The School of Professional Advancement's General Legal Studies Program was first approved by the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Standing Committee on Paralegals in 1981 and earned its most recent reapproval in 2023. Throughout this time, the program has maintained compliance with the rigorous ABA guidelines that govern all aspects of our operations, providing our graduates with the superior education that ABA requires and legal employers demand.
The General Legal Studies Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree and accompanying Paralegal Certificate, awarded simultaneously, require 120 credits for completion, including 36 credits in the GLSP major. Carefully sequenced coursework begins with core skills classes that emphasize legal research, writing, and analysis, along with law office technology, legal ethics, and other practical aspects of the legal profession. In ensuing semesters, upper-level electives allow students to explore major areas of substantive law.
In or near the final semester, students not already employed as paralegals take the practicum course, which includes a 100-hour internship in a legal services office and an instructional component focusing upon legal ethics, professionalism, and career success skills. Students already employed as paralegals may apply to waive GLSP 5900 Gen Legal Studies Practicum (3 c.h.) – and replace the course with an additional GLSP 4000-level elective.
GLSP courses are offered in person or online, in either synchronous remote (meeting one evening per week on Zoom) or fully online (with at least two Zoom sessions that are recorded for those who cannot attend) formats. Subject to the ABA requirement that each student must complete at least 3 classes (9 credits) in person or in synchronous remote format, you may take your GLSP classes from wherever you may be, in the format that suits your needs and preferences.
Many of our graduates pursue careers as paralegals or in other positions in law firms, courts, corporations, government agencies, non-profit legal service providers, and other legal services offices, while others enter law school and become attorneys.
General Legal Studies Program Mission Statement: The General Legal Studies Program provides our students with the skills, wisdom, and integrity to create, communicate and conserve knowledge and to pursue careers as efficient, ethical legal professionals who are prepared to assist attorneys in courts, governmental agencies, law firms, and other legal services offices, or to apply to law school after graduation, if they choose.
General Legal Studies Program Learning Outcomes
On completion of the General Legal Studies Program curriculum, graduates will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Describe and analyze the differences among the jurisdictions and functions of the state and federal civil, criminal, and administrative court systems.
- Interpret and apply legal terminology.
- Describe the primary differences between the Louisiana Civil Law legal system and the common law legal system.
- Perform legal research using both traditional and electronic methods and summarize findings in legal memoranda and briefs.
- Perform factual investigations using both traditional and electronic methods.
- Cite authorities consistent with the adopted legal citation manual (The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation).
- Draft memoranda of law and legal correspondence.
- Locate, identify, and apply state and federal court filing and e-filing requirements.
- Draft the documents required to initiate, file, and respond to a civil action.
- Draft discovery requests and responses and pre-trial motions.
- Use industry-standard law office technology to organize and manage documents, files, billing data, and dockets for trial and for other law practice management purposes.
- Identify and apply the rules and principles of legal ethics governing the paralegal profession.
Note: Paralegals are trained professionals who work under the supervision of licensed attorneys. Paralegals are not lawyers and are not permitted to practice law or to provide legal services directly to the public, except as permitted by law.
Credit Transfers toward the BA in General Legal Studies
Tulane SoPA’s General Legal Studies Program does not accept the transfer of credits for paralegal or legal studies courses completed at paralegal or legal studies programs that were not approved by ABA’s Standing Committee on Paralegals at the time the courses were taken.
Consistent with Tulane SoPA’s undergraduate credit transfer policy, which is found here: https://sopa.tulane.edu/admissions/student-transfers/undergraduate, students pursing the General Legal Studies BA and Paralegal Certificate may be permitted to transfer in up to 18 credits (50%) of the 36 legal studies/paralegal course credits required for the GLSP major, provided each course (1) meets all SoPA undergraduate course transfer requirements; (2) was completed at a paralegal or legal studies program that was approved by ABA’s Standing Committee on Paralegals at the time the class was completed; and (3) has been reviewed and approved by the General Legal Studies Program Director.
Requirements - https://catalog.tulane.edu/professional-advancement/general-legal-studies/general-legal-studies-ba/#requirementstext
To ensure compliance with ABA requirements, all students must complete at least 9 credits of GLSP coursework (three GLSP classes) via in-person or synchronous remote format. The General Legal Studies BA degree requires completion of 120 credits, including these courses in the GLSP major:
| Course ID | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Major Core Courses (Offered every semester, in online or remote format) | 24 | |
| Intro to the Legal System | ||
| Legal Research | ||
| Legal Writing I 1 | ||
| Litigation I | ||
| Litigation II 1 | ||
| Legal Technology I | ||
| Legal Ethics (Online) | ||
| Select one: | ||
| Legal Technology II | ||
or GLSP 4200 | Legal Research & Writing II | |
| Major Electives | ||
| Select three (3) GLSP 4000-level electives (offerings vary by semester) | 9 | |
| Louisiana Succession Practice (remote, fall semester) | ||
| Real Property Practice (remote, summer semester) | ||
| Family Law (online, spring semester) | ||
| Advanced Discovery and Evidence (Online) | ||
| Immigration Law Practice (online, all semesters) | ||
| Criminal Law (remote, spring semester) | ||
| Commercial Law (in person (cross-listed with BSLS 3450 - Commercial Law (online)) | ||
| Interviewing & Investigation (in person, spring semester) | ||
| Bankruptcy Practice (online, fall semester) | ||
| Intellectual Prop & Entertain (remote, fall semester) | ||
| Civil Rights Law (remote, spring semester) | ||
| Personal Injury - Malpractice (online, spring semester) | ||
| Louisiana Notary Law (remote, spring and/or summer, per LA state exam schedule) | ||
| Employment Law (remote, spring semester (cross-listed with BSLS 3390 - Employment & Labor Law (online)) | ||
| White Collar Crime (remote, fall semester) | ||
| Law and Government in American Society (online, all semesters) | ||
| Evidence Law (remote, summer semester) | ||
| Internship | ||
| GLSP 5900 | Gen Legal Studies Practicum (remote, all semesters; 100-hour internship and classroom component) | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours in Major: | 36 | |
- 1
Preceding course is a prerequisite
Optional 4+1 Program
Undergraduate students in the General Legal Studies (GLS) Program who have earned at least 75 credits, including all 36 credits in the GLS major, and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0, may apply for admission to SoPA’s John Lewis Master of Public Administration (MPA) 4+1 Program. If accepted, students attending full-time may earn the MPA in a single year after completing the GLS BA degree. Up to six graduate-level public administration credits (at the 6000 level or higher) may count toward both the non-major requirements of the GLS B.A. degree and the MPA degree, and up to six additional graduate credit hours taken as overload during undergraduate study (exceeding the required 120 credit hours of the bachelor’s) may be applied toward the MPA degree.