General Accreditation
The general paralegal accreditation is for -
- paralegals who work in areas of law that are not covered by the 15 area specific accreditations
- paralegals who are generalists and work across a number of areas of law.
Eligibility
If you wish to apply for the general accreditation, you must meet the following criteria, you must:
- Have more than two year’s paralegal experience
- Have a relevant qualification
- Be able to demonstrate the skills and competencies detailed within the general competenices
- Meet all other requirements for the accreditation in terms of the code of conduct, CPD requirements, having a supervising solicitor, renewing on an annual basis
If your area of work falls within the existing 15 practice areas, you must apply for the relevant area of law accreditation.
If you are accredited under the general accreditation, you cannot claim accreditation specific to your area of work.
All fees and renewals are in line with the practice area accreditations and trainee accreditations.
CPD Requirements
Our CPD requirements 10 hours each practice year. A minimum of five hours verifiable CPD should be undertaken. Verifiable CPD will be assessed on case-by-case basis. Where the relevance of CPD is unclear to the Society, we may require further information from you or your supervising solicitor.
Traineeship
The traineeship is not available to those seeking general accreditation. Applicants will be required to complete a minimum of two years in a paralegal role before they can apply for the general accreditation.
Change of practice area
If you are accredited in a specific practice area but move to an area of law not covered by any of the existing practice areas, you can continue your accreditation under the general accreditation. Contact us as accreditedparlegal@lawscot.org.uk for more details. You cannot maintain your area specific accreditation – it must be surrendered.
If you are accredited through the general accreditation and move to an area of law covered by the 15 practice areas, you will be required to work towards accreditation in that practice area. Where additional time is required to build competence in the practice area, you can maintain your general accreditation. Cases such as this will be referred to the committee and will be reviewed on an individual basis.