To maintain it, legal assistants must take a minimum of 50 hours of continuing legal education programs or individual study programs. Credit also is given for successful completion of a state certification test, completion of a CLA specialty exam or teaching in a legal assistant program. The requirements to take the PACE include work experience and education. When the test was developed in the mid-1990s, the NFPA included a grandparenting period that allows paralegals to substitute work experience for education. The exam covers administration of client legal matters, development of client legal matters, factual and legal research, factual and legal writing and office administration.
Applicants can schedule the date and time to take the test on any day except Sundays or holidays.
To maintain the RP credential, paralegals must take 12 hours of continuing legal or specialty education every two years, with at least one hour in legal ethics. The Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Austin certifies legal assistants. Pass a four-hour written examination. The tests are given once a year in Austin. To maintain the certification, legal assistants must complete 75 hours of continuing legal education every five years.