Shenandoah Valley Paralegal Association
Est. 1990
Types of Membership
We are looking for new members!
Please contact us for more information.
There are three types of membership available: Regular, Affiliate, and Student.
Regular
Regular Membership: A person who wishes to be a regular member shall meet one of the following qualifications:
(i) Graduation from an ABA approved program of paralegal studies and currently under the ultimate direction and supervision of an attorney; or
(ii) Graduation from a course of study for paralegals which is institutionally accredited but not ABA approved, and which requires not less than the equivalent of 60 semester hours of classroom study and currently under the ultimate direction and supervision of an attorney; or
(iii) Graduation from a course of paralegal studies from a college, university, junior college or other approved school whose curriculum shall be subject to the approval of the Association other than those set forth in (i) and (ii) above, plus not less than six months of in-house training as a paralegal and currently under the ultimate direction and supervision of an attorney; or
(iv) A baccalaureate degree in any field, plus not less than one year of in-house training as a paralegal and currently under the ultimate direction and supervision of an attorney; or
(v) A minimum of three years of law-related experience under the supervision of an attorney, including at least six months of in-house training as a paralegal and currently under the ultimate direction and supervision of an attorney.
Affiliate
An affiliate member is not a voting member and cannot be considered a candidate to the offices of president, president-elect, secretary, or treasurer. A person who wishes to be an affiliate member shall meet the follow qualifications:
(i) Be actively engaged in the field of legal work--either working for a law firm, individual attorney, corporation, law library, institute, or government entity; or
(ii) Be actively self-employed in the field of paralegal work on a private practice basis, under the ultimate direction and supervision of an attorney.
Student
A student member has no voting privileges. A person who wishes to be a student member shall meet the following qualification:
(i) A student, in good standing, who is either on a part or full time basis enrolled in a paralegal studies course that will lead to their entering the paralegal profession. The school may be an approved college, university, junior college or any other approved school whose curriculum shall be subject to the approval of the Association. Upon completion of such a program, the individual shall no longer be qualified for this membership category.