For 50 years, the ABA has approved and supported paralegal education programs
When Hryhorii Solomon resettled in the United States, he had to learn not only a new language and the customs of a new country but also a new legal system.
Solomon, who goes by Gregory, began his legal career as a court session secretary in Ukraine in 2010. He became an assistant judge and later went into private practice, where he was the managing partner of his own firm.
He and his family were heading to the United States for vacation when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. They decided to stay in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where Solomon took English language courses and enrolled in nearby Horry-Georgetown Technical College’s Paralegal Program.
“I want to build my career here, and I totally understand I need to start from the beginning,” says Solomon, who graduated with his associate in applied science degree in paralegal studies in 2024. “So the beginning for me, the first step, was a paralegal program.”
Horry-Georgetown Technical College’s Paralegal Program is one of 223 paralegal programs that are approved by the ABA. For the past 50 years, the association, through its Standing Committee on Paralegals, has both set standards for paralegal education and ensured that higher education institutions meet them.
Hryhorii “Gregory” Solomon“While there are many committees under the ABA umbrella that serve lawyers and the needs of the lawyers, we are the committee that supports paralegals,” says Robyn Ice, the chair of the standing committee and director of the general legal studies program in Tulane University’s School of Professional Advancement.
“Paralegals are an integral part of any legal team, whether it’s litigation, transactional, administrative law,” she adds. “They are on the frontlines and doing a great amount of the work. So, given their important position in the judicial system, I think the work we do is really important.”
In August 1975, the ABA House of Delegates officially established the Standing Committee on Paralegals and approved the first eight legal assistant education programs. Members of the group already had worked for several years to encourage and increase the training and use of nonlawyer assistants. They also created the Guidelines for the Approval of Legal Assistant Education Programs, which outlines the standards that programs must comply with to be approved by the ABA. Among them, programs must be at least 60 semester hours and include general education and legal specialty courses.
As part of the review process, an Approval Commission—which the House established in 1982—conducts site visits and writes comprehensive reports on paralegal programs that seek approval or reapproval. The commission makes a recommendation to the standing committee, which then makes its final recommendation to the House at each midyear and annual meeting.
The ABA-approved paralegal programs, which must seek reapproval every seven years, are housed in community colleges, public and private universities and other higher education institutions in 43 states. These programs offer several credentials, including associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Many also offer online classes.
Robyn Ice“We assist paralegal education programs in providing a topnotch education for paralegal students so they can go out into the world after graduation and provide legal services that help not only the law firms where they work but also the clients that rely on lawyers and their teams,” says Ice, who previously chaired the Approval Commission.
Aymara Zielina is the program director of the University of California Los Angeles Extension Paralegal Training Program, which has been approved by the ABA for 50 years. She decided to join the Approval Commission after participating in its review of her program.
“I realized what a valuable experience that was, not only in terms of being able to make sure that we meet the standards but being able to obtain information about best practices and share information about how students learn best,” Zielina says.
In Zielina’s experience, paralegals now take on more varied responsibilities, which includes work that traditionally may have been handled by attorneys. She says they also have more career pathways and opportunities for advancement. They could become senior paralegals or paralegal managers, secure jobs in legal technology or even move on to work as lawyers or judges.
“What I like about the ABA guidelines is that they provide flexibility,” Zielina says. “They recognize there are different programs all over the nation, and that we have different audiences and people with different goals.”
“It’s really exciting that this can be a very fulfilling career for someone in many different ways, and for some, it’s something that keeps on evolving,” she adds.
Peonca GrierPeonca Grier, who graduated with an associate in science degree in paralegal studies from Valencia College in Orlando in 2009, has continually sought new opportunities throughout her career.
She works as a paralegal in the workers’ compensation group at Dean, Ringers, Morgan & Lawton, where she has been for more than two decades. She is the vice president of NALA, the Paralegal Association. She also serves as an adjunct professor in the paralegal studies program at Valencia College, which is an ABA-approved program.
“I want to produce the type of paralegal that I want to work with,” says Grier, who also earned a bachelor’s degree in legal studies from the University of Central Florida in 2015. “The best way to do that is to provide input on the curriculum, what’s in the market, what people are looking for and the kind of people who will be successful.”
In recent years, the Standing Committee on Paralegals has sought more ways to support paralegals. A significant focus is on ensuring the same medical and mental health benefits that are available to attorneys are available to paralegals, Ice says. Another is preparing paralegals for opportunities to practice in certain areas of the law in certain states, like Arizona and Utah.
“We are trying to learn as much as possible about licensing paralegals so they can do specific work, represent clients and ensure everyone has access to justice,” Ice says. “We are very much in favor of this process, but we also know it requires that the paralegals seeking licensing have great educations and are well prepared to do the work that they are now being permitted to do.”
Solomon’s goal always has been to practice as an attorney in the United States. He is working remotely as a paralegal at Murray Law Group in Myrtle Beach, while also pursuing his LLM degree at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
His advice for international lawyers in situations like his? Don’t give up.
“I remember how it was hard for me two years ago, just starting, when I had thousands of questions and thoughts that this wasn’t for me,” Solomon says. “But as of right now, I believe I passed the first step. I have this second step, and then I will take the bar exam.”
In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Standing Committee on Paralegals is highlighting Solomon, Grier and many other graduates of ABA-approved paralegal education programs.
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