NFPA Press Release
Susan Witherspoon, RP
PACE Coordinator
PACE@paralegals.orgApril 10, 2003
NFPA DELEGATES CHANGE PACE EXAM ELIGIBILITY
At their annual convention held in Newport, Rhode Island, delegates of the member associations of the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) adopted a resolution modifying the criteria for those who can sit for the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE). PACE offers experienced paralegals an option to validate their experience and job skills; establish their credential as a Registered Paralegal; and increase their value to employers and clients. PACE was developed by a professional testing firm. It is administered by an independent test administration company and is the only exam of its kind. PACE tests concepts across practice areas and offers the profession a national standard of evaluation.
Said PACE Coordinator Susan Witherspoon, RP, "In upholding the need for education and promoting paralegal education, the NFPA delegates have passed a resolution that expands the criteria from which candidates can choose in order to sit for PACE." The Washington State Paralegal Association, whose members were authors of the resolution, stated, "Amending the minimum criteria to sit for PACE will allow more experienced paralegals the opportunity to expand their role, which goes to the very heart of the NFPA's mission and respects its diversity of membership."
The new criteria for sitting for the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE) are:
- a person holding an associate's degree in paralegal studies obtained from an institutionally accredited and/or ABA-approved paralegal education program and six years substantive paralegal experience; OR
- a person holding a bachelor's degree in any course of study and three years substantive paralegal experience; OR
- a person holding a bachelor's degree who has completed a paralegal program with an institutionally accredited school, which program may be embodied in a bachelor's degree, and two years substantive paralegal experience; OR
- a person with four years substantive paralegal experience as of December 31, 2000.
Persons previously ineligible who wish to apply or make queries should view www.paralegals.org and click on Registered Paralegal, contact PACE@paralegals.org, or call 816-941-4000.
NFPA is a not-for-profit association with the largest number of individual paralegal members in the nation. NFPA is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. NFPA is the national voice and the standard for excellence for the paralegal profession through its work on the issues of regulation, ethics and education.
