certifying Board has determined that knowledge and understanding of each of these subject areas is fundamental to the professional success of all legal assistants. The seven subject areas are as follows:

• Communications
• Ethics
• Human Relations and Interviewing Techniques
• Judgment and Analytical Ability
• Legal Research
• Legal Terminology
• Substantive Law consisting of five examinations covering the American Legal System and four of the following subject areas chosen by the examinee:
  • Administrative Law
  • Bankruptcy
  • Business Organizations/Corporations
  • Contracts
  • Criminal Law and Procedure
  • Litigation
  • Probate and Estate Planning
  • Real Estate

The substantive law section is graded as a whole. There are 500 points possible in this section, and the examinee is required to score at least 350 points to pass this section regardless of how the points are distributed.

1. Communications. The communications section tests word usage and vocabulary, grammar/punctuation, writing skills, nonverbal communications, and rules of style of written documents.

2. Legal Terminology. This section tests legal terms and phrases as well as common Latin phrases. It covers general terms in most substantive areas of law such as: civil and criminal procedure; trial and evidence; property; contacts; estates; corporations; and general legal terms.

3. Judgment and Analytical Ability. The J&A section tests the examinee on his or her ability to analyze a problem and relate it to case law. The examinee is given a fact situation and supporting statute or case law, and is asked to analyze the problem and prepare a summary of their findings.

4. Legal Research. This section tests the examinee of his or her knowledge of the sources of the law, research skills, and analysis skills of research problems. This section tests the knowledge of the use of federal and state codes, statutes, digests, case reporters, legal encyclopedias, and research procedures.

5. Ethics. NALA requires that legal assistants maintain a high level of ethics and refrain from the unauthorized practice of law. This section covers the duties and responsibilities of legal assistants; communications with clients and the public; professional integrity; intra-office communications; and attorney codes/discipline.

6. Human Relations and Interviewing. The main subject areas of this section are: analysis of information; analysis of a given problem; effective communication; non-verbal communications; and general interviewing skills.

7. Substantive Law. All examinees are required to take the General Law or American Legal System exam. This exam covers the foundations of the law such as the United States Constitution, the structure of the Federal court system and the branches of government. It also covers the sources of legal concepts and principles and the classifications of law. In addition to this section, examinees choose four of the following eight subsections:

• Administrative Law. This subsection covers the organization, purpose and creation of federal administrative agencies; agency powers including rule making, investigative powers, and the Freedom of Information Act; and the exercise of agency powers.
• Bankruptcy. This subsection tests the examinee's understanding of the Bankruptcy Code; Chapter 7, 11 and 13 provisions, including the trustees' duties and powers; debtor and creditor rights and duties; and exemptions and claims.
• Business Organizations/Corporations. This subsection tests the examinee over the statutes and legal requirements of corporations; the structure of corporations; types of stock, dividends and shareholders; and the management and structure of corporations.
• Contracts. The contracts subsection covers the elements of a valid contract, classification of contracts, the UCC, interpretation of contracts, and parole evidence.
• Criminal Law and Procedure. This subsection includes the elements of a crime; constitutional rights including search and seizure and due process; defenses; and procedure.
• Litigation. This subsection covers civil litigation including pleadings and damages; discovery and evidence; civil trial procedure; appellate procedure; and jurisdiction and venue.
• Probate and Estate Planning. This subsection includes the type and validity of wills; the procedure of probate proceedings; taxes including federal estate taxes; and trusts.
• Real Estate. This subsection tests the examinee over his or her general knowledge of the history of real estate law, including concepts and general principles; types of ownership; evidence of titles; instruments of conveyance; real estate transactions; and landlord-tenant relationships.

CLA Specialty Exams

Once you have obtained the CLA designation, you are eligible to sit for one of NALA's specialty certification exams. To pass one of these exams, you must possess a high level of knowledge and experience in the particular area of law. These in-depth exams are offered in the following subjects:

• Bankruptcy
• Intellectual Property
• Civil Litigation
• Probate and Estate Planning
• Corporate and Business Law
• Criminal Law and Procedure
• Real Estate

TBLS offers six specialty certification exams in the following areas: civil trial law; criminal law; estate and probate; family law; personal injury law; and real estate. There is no predetermined passing score. The passing scores are established by using a bell curve that compares each examinee's score against the others within the same specialty area. Generally, the overall passing rate is approximately 70%, although it can vary among specialty exams.

1. Civil Trial Law. TBLS has designed this exam to test the examinee's knowledge, skills and proficiency in the civil trial area which also includes the pre-trial, trial and appellate stages. Part I of the exam consists of seven essay questions from which the examinee is required to respond to three. The topics of the essays include: litigation between businesses; litigation between businesses and consumers; creditors' and debtors' litigation; contract and tort litigation; litigation involving property; employer and employee relations; and personal injury/products liability. Part II of the exam consists of objective, multiple choice and true/false questions regarding civil procedure, discovery, evidence and ethics.

2. Criminal Law. To pass this exam, one must possess a knowledge of substantive areas of criminal law in both federal and state courts and the application of legal concepts and theories. Approximately 80% of the exam deals with state criminal law and approximately 20% deals with federal criminal law. The exam includes topics such as the attorney/client relationship; pre-trial release and related matters; motion practice; plea bargaining and guilty pleas; trial and post-trial matters.

3. Estate Planning and Probate. Part I of this exam deals with estate and probate taxation matters which may include state law factors. Part II emphasizes state law matters. Subject matters on the exam include: community and separate property; formalities of wills; intestate succession; gifts; life insurance; trusts; original and ancillary probate and administrative procedures; disclaimers; estate, gift, generation skipping transfer taxes; non-probate assets; and elder law issues.

4. Family Law. Part I of this exam consists of essay and short answer questions; Part II consists of objective multiple choice and true/false questions. Subject matters on the exam include: marriage; divorce; modification; interventions; conservatorship and possession; child support; enforcement/clarification/contempt; habeas corpus/attachment; parentage, termination, adoption; and alternative dispute resolution.

5. Personal Injury Law. This exam tests a person's knowledge and skills related to injury related negligence, automobile accidents, products liability and insurance contract claims. Part I of the exam consists of essay questions; part II consists of objective questions in the areas of procedure, discovery, evidence and ethics. Subject areas of the exam include: negligence; products liability; legal medicine; medical malpractice; governmental tort claims; and insurance contract claims.

6. Real Estate Law. This exam tests the examinee's knowledge of the acquisition, ownership, use, financing, development and leasing of land and improvements. The exam consists of multiple choice, true/false and short answer questions, along with a comprehensive review and analysis of an actual survey and title policy commitment. The following subject areas may be tested: purchase and sale of realty; conveyances; financing; closing; title insurance; interests and estates in real property; landlord/tenant; zoning and platting; various types of entities.

Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam

The PACE exam was designed by a group of paralegals, educators, attorneys and administrators to test the knowledge of advanced practicing paralegals. For Tier I of the exam, five distinct tasks were identified and rated for their importance. The PACE Development Committee outlined the test to include the following test specifications:

• Administration of Client Legal Matters (23%). These tasks include conflicts checks; development and organization of client files; development and maintenance of a calendar or tickler system; development and maintenance of a client database; and coordination of events, activities and services related to client matters.
• Development of Client Legal Matters (30%). These tasks include interviewing prospective clients; analysis of facts and information provided by clients; service as a liaison among clients and counsel; collaboration with clients, counsel, and outside consultants; preparation of legal and factual documents, exhibits and evidence; preparation, filing and service of documents; preparation of clients, witnesses, experts and others for legal proceedings and events; assistance to clients, counsel and other individuals; and the facilitation of client legal matters.
• Factual and Legal Research (22%). These tasks include obtaining factual, procedural, legal and other types of information; investigation and compilation of facts and information from internal and external sources; inspection and evaluation of relevant evidence; analysis of relevant legal authorities to determine their applicability to client matters; and acquisition of current information.
• Factual and Legal Writing (20.5%). These tasks include communication with clients, counsel and other individuals or entities; preparation and/or drafting of documents; and preparation and/or drafting of analytical documents.
• Office Administration (4.5%). These tasks include the management of personnel; acquisition of technology and materials; coordination and utilization of vendor services; creation and maintenance of a library of legal and factual resources; development and management of billing systems; and management of work flow.

Tier II of the PACE exam addresses specialty sections. Tier II has not been developed as of this date and is not available.

As you can see, each certification exam is very different. From experience, I can tell you that there is some overlap between the CLA and the TBLS exams; however, the depth in which each exam covers certain subject areas is quite different. For instance, the TBLS civil trial law exam is a much more comprehensive and difficult exam than the litigation subsection of the CLA exam. However, the CLA exam covers many more substantive areas of law and other areas that NALA has determined is important to be a proficient legal assistant. It can be said that the CLA exam overall is more difficult simply because of the number of different subject areas that are tested and the way it is graded. The PACE exam covers many areas that are not addressed on the CLA nor TBLS exams (i.e., administrative duties, litigation management and law office management). Practically speaking, many legal assistants find themselves performing these types of duties on a daily basis which are very important to their jobs. Many legal assistants who find certification important chose to take more than one of these exams.

Part III of this article will address dates each exam is given, testing locations, application fees and tips for test-takers.

Certification Examinations - An Overview - Part III

Dawn Crider, CLA, is a legal assistant with the Austin office of Vinson & Elkins, L.L.P., specializing in Intellectual Property Litigation. She obtained the CLA designation from NALA in 1992, and certification in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in 1995. She is currently the President of the Capital Area Paralegal Association and is a past director of the Legal Assistants Division of the State Bar of Texas.