NALS has a Professional Legal Secretary certification test (PLS exam). Those with experience in working as a legal clerk or secretary can take NALS legal training courses or third-party accredited courses to prepare for the exam. Self-starters can also use reference materials to prepare for the PLS test on their own.
This certification program is designed to test your legal skills in four areas: Legal Knowledge and Skills, Ethics and Judgment, Office Procedures and Technology, and Written Communications. You can take the PLS exam multiple times until you pass all parts of it. However, you must take all parts that you fail at the same time for each retake. You do not have to retake the parts that you already passed. The fee is $200 the first time and $50 per failed part on subsequent tests. For NALS members, the PLS test fees are $150 and $40 per part for retakes.
Those seeking to become an NALS-certified Professional Legal Secretary can attend either the NALS Basic Legal Training Course or the Advanced Legal Training Course. Other options that may assist you on the PLS exam include the Online Basic Legal Training Course (conducted by Stetson University) and a few accredited training courses.
The total duration of the live NALS courses is two to five months. It all depends on the schedule of the local legal training provider. Be forewarned that NALS recommends the Advanced Legal Training Course as one means of preparation for the PLS certification test. Taking only the Basic Course might not be enough for some test takers to fully prepare for the exam.
Go to the NALS “Legal Training Course” page to see the schedule of upcoming live Basic and Advanced Legal Training Courses or information on the online basic course. Contact the providers individually for pricing and other details.
On that page, you can also see the accredited courses that qualify graduates for certification with NALS. As of August 2011, there are only five places that are accredited by NALS for legal secretary/assistant training. You also need to contact those legal-training schools individually to find out the cost of tuition.
For those wishing to do self-study, it is also possible to go that route for the PLS exam and the related NALS certification tests. View the link below to find the PLS test references. Study those references to prepare for the exam. In total, the cost of all the references for the Professional Legal Secretary exam is about $300. If you are currently employed at a law office, see if they have any of these publications first before forking over your own dough for this expensive set of legal reference books.
Resources:
NALS: Legal Training Course
NALS: PLS Exam References