Legal Assistant

• Two-year diploma
• Fall start
• Includes a Four-week practicum
• Available part-time in the evening
• High industry demand

Program Description

Due to the growing demand for legal support services, many employment opportunities are available for legal assistants. Legal assisting is projected to be among the fastest growing careers in Canada. Legal assistants are highly skilled administrators who work closely with lawyers on a wide variety of legal matters. Students receive extensive training in oral and written communication, transcription, keyboarding, computer applications with a focus on legal document preparation, a variety of specialized legal software, law office procedures, and legal accounting. In addition, students will take substantive law courses in many areas of law, including: commercial, corporate, credit and collections, criminal, family, legal research, litigation, oil and gas, real estate and wills and estates. The capstone course is a law office simulation which integrates all of the legal administrative and substantive law courses. At the end of the second year, students complete an unpaid practicum in a law office or similar legal environment.

Your Career

Graduates find work as legal assistants. Diversified employment opportunities are available in law firms, the court system, registries, and with businesses such as oil and gas corporations.

Admission Requirements

For students applying to start the program in fall 2012, the admission requirements are:

Alberta High School Diploma or equivalent with at least 50% in the following admission requirements or equivalents:

• English Language Arts 30-1 or English Language Arts 30-2, AND,
• Applied Math 10 or Pure Math 10 or Math 10C or Math 20-3.
• All applicants to SAIT Polytechnic must demonstrate English Language Proficiency prior to admission, including students educated in Canada. For more information, please visit English Proficiency.
• View High School Course Equivalencies Admission Equivalencies by Province.

Selection

Early Admission Criteria

Early admission will be offered to all applicants who have achieved or will achieve the admission requirements with a minimum of 70% in English 30-1. Students who achieve a lower than 70% in English 30-1 or equivalent will be required to adhere to additional selection criteria stated below. Students who have English 30-2 will need to adhere to additional selection criteria.

Early admission will also be offered to students who have received a baccalaureate/bachelor degree from an accredited university, where the primary language of instruction is English.

Early admission commences October 21 for the September intake. Please apply early.

Students who submit anticipated grades must provide their final official transcripts by August 1. If they fail to do so, they will be required to complete the additional selection requirements at that point and their acceptance into the program will be based on the additional selection requirement points.

Additional Selection Criteria

Applicants meeting the admission requirements as stated above will be academically ranked according to the admission requirement average set by the School of Business.

Please do not include the Career Investigation Report and résumé with your application. Qualified applicants will be contacted by the School of Business with information and timelines for submitting these documents.

Career Investigation Report:

• The Career Investigation Report will be sent to applicants who meet admission requirements.

A résumé with the following information:

• Academic history with any courses related to the “office, business or legal” field listed.
• Work history with detailed descriptions of duties and any software packages used.
• Awards and/or scholarships that you have received either through school or work.
• Volunteer or student for a day activities that you have been involved with.
• Include any other information that you feel would be pertinent

Scores will be awarded using the English points, the résumé points, and the Career Investigation Report points as shown below: 

• Depending on the number of applications received and quality of ranked applicants, the School of Business will decide on the minimum score to begin offering seats.
• Rankings of applicants will take place on the 1st and 15th of each month and adjustment of the minimum offer score will be made (if necessary).

Mature Student Status
Mature Students are required to have the applicable admission requirements or post-secondary equivalents to be considered for the program. For more information please refer to Mature Students or contact the Legal Assistant Student Services Coordinator, Sarah Ibrahim at 403.284.7294.

International Student Consideration
International Students are considered in addition to the quota and are required to follow the same selection criteria as above. For more information please refer to sait.ca or contact the Legal Assistant Student Services Coordinator, Sarah Ibrahim at 403.284.7294.

Student Success

• Students with higher secondary or post-secondary marks usually experience greater success in SAIT programs.
• A keyboarding speed of 30 words per minute net is highly recommended. Students may be required to take an additional course during the first semester to meet this recommended speed.

Progression

Students must attain a PGPA and/or a CGPA of 2.0 or better in each semester and pass the necessary prerequisite courses to progress through the program. To qualify for graduation, students must pass all courses, attain a CGPA of 2.0 or better and complete course requirements within the prescribed timelines.

Credentials

After successfully completing this program, graduates will receive a SAIT diploma as a Legal Assistant.

Accreditation

This program is officially approved and recognized by: The Alberta Association of Professional Paralegals and Public Services Commission of Canada. This means that Legal Assistants (LA) students can now apply for Federal Government jobs.

Tuition And Fees (Subject To Change)

• Please refer to the Tuition and Fee Table.
• International Students, please refer to International Fees.
• Student funding, please refer to Financial Assistance.

Books And Supplies (Subject To Change)

• Books and supplies are approximately $1000 per year.

Program Outline

• To find the course description for a course shown below, please go to our Course Finder and enter the course acronym and numbers (i.e., DMST-202) into the Quick Search by Course Code field.

• SAIT students are offered an opportunity to develop lifelong learning skills in an online environment. One or more courses in the program are offered fully or partially online.

For More Information

Information: 403.284.8485
Email: business@sait.ca
Website: School of Business

Transfer with Diploma to...

Through SAIT Polytechnic transfer agreements and institution partnerships, graduates of this SAIT program may be eligible for credit at the following universities and colleges:

• Athabasca University
• Royal Roads University
• University of Calgary
• University of Lethbridge (Co-op Education)
• University of New Brunswick, Saint John
• University of Ontario Institute of Technology

To learn more, visit Transfer Options.

Transfer options may also be available at other post-secondary institutions where credits from SAIT programs are evaluated on an individual basis. Interested students should contact the post-secondary institute of their choice for more information.

Related Links (Internal):

• Student-For-A-Day
• Academic Calendar
• Academic Upgrading
• International Students
• Mature Students
• Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition