Membership Requirements
Qualification requirements for the classes of SDPA membership are as follows:
Voting:
Must be currently employed full-time as a paralegal working under the supervision of a licensed attorney, who has been an active member of the California State Bar Association, and:
a. Completed an ABA-approved paralegal education training program;
b. Completed a paralegal program (or received a degree from an accredited post-secondary institution), requiring a minimum of 24 semester units in law-related classes;
c. Received an undergraduate degree from a four-year college and have a minimum of one-year law-related experience working under the supervision of a licensed attorney, who has been an active member of the California State Bar Association for at least the preceding three years; or d.received a high school diploma or GED and have a minimum of three years of law-related experience working under the licensed attorney, who has been an active member of the California State Bar Association for at least the preceding three years.
Associate:
All persons who are presently either (1) a paralegal as defined by California B & P Code §6450( c), but not currently working full-time as a paralegal or (2) in the first six (6) months of in-house training as a paralegal, or (3) anyone who does not meet the criteria of a voting member and who is either a practicing attorney, legal secretary or legal administrator.
Sustaining:
Any person, business or professional firm or non-political, non-religious organization interested in supporting the purposes of the association who contributes an amount to the association to be determined annually, may qualify as a Sustaining Member. Sustaining Members are ineligible to hold office, make motions or vote.
Student:
These are members who are either (1) currently enrolled in a paralegal training program or (2) a current graduate of a paralegal training program who is currently seeking, but has not yet secured employment within one year of the date of the completion of a paralegal training program.
If you have any general questions, please contact membership@sdparalegals.org