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Key Takeaways
Online paralegal courses cover core legal topics, legal specializations, and in-demand paralegal skills.
Many free courses offer the option to pay for a certificate.
Prospective and current paralegals can benefit from these free courses offered by leading universities.
Online paralegal courses are an affordable way to learn more about the law and launch your career as a paralegal. If you're already a paralegal, these courses can also develop specialized skills and help advance your career.
How can you get the most out of a free paralegal course? Start by choosing courses that align with your interests and prior knowledge. Beginners benefit from foundational courses on the U.S. Constitution, legal procedure, and the criminal justice system. More advanced learners can dive into topics like intellectual property law, contract law, and environmental law.
Our guide introduces the best free online paralegal courses offered by some of the most prestigious universities in the U.S.
Top Free Online Paralegal Courses
Offered by top universities, these courses develop critical legal knowledge and skills for paralegals. While these courses are free to audit, most offer a certificate for a fee.
Beginner-Friendly Courses
Think Again I: How to Understand Arguments
Offered by: Duke University
Best for: Developing logical thinking skills
Skills learned: How to break down arguments and identify weaknesses
As paralegals help attorneys prepare for both civil and criminal trials, a logical understanding of the elements of a sound (or unsound) argument can help inform both research and strategy.
FinTech Law and Policy
Offered by: Duke University
Best for: Understanding FinTech law
Skills learned: Financial regulations and laws
Given the rapid growth of FinTech, paralegals with expertise in financial technology law and policy will be in high demand. This course prepares students to work in this ever-evolving field.
American Government: Constitutional Foundations
Offered by: Harvard University
Best for: Learning Constitutional law
Skills learned: Civil rights and Constitutional law
Understanding the Constitution is vital for anyone practicing civil or legal law. This course covers the fundamentals of the Constitution, individual rights in the United States, and U.S. political culture.
U.S. Political Institutions: Congress, Presidency, Courts, and Bureaucracy
Offered by: Harvard University
Best for: Exploring the federal political system
Skills learned: Political analysis
Paralegal work often intersects with U.S. political institutions beyond the civil and criminal justice systems. This course provides a broad overview of U.S. political institutions and how they affect daily life.
Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills
Offered by: University of Michigan
Best for: Understanding negotiation strategies
Skills learned: Negotiation tactics, contracts
This business-oriented course focuses on contract creation and negotiation. Paralegals who work with contracts or employment law benefit from understanding the strategies, rules, and regulations around negotiation.
An Introduction to American Law
Offered by: University of Pennsylvania
Best for: Understanding the American legal system
Skills learned: Civil procedure, criminal law, contract law
This course offers an overview of the U.S. legal system, including tort law, property law, Constitutional law, and more. It also includes an overview of civil procedure and criminal law.
Introduction to Key Constitutional Concepts and Supreme Court Cases
Offered by: University of Pennsylvania
Best for: Developing foundational legal history
Skills learned: Constitutional protections
Paralegals need to know about past Supreme Court cases and the Supreme Court's power. This course helps paralegals understand case law and precedent as they prepare materials for attorneys.
Hot Topics in Criminal Justice
Offered by: Vanderbilt University
Best for: Understanding controversial criminal justice issues
Skills learned: Criminal justice procedure and challenges
From mass incarceration to police surveillance and the death penalty, this course provides an overview of major debates about our criminal justice system.
American Contract Law
Offered by: Yale University
Best for: Understanding contract law
Skills learned: Valid contracts, contract enforcement
This course uses real-world common-law cases to explore concepts of American contract law, particularly around forming contracts and which legal doctrines govern their creation.
Data Privacy Fundamentals
Offered by: Northeastern University
Best for: Learning about data privacy
Skills learned: Data privacy law
This course covers the fundamentals of data privacy law, including threats and risks. As data privacy continues to evolve, demand for paralegals with expertise in this area will only grow.
Making Successful Decisions through the Strategy, Law, and Ethics Model
Offered by: University of Michigan
Best for: Understanding business law
Skills learned: Employment law, intellectual property law, dispute resolution
While this course mostly focuses on business leaders' and owners' perspectives, it also contains relevant information for paralegals in areas such as employment law and intellectual property.
Specialized Legal Topics
Introduction to International Criminal Law
Offered by: Case Western Reserve University
Best for: Developing expertise in international criminal law and policy
Skills learned: International criminal liability, defense strategy, and international criminal procedure
This course covers international criminal law, including war crimes, terrorism, and piracy. Paralegals who want to specialize in international law can take this course to learn more about its history and process.
Contract Law: From Trust to Promise to Contract
Offered by: Harvard University
Best for: Developing expertise in contract law
Skills learned: Contract enforcement, remedies for contractual breaches
This course covers how to form contracts, the limits on enforcing contracts, and the nature of contracts. An understanding of contract law is essential for civil law paralegals who regularly research contracts.
Corporate and Commercial Law 1: Contracts and Employment Law
Offered by: University of Illinois
Best for: Understanding laws shaping business operations
Skills learned: Sales contracts, the law of agency
This course covers contract law from a business perspective, focusing on laws governing sales and employment relationships. Business law paralegals must understand the concepts covered in this course.
Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy
Offered by: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Best for: Understanding environmental law
Skills learned: Analyzing judicial opinions, environmental statutes
Laws around climate change and sustainability are constantly changing. This course covers environmental litigation, helping paralegals at all career levels step into this impactful area of law.
Intellectual Property and Policy Law Part 1
Offered by: University of Pennsylvania
Best for: Applying IP law to commercial and artistic activity
Skills learned: IP theory, patent law
As policies, rules, and regulations evolve in the digital age, paralegals with an understanding of how intellectual property policy is changing will have an advantage in helping attorneys prepare for cases in this field.
Intellectual Property Law Specialization
Offered by: University of Pennsylvania
Best for: Understanding IP strategies
Skills learned: Trademark strategy, patent analysis
This course uses applied learning projects to develop intellectual property law skills, including curricula on patents, trademarks, and copyright. Paralegals trained in IP law are in high demand.
Patent Law
Offered by: University of Pennsylvania
Best for: Developing patent law expertise
Skills learned: Patent protections, patentability standards, patent infringement strategies
This course covers patent law and strategies to address patent infringement. Understanding what a patent is, patentability, and patent law can help paralegals research and prepare materials for those cases.
Privacy Law and Data Protection
Offered by: University of Pennsylvania
Best for: Applying privacy law in business settings
Skills learned: Privacy law compliance, data protection regulations
This course identifies the privacy policies and laws that impact businesses and consumers. Privacy and data protection regulations are rapidly changing, so paralegals who understand the privacy law landscape are in demand.
U.S. Health Law Fundamentals
Offered by: University of Pennsylvania
Best for: Understanding the laws shaping the healthcare system
Skills learned: Administrative law in medical care, medical malpractice standards
This course covers U.S. laws related to the healthcare system, including topics like medical malpractice, the federal government's role in healthcare, and quality control.
Property and Liability: An Introduction to Law and Economics
Offered by: Wesleyan University
Best for: Using economics to understand liability
Skills learned: Economic reasoning, criminal liability
This theory-driven course applies economic thinking to U.S. property and liability law, including both civil and criminal liability. Exploring the logic of liability helps paralegals understand the impact of their work.
Paralegal Power Breaks
Offered by: Agility Academy
Best for: Accelerating paralegal training
Skills learned: Legal research, civil litigation practices, legal technology
Designed for new and experienced paralegals, this course covers a broad range of topics related to the career. It also covers topics like navigating office politics and advancing your career as a paralegal.
Skill-Based Courses
Writing and Editing: Word Choice and Word Order
Offered by: University of Michigan
Best for: Strengthening legal writing skills
Skills learned: Grammar, syntax, writing
Clear, concise communication is critically important for paralegals as they write briefs and conduct research in their roles. This course covers effective communication in writing and editing, including word choice, grammar, syntax, and more.
Creative Problem Solving
Offered by: University of Minnesota
Best for: Developing creative problem-solving skills
Skills learned: Generating ideas, creativity and motivation
This course prepares you to take a creative, observation-oriented approach to problem-solving, including critiquing and developing ideas. In a task-oriented, research-heavy profession like paralegal work, problem-solving skills are essential.
AI for Lawyers: Time and Tasks
Offered by: University of Michigan
Best for: Applying AI in legal contexts
Skills learned: AI for time management and delegation
Designed for lawyers and other legal professionals, this course teaches learners to use AI to manage their time and delegate tasks. Paralegals who master these skills can become more efficient.
Free Courses from a Paralegal Professional Organization
The National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) offers free courses for members. Non-members pay an affordable $23-$70 per course.
How to Make the Most of Your Paralegal Career: This on-demand webinar covers ways for paralegals to advance their careers. It also provides a launching-off point and information for various certifications that can further bolster paralegals' careers.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: This course covers the evolution of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and its importance to the legal profession. It also covers ways that paralegals can step up to advance DEI in their roles.
Stay Healthy as a Leader – Learn Your Stressors: A high-demand, fast-paced career as a paralegal, particularly in a management role, can lead to stress — and this course aims to help professionals address that. The course covers how to identify stressors, tendencies when stressed, and ways to stay mentally healthy.
The Ethics of AI: Artificial intelligence has become a major topic of conversation across industries, including the legal profession. This course provides an overview of the ethics surrounding AI and how to use it securely and safely.
Chapter 7 Trustees and the Property of the Estate: This highly specialized course deals with the role of trustees in Chapter 7 bankruptcy and trains paralegals to prepare a bankruptcy filing.
Leadership Basics: This course focuses on the fundamentals of leadership, including promoting teamwork, team building, and leading during a crisis. The course focuses on building trust and the characteristics of solid leadership.
Frequently Asked Questions About Free Online Paralegal Courses
Most free online paralegal courses do not award college credit, so they do not fall under the traditional accreditation system. By choosing a course offered by a top university, learners benefit from the institution's academic reputation.
