Saint Vincent College reveals new Legal Practice Certificate program for undergrads and professionals
LATROBE (KDKA) - Saint Vincent College revealed the new Spring 2025 semester Legal Practice Certificate program.
The program is geared to undergraduate students preparing for law school and legal professionals looking to improve their skills.
"Law school does not teach you the practicalities of practicing law, it teaches you legal principles. If you go in understanding how those principles translate into actually helping somebody, you have a much better grasp of the whole system," said Bruce Antkowiak, Law professor and Senior Legal Counsel to Saint Vincent College and Saint Vincent Archabbey.
The program consists of four courses with two in-person courses: Legal Reasoning and Analysis and Law Office Practicum. In Legal Reasoning and Analysis, students will focus on analyzing legal problems using statutes and precedents, in Law Office Practicum, students will complete a single semester internship at a law office in their respective field.
The two online courses will be Crafting Legal Documents, which covers legal research, document writing and authoritative source citation. The second online course will be Survey of Legal Practice, which covers legal ethics and areas of practice like criminal and civil litigation, property law and wills and estates.
"Anyone who has completed a two-year paralegal degree would also benefit from taking a hard look at the nuts and bolts of how you practice law and what you deliver to your clients."