A community in need is asking for an urgent response from Cerritos College students.

The city of Norwalk has set up a self help center for people who cannot afford lawyers but need assistance preparing court documents.

The community needs paralegals to help represent the 80 % of people within the city who can not afford lawyers.

“The community needs help, why not pull from their own talent,” said Dr. Pribble head of the Cerritos College paralegal department.

A paralegal is a lawyer’s assistant. They take care of all the paperwork required for all court procedures. Although they do not deal with clients directly without the supervision of an attorney, they handle most of the work.

According to Dr. Pribble Cerritos College has the best qualified program in the area

The paralegal program is “looking for a few good people,” Pribble said.

The majority of students enrolled in the program are students who commute from other cities to take advantage of the low cost and advanced technology that the Cerritos College offers. Pribble is hoping that more Cerritos College students will enroll.

“There is something for everyone,” Pribble said There are a number of different specialties in this profession, including family law, real estate, corporate , and mediation. Students are encouraged to specialize in a field in which they find the most interesting.

For those who would like to pursue their career even further, Cerritos College offers its paralegal students the opportunity to major in Business Management in Azusa Pacific University and Webster College. Upon completion of the program and acceptance from either school, paralegal students are admitted as juniors and attend school only once a week until graduation. Students who graduate from the paralegal program with a 3.7 G.P.A.or higher have the chance to study at South Western University or Whittier University Law School. Once completing law school, the student will get their bachelor’s and their jurist doctorate degree together. ‘ Paralegal student Kerren Herrera said, “I had no idea this program had this much to offer when I entered.”

In order to do well in this program Dr. Pribble says, “You got to know how to play the game.”

The program prides itself with the latest up to date technology. It has its own “fully dedicated” paralegal lab, reference center, and A.B.A. Law library which is fully equipped with digests law books and Shepherds (case reference) books.

The program allows its students to practice on the same type of computer software used in the courts. Other schools only refer to this software in text books where as students at Cerritos have hands on experience. The text books used in class are also books that they will need in the future.

In order for students to find their specialty right away, Dr. Pribble and the rest of the paralegal staff, encourage students to get work experience as soon as they begin the program.

Due to the school’s good reputation with current information and technology, courts and law firms from Norwalk, Orange County, and Los Angeles are eager to receive students looking for practice. “I like the fact that I have a lot to choose from and that I’m getting the experience early on,” Herrera said.

The average pay for a paralegal upon completion of the program is $47,000 a year andthe program helps find jobs for its after graduation.

“A lot of students come back after of graduation. There is much support,” Pribble says,”We have a pretty loyal group who often come back even after they have full time jobs. This department intends on remaining “current in what they teach.”

In the near future they hope to have a bilingual program so it can eliminate any language barriers between its students. Also by promoting a bilingual program it hopes to further teach its students to explain the law and other procedures in a language others will understand.