Paralegal Certification in Nevada: Credentials, Exams, and Renewal

Paralegal certification in Nevada is voluntary and comes from national organizations, not the state. Nevada has no licensing board for paralegals and issues no state credential, but Nevada Supreme Court Rule 187 defines who may call themselves a paralegal and requires that all paralegal work happen under the supervision of a State Bar of Nevada attorney.¹ To become “certified,” you earn a national credential by passing an exam — most commonly NALA’s Certified Paralegal (CP) or one of NFPA’s two exams.

What Nevada Itself Requires

Under SCR 187, a paralegal is someone qualified through education, training, or work experience, employed by an attorney or law firm to perform substantive legal work under the direct supervision of a Nevada-licensed lawyer. The supervising attorney remains responsible for everything the paralegal produces.

No state exam, license, or registration exists.¹ You cannot hold yourself out as a paralegal unless you meet the rule’s criteria and work under attorney supervision, and you cannot practice law independently, give legal advice, set fees, or sign documents requiring an attorney’s signature. That is the full extent of what the state imposes. Everything else labeled “certification” is a voluntary national credential, which is why most Nevada employers look to NALA or NFPA designations as the practical measure of competency.

Choosing a National Credential

Three credentials cover almost everyone in the Nevada market:

NALA Certified Paralegal (CP) — the most widely held credential nationally, open to candidates with a qualifying paralegal program, degree-plus-coursework, or substantial experience.
NFPA Registered Paralegal (RP) — earned by passing the PACE exam, aimed at paralegals who already have significant work experience.
NFPA Paralegal CORE Competency (PCCE) — a foundational exam designed for entry-level and early-career paralegals.

NALA also offers an Advanced Certified Paralegal (ACP) designation for CPs who want to show expertise in a specific practice area. Which one fits you depends mostly on how much experience and education you already have.

NALA Certified Paralegal (CP)

Who Qualifies

NALA has three eligibility paths, and you must meet one at the time you apply:²

Category 1: Graduation from an ABA-approved paralegal program or one affiliated with the American Association for Paralegal Education. No attorney attestation needed.
Category 2: A bachelor’s degree in any field plus either 15 semester hours of paralegal coursework or at least one year of substantive paralegal experience under attorney supervision. An attorney attestation is required if you use experience in place of coursework.³
Category 3: A high school diploma or equivalent plus at least seven years of substantive paralegal experience under attorney supervision, with an attorney attestation confirming the work.³

All paths require official transcripts bearing the institution’s seal and authorizing signature. NALA accepts them by mail, fax, or email.

The Exam

The CP exam has two parts. The Knowledge Exam is 120 multiple-choice questions over three hours; 100 are scored and 20 are experimental. The Skills Exam is a two-hour written essay testing whether you can identify facts, spot legal issues, apply authority, and reach a persuasive conclusion.⁴ Approved candidates schedule through a Pearson VUE testing center.

Fees

Current NALA pricing:⁵

Standard: $325 members, $375 non-members
Student (graduating within the documentation deadline): $150 members, $175 non-members
Military (active duty, veterans, reservists, guardsmen, and spouses): 25% off the standard fee
Retake: $150 per subsequent attempt for each exam part

Once NALA has a complete application, approval takes roughly 72 hours. If something is missing, you get 60 days to provide it; missing that deadline voids the application and triggers a $75 processing fee.⁶

NFPA Registered Paralegal (PACE)

The PACE exam leads to the Registered Paralegal (RP) designation. Experience required depends on your education:⁷

Bachelor’s in paralegal studies: 2 years of substantive paralegal experience.
Bachelor’s in any field plus an ABA or AAfPE-approved paralegal certificate: 2 years.
Bachelor’s in any field with no paralegal certificate: 3 years.
Associate’s in paralegal studies: 6 years.
Associate’s in any field: 7 years.
Military paralegal at E6 or higher: experience defined by rank, plus 12 hours of NFPA-approved CLE including 1 hour of ethics within the preceding year.

Candidates cannot have a felony conviction and cannot be under suspension, termination, or revocation of any professional certificate, registration, or license.⁷ The PACE costs $325 for NFPA members and $350 for non-members.

NFPA Paralegal CORE Competency (PCCE)

The PCCE is the entry-level option. Eligibility is considerably easier than PACE: an associate’s degree or higher in paralegal studies qualifies with no experience requirement. A bachelor’s in another field needs six months of experience; an associate’s in another field needs one year. A high school diploma or GED alone requires five years of experience plus 12 hours of CLE.⁸ This is the credential most new graduates and career-changers pursue first.

Advanced Certified Paralegal (ACP)

Once you hold the CP, NALA’s ACP designation lets you show depth in a specific practice area. Available specialties include business organizations, contract management, criminal litigation, discovery, eDiscovery, family law (including adoption and assisted reproduction), land use, personal injury, real estate principles, and trial practice.⁹

Anyone can take an ACP course, but only current Certified Paralegals receive the credential. There is a useful order-of-operations workaround: complete an ACP course first and pass the CP exam within one year, and you receive the ACP retroactively. ACP coursework counts toward the 50 CLE hours already required for CP renewal, so there is no separate continuing education burden.⁹

Qualifying Paralegal Education in Nevada

Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno runs the only ABA-approved paralegal program in Nevada, awarding an Associate of Applied Science.¹ Graduating from an ABA-approved program places you in NALA’s Category 1, the simplest route to the CP exam: no attorney attestation, no experience requirement.

Other Nevada colleges offer paralegal certificates and courses that may count toward eligibility, but the certifying bodies look specifically for ABA approval or AAfPE affiliation. Confirm a program’s status with NALA or NFPA before enrolling if certification is your goal. A paralegal degree or certificate does not let you take a bar exam or practice law on your own; it qualifies you to work under attorney supervision.¹

Keeping Your Certification Active

Both credentials require ongoing continuing legal education.

Certified Paralegals must complete 50 hours of CLE every five years, with at least 5 hours in legal ethics.¹⁰ The State Bar of Nevada’s Paralegal Division often hosts relevant CLE, particularly on Nevada court rules and procedural changes.

Registered Paralegals must submit 12 hours of CLE every two years, with required coursework in both ethics and diversity, equity, and inclusion.¹¹ CLE certificates must show the completion date, your name, the presenter or institution, the number and type of hours awarded, and a provider signature.

Miss the renewal window for either credential and you lose the designation. Getting it back means reapplying or meeting reinstatement requirements. Keep certificates for every seminar, webinar, and course as you complete them; reconstructing a CLE record years later is where most lapses actually happen.

1
Truckee Meadows Community College. Paralegal/Law Program
2
NALA. Eligibility Requirements for Certification
3
NALA. Applying for the Exam
4
NALA. About the CP Exam
5
NALA. Testing Fees
6
NALA. Certified Paralegal Exam FAQs
7
National Federation of Paralegal Associations. PACE and PCCE Information
8
National Federation of Paralegal Associations. Paralegal CORE Competency Exam
9
NALA. Advanced Certified Paralegals
10
NALA. Continuing Legal Education Classification
11
National Federation of Paralegal Associations. Continuing Legal Education