SUMMER 2009 / Volume 8 - Issue 4
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Dr. Hedi Nasheri, director of Kent State’s paralegal studies program. Photo by Gary Harwood
Demand for Profession Continues to Grow
PHOTOS BY GARY HARWOOD, '83
U
ntil the late 1970s, the practice of law was largely local in nature. But like most professional fields, the practice has expanded to global proportions, with transnational law firms growing in number and importance to the legal community and world economy. This growth, most of which has occurred since the 1980s, has translated into tremendous job opportunities for paralegals.
Small wonder, then, that the paralegal program at Kent State University continues to grow in popularity and prestige. The program has enjoyed steady enrollment growth as the paralegal job market remains very strong nationally and in Northeast Ohio. In addition, the program attracts international students, as well as foreign lawyers who hope to expand their legal training to the U.S. legal system.
Dr. Hedi Nasheri, professor of justice studies and director of the paralegal studies program at Kent State, says the university has served as a model nationally for other institutions with paralegal programs. In 2001, before Kent State began offering a bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies, Nasheri was elected director of Baccalaureate Degree Programs on the national Board of Directors for the American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE). The AAfPE is the only national organization and policy-making body in the United States that sets policies and standards for paralegal education. In that role, Nasheri advised all member institutions with four-year degree programs in paralegal studies across the nation on a wide range of issues, from creation of programs to curriculum. In 2007 Nasheri became president of AAfPE.
The four-year American Bar Association-approved degree program in paralegal studies began at Kent State in fall 2002. Paralegal studies had been offered here as a minor and a post-baccalaureate certificate since 1991, until the idea of a four-year major (in addition to the pre-existing programs) was proposed in 1998 by a team of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Approval of Paralegal Education Programs, following a program review.
Kent State’s graduates have been employed by some of the most prestigious national and international law firms in the country.
Nasheri says, “At Kent State, we focus on ways to direct the development of paralegal education so that our graduates are able to perform a significant role in delivering legal services in a global market.
"The legal field is moving toward requiring a four-year degree for paralegals, and there is high demand for skilled paralegals with four-year degrees regardless of economic conditions."
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transnational law firm is one that has offices in multiple countries, specializing in providing counsel on foreign law and cross-border litigation and business. The majority of the practitioners of international and transnational legal services are in large commercial firms, with American and British firms in the forefront of this area. For example, when the Iron Curtain fell in the Soviet bloc in the early 1990s, U.S. and London law firms rushed into the region. First they offered their services to the governments and helped to write foreign investment and commercial laws that were widely perceived as business-friendly. Then they opened offices to advise Western investors about how best to work within the structures they had created. Almost overnight, those firms both created enormous opportunities for themselves and pushed the boundaries of globalization past yet another frontier. Not surprisingly, the law departments of large multinational companies — such as IBM, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, 3M, Weir Group PLC, Microsoft Corp., General Motors Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., the Dow Chemical, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and many others — have also been leaders in pushing the globalization of the law business.
Kent State’s location helps position its paralegal program for strategic access to the industry. With the headquarters of numerous major national and international law firms and corporations — such as Jones Day; Squire, Sanders & Dempsey; Baker Hostetler; Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs; Brouse McDowell, Thompson Hine; Calfee, Halter & Griswold; General Electric Co.; Eaton and Westinghouse, to name just a few — based in Akron, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Nasheri says proximity alone provides Kent State graduates with excellent internship and job opportunities.
"Labor force projections for Ohio’s fastest growing occupations show that paralegals are seventh on the list with a projected growth rate of 58 percent over the next seven years," she says.
The professional relationships between students and the legal community are the most valuable asset, Nasheri adds. Most students develop those relationships through the program’s internship requirements, which help them make connections in the real-world setting and later find jobs in prestigious law firms, businesses and government entities.
The goal for Kent State’s paralegal program, as for others across the globe, is to prepare paralegals to perform a significant role in the delivery of global legal services, Nasheri says.
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