Membership

AAfPE bylaws provide for six classifications of membership: Institutional, Associate, Affiliate, Sustaining, Individual, and Honorary.

With almost 400 members, AAfPE is the nation’s largest and continuously operating organization dedicated to promoting quality paralegal and legal studies education. AAfPE members enjoy access to a wealth of resources including:

• The AAfPE Listserv, where you can post questions, learn, and share resources at your leisure 
• The Legal Educator, where you can subscribe and remain informed through AAfPE's double-blind peer-reviewed professional journal
• The Electronic Resource Library (ERL), our extensive collection of course and program level content and materials available for AAfPE members and their faculty to use
• Access to the online Membership Directory to connect with peers
• AAfPE Bytes, our technology newsletter
• Discounts when registering for AAfPE conferences
• And much more!

AAfPE's membership includes hundreds of universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher learning throughout the United States and in Canada. Since 1981, AAfPE's member schools have trained thousands of paralegal students each year to help increase, improve, and support access to the legal system in their communities.

Join AAfPE Today!

All new applications for membership must be completed electronically using the provided application form, along with specified supporting documentation. All application material must be sent in a single email to [email protected]. Applications will not be processed until the non-refundable application processing fee and first year's dues are paid. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing. 

Membership dues are assessed on a calendar year basis and are payable by January 1 of each year. Invoices will be sent to all current members by AAfPE Headquarters staff during the fall of the preceding year. Dues may be paid by check, VISA, MasterCard, or American Express. If paying by check, submit your application and attachments electronically and send your check to:

AAfPE Headquarters
222 S. Westmonte Drive, Ste 111
Altamonte Springs, FL 32714

Credit card payments can be sent via fax to: 407-774-6440.

Where new applications for membership are made part-way through the year, an allowance is made to adjust dues for the first year of membership only. Please see the pro-rated dues table for new membership applications submitted during the calendar year and base your first-year's dues remittance on this table.

Please see below for more information on AAfPE's Membership Types.

Member Types

Institutional Member

Institutional Membership is available to schools offering paralegal and legal assistant education programs that are either approved by the American Bar Association or in substantial compliance with the ABA guidelines and accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency. As an Institutional Member, one representative from that school is able to vote at the annual business meeting as well as the institution receiving full membership benefits.

Benefits include: 

• Access to the AAfPE listserv for answers to pressing questions and shared ideas with colleagues;
• A subscription to The Legal Educator magazine, which is published one to two times a year to remain informed through AAfPE's double-blind peer-reviewed professional journal
• The ability to establish a chapter of Lambda Epsilon Chi (LEX), the national honor society founded by AAfPE;
• Access to the ever-expanding Members Only area of the AAfPE website;
• AAfPE Bytes, our technology newsletter;
• Discounts when registering for AAfPE conferences;
• Access to the Electronic Resource Library (ERL), our extensive collection of course and program level content and materials available for AAfPE members and their faculty to use to assist you in program direction;
• Access to the online Membership Directory to connect with peers

Dues are $495 annually (January 1 – December 31)
There is also an initial one-time $50 application processing fee for this category for new schools.

Download the institutional membership application

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Associate Member

Associate Membership is open to all institutions that promote the purposes of AAfPE, but do not yet qualify for Institutional membership. This is a non-voting membership category. Associate Members shall demonstrate their dedication to the purposes of AAfPE by providing evidence of:

• A well-designed curriculum with a logical sequence of courses that emphasize interactive learning and assignments that teach practical job-related skills in conjunction with underlying legal theory.
• A learning environment that provides access to legal research library facilities and quality classrooms that provide opportunities for interaction among students and between students and the instructor.
• A faculty which consists of legal professionals or other qualified persons in good standing in their profession who possess the necessary expertise and experience in their subject area and who have experience working as or with paralegals.
• Advertise their programs in an ethical manner and in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
• Provide adequate release time or other compensation for their program director and administrative support for the program director to develop, monitor and accomplish the goals and objectives of the program.
• Provide student services that include academic counseling and career information and counseling.

NOTE: Associate Members are prohibited from using AAfPE membership for advertisement or endorsement purposes.

Benefits include: 

• Access to the association listserv for answers to pressing questions and shared ideas with colleagues;
• a subscription to The Legal Educator magazine, which is published one to two times a year;
• the ability to establish a chapter of Lambda Epsilon Chi (LEX), the national honor society founded by AAfPE;
• access to the ever-expanding Members Only area of the AAfPE website, including the online membership directory, full-text articles from The Legal Educator, and access to the Electronic Resource Library, a repository of new information, resources, and tools to assist you in program direction.

Dues are $495 annually (January 1 – December 31)
There is also an initial one-time $50 application processing fee for this category for new schools.
If an Associate member wishes to change status to Institutional, a non-refundable $50.00 application processing fee along with the Institutional application is required. There would not be an additional dues payment.

Download the Associate membership application

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Affiliate Membership

Available to any institution that offers a program of paralegal or legal studies education and ascribes to the policies of AAfPE, but does not qualify as an Institutional or Associate Member. This is a non-voting category.

NOTE: Affiliate Members are prohibited from using AAfPE membership for advertisement or endorsement purposes.

Benefits include: 

• Access to the association listserv for answers to pressing questions and shared ideas with colleagues;
• a subscription to The Legal Educator magazine, which is published one to two times a year;
• the ability to establish a chapter of Lambda Epsilon Chi (LEX), the national honor society founded by AAfPE;
• access to the ever-expanding Members Only area of the AAfPE website, including the online membership directory, full-text articles from The Legal Educator, and access to the Electronic Resource Library, a repository of new information, resources, and tools to assist you in program direction.

Dues are $325 annually (January 1 – December 31)
There is also an initial one-time $50 application processing fee for this category for new schools.
If an Affiliate member wishes to change status to Associate or Institutional, a non-refundable $50.00 application processing fee along with the Institutional or Associate application is required. There would not be an additional dues payment.

Download the Affiliate membership application

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Sustaining Membership

Law firms, agencies, organizations, consultants, paralegals or other individuals or entities interested in paralegal education may join as Sustaining Members.

Benefits include:

• Access to the association listserv for answers to pressing questions and shared ideas with colleagues;
• a subscription to The Legal Educator magazine, which is published one to two times a year;
• the ability to establish a chapter of Lambda Epsilon Chi (LEX), the national honor society founded by AAfPE;
• access to the ever-expanding Members Only area of the AAfPE website, including the online membership directory, full-text articles from The Legal Educator, and access to the Electronic Resource Library, a repository of new information, resources, and tools to assist you in program direction.

Dues are $500 annually (January 1 – December 31)

Download the Sustaining Membership application

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Individual Membership

Individual memberships are for persons affiliated with a member program, as well as for individuals who have retired from, or otherwise left, a member institution so long as they remain unaffiliated with a paralegal program. Individual memberships cannot be used as a substitute for Institutional, Associate, or Affiliate membership. If an institution does not renew its membership, all individual members associated with that institution shall be notified that they will not be eligible to renew their individual memberships until the institution has renewed its membership. Individual members who become affiliated with a paralegal program at a non-member institution shall also be notified that they will not be eligible to renew their individual memberships until the institution becomes a member institution or renews its membership. This will be monitored by the President-Elect in his or her capacity as Chairperson of the Membership Committee. This is a non-voting membership category.

Benefits include: 

• Access to the association listserv for answers to pressing questions and shared ideas with colleagues;
• a digital subscription to The Legal Educator magazine, which is published twice a year;
• access to the ever-expanding Members Only area of the AAfPE website, including the online membership directory, full-text articles from The Legal Educator, and access to the Electronic Resource Library, a repository of new information, resources, and tools to assist you in program direction.   

Dues are $30 annually (January 1 – December 31)

Download the Individual membership application

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Honorary Membership

An honorary, emeritus status may be conferred annually upon two (2) persons who have provided outstanding service to the organization, but are no longer actively involved in paralegal education through AAfPE. Honorary membership status confers on the individual lifetime membership in the organization, a digital subscription to The Legal Educator, and a complimentary conference registration in the year in which honorary member status is awarded as well as 50% off future national conference registration fees. Nominations for Honorary membership must be supported by a letter of recommendation from two different voting AAfPE member institutions. The award is presented at the national conference.  

If you are interested in nominating someone for this achievement, please send your letters of recommendation, on institution letterhead, by June 30, 2019 to AAfPE Headquarters. 

AAfPE is pleased to honor the following members who have given of their time and talent to the association:

* Deceased

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**REMINDER**

All new applications for membership must be completed electronically using the provided application form, along with specified supporting documentation. All application material must be sent in a single email to [email protected]. Applications will not be processed until the non-refundable application processing fee and first year's dues are paid. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing. 

Where new applications for membership are made part-way through the year, an allowance is made to adjust dues for the first year of membership only. Please see the pro-rated dues table for new membership applications submitted during the calendar year and base your first-year's dues remittance on this table.

Membership dues are assessed on a calendar year basis and are payable by January 1 of each year. Invoices will be sent to all current members by AAfPE Headquarters staff during the fall of the preceding year. Dues may be paid by check, VISA, MasterCard, or American Express. If paying by check, submit your application and attachments electronically and send your check to:

AAfPE Headquarters
222 S. Westmonte Drive, Ste 111
Altamonte Springs, FL 32714

Credit card payments can be sent via fax to: 407-774-6440 (secured).