CALIFORNIA CERTIFIEDLEGAL SECRETARY

Legal Secretaries, Incorporated

Legal Secretaries, Incorporated © July 2014

All Rights Reserved

What is the California CertifiedLegal Secretary?

The California Certified Legal Secretary (“CCLS”) is aprogram sponsored by Legal Secretaries, Incorporated,which tests qualified legal support staff in various areas oflaw, ethics, practical work product, and officeadministration. The program is administered by theCalifornia Certified Legal Secretary Certifying Board.

To attain their certification, the examinees must pass arigorous and detailed 8-hour exam, offered twice a year.

Every three years, continuing legal education requirementsmust be met to maintain certification.

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Who Is Eligible to Take theCCLS Exam?

Any person who has a minimum of 2 years’ full-timeexperience as a legal secretary, or equivalent as approved bythe Certifying Board, may apply to take the exam.Membership in Legal Secretaries, Incorporated is not arequirement to take the exam.

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What are the sections coveredin the CCLS Exam?

California Legal Procedure

Legal Terminology

Legal Computations

Skills

Ability to Communicate Effectively

Reasoning and Ethics

Law Office Administration

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California Legal Procedure

California Legal Procedure covers five areas of law:

o Civil Litigation

o Probate/Estate Planning

o Family Law

o Corporations

o Real Estate

For this section, students will need the Law OfficeProcedures Manual. The secondary source of informationis the Legal Professional’s Handbook.

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Legal Terminology

Legal Terminology covers proper format of citations andabbreviations, as well as terminology from the five areasof law covered in California Legal Procedure.

For this section, students will need the California StyleManual and Law Office Procedures Manual.

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Legal Computations

Legal Computations covers several types of computationsperformed every day by legal support staff:

o Practical calendaring of due dates and hearingso Ability to determine appropriate filing fees in various

areas of lawo Basic math calculations done in everyday practice

For this section, students will need the Law OfficeProcedures Manual. Students may also choose to have aprimer on basic math.

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Skills

Skills is an “in-basket” exercise in which the students aregiven an instructional memo and multiple versions offorms, with only one correct form. This section isdesigned to test an examinee’s ability to follow directionsand to proofread.

For this section, students will need the Law OfficeProcedures Manual.

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Ability to Communicate Effectively

The Ability to Communicate Effectively section of theCCLS exam is designed to test an examinee’s ability to usecorrect punctuation, grammar, spelling, and word usage.

For this section of the exam, students will need The GreggReference Manual (10th ed. or later), along with the basicand comprehensive worksheets that correspond with thebook, which are available online.

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Reasoning and Ethics

Reasoning verifies an examinee’s ability to evaluate factsand situations logically and to reach rational conclusions.Ethics tests their understanding of accepted professionalstandards of conduct, including accounts management in alaw office and notary public issues.

For this section of the exam, students will need PocketGuide to Legal Ethics, California Business andProfessions Code (Chapter 4), California Code of CivilProcedure (Part 4), California Rules of ProfessionalConduct (Chapters 1-5), and the Notary Public Handbook.

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Law Office Administration

Law Office Administration covers the following areas:

o Alphabetic filing

o Computer use and terminology

o Notary Public practices

o General office procedures

For this section of the exam, students will need The GreggReference Manual, PCs All-In-One Desk Reference forDummies, Law Office Procedures Manual, Pocket Guideto Legal Ethics, and the Notary Public Handbook.

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Grading & Passing the Exam

The CCLS exam is a multiple choice exam with answersusing a scantron form. Following an extensive reviewprocess by the California Certified Legal SecretaryCertifying Board, results are finalized and sent to theexaminees. There are two ways to pass the exam:

1. Attain a score of at least 70% on each section of theExam, or

2. Attain an overall score of at least 75% when averagingthe scores on each section of the Exam

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Partial & Full Re-Takes

If an examinee passes at least 4 sections of the examwith a score of 70% or better, that examinee onlyneeds to re-take those sections which were not passed.The examinee will need to pass the remaining sectionswith a score of at least 70% on each section.

If an examinee does not pass at least 4 sections, theywill need to re-take the entire exam.

Examinees must pass the full exam within the next 6consecutive regularly scheduled exam dates frompassing the minimum 4 sections.

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Exam Review

When an examinee does not pass the entire exam, they mayreview the test and scantron of those sections they did not passwith a score of 70% or better.

Examinees must request the exam review within 20 days ofreceipt of their exam results, using the form provided withtheir results.

Examinees will have 1 hour to review the exam, regardless ofthe number of sections they must review. No notes may betaken, no questions may be asked, and no conversation maytake place during the exam review.

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After Passing the Exam

After passing the CCLS exam, CCLSs must recertifyevery three years. In order to recertify, a CCLS mustcomplete 15 hours of continuing education, as follows:

A minimum of 15 credit hours of approved education

Of that 15 hours, a maximum of 6 hours may beregarding administrative and/or mechanical functionsperformed by legal support staff

Of those 6 hours, no more than 2 hours shall be allowedfor educational courses where topics are not unique towork done by legal support staff (e.g., notary class)

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Study Options

There are various options for studying for the exam:

1. Join a local association study group – you can contactyour local association or the LSI CCLS Chair to findout if a group is offered in your area.

2. Join the LSI On-Line Study Group – if no local groupis offered or the class schedule doesn’t meet yourschedule, you can join the LSI CCLS On-Line StudyGroup. Information can be found on the LSI website.

3. Study on your own – If you prefer to study on yourown, the CCLS Study Kit available on LSI’s websitewill provide you with information and guidance forstudying on your own.

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Benefits to the Employer

A well-rounded employee who has knowledge ofseveral areas of law – your employee will haveenough knowledge in various areas of law that willallow him or her to jump in and assist on cases thatmay not be in the firm’s usual practice area.

A professional employee – a CCLS must maintaincontinuing education credits and pass a rigorousexam in order to maintain their certification.

A quick reference – a CCLS will have a wealth ofknowledge ready to answer questions and assistothers, or if he or she does not know the answer,they know where and how to find it quickly.

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Benefits to the Employer (cont.)

A self-confident employee – a CCLS has passed a verydifficult and thorough exam. Passing the exam increasestheir self-confidence, which improves efficiency andboosts their morale.

A pre-screened potential employee – when hiringemployees, if they are a CCLS, you will know that theyhave already knowledge in many areas of law, and thatthey have passed an exam that thoroughly tests them onthat knowledge

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Benefits to the Employee

Self-confidence – this is a rigorous exam, and passing itis quite an accomplishment.

Knowledge – gaining knowledge in several areas of lawwill make you a more valuable employee; you will beable to jump in and assist with those odd cases that comein that may not be in the firm’s usual practice areas.

Recognition as a professional – you will gainrecognition among employers and your peers for being aprofessional, required to pass a rigorous exam andobtain continuing education.

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Benefits to the Employee (cont.)

Marketability – as a CCLS, you will have alreadydemonstrated to a potential employer that you haveknowledge in many areas of law, and have passed anexam that thoroughly tests you on that knowledge

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For additional information:

Legal Secretaries Incorporated website – www.lsi.org

LSI California Certified Legal Secretary chair –lsiccls@outlook.com

California Certified Legal Secretary Certifying Board –cclscertifyingboard@gmail.com or send inquiry throughLSI website

Local associations – see list located on LSI website

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