Paralegal Requirements in Maryland: Education, Certification and State Rules
Our research found no Maryland statute or court rule that licenses paralegals — and with the Judiciary's site down all day, we could not confirm that absence from a primary source.
What Maryland does regulate is the practice of law: under Md.
Code, Bus.
Occ. & Prof. § 10-601(a), no one — except as the law otherwise provides — may practice, attempt or offer to practice law unless admitted to the Bar; § 10-606 sets the penalties.
Nothing our research reviewed makes a paralegal certificate, degree or national certification a state requirement here.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
Our research found no Maryland statute or court rule licensing paralegals; with the Judiciary site unreachable during our research pass, we could not confirm that absence from a primary source.
None found in our research — no Maryland state-run or state-bar paralegal credential.
None found in our research — Maryland does not appear in NFPA's list of state legal paraprofessional programs.
Not established for Maryland in our research — the statutes we reviewed set no education requirement, so expectations come from each employer.
Does Maryland regulate paralegals?
Our research found no Maryland statute or court rule that licenses or certifies paralegals, and we could not confirm that absence from a primary source — the Judiciary's site sat in planned maintenance all day — so read it as where our research stands, not a legal conclusion.
Our leads pointed to Maryland Rule 19-305.3, on responsibilities regarding nonlawyer assistants, but we could not read its text, so check the current rule on the Judiciary's site.
What Maryland does regulate is the practice of law: under Md.
Code, Bus.
Occ. & Prof. § 10-601(a) — except as otherwise provided by law — a person may not practice, attempt to practice, or offer to practice law in the State unless admitted to the Bar, and § 10-606(a)(3) makes a violation of § 10-601 by an individual a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, up to 1 year in prison, or both; a corporation, partnership or other association that violates § 10-601 or § 10-602 faces a fine of up to $5,000.
That statute sets the outer limit on what a paralegal may do alone: the practice of law itself belongs to lawyers admitted to the Bar.
“Except as otherwise provided by law, a person may not practice, attempt to practice, or offer to practice law in the State unless admitted to the Bar.”
What education do Maryland employers expect?
Our research did not establish what Maryland employers ask for, and the statutes we reviewed set no paralegal education requirement — hiring expectations belong to each employer, so read postings and ask.
What NALA recognizes for its Certified Paralegal exam shows the preparation routes that can qualify for a voluntary credential: its first eligibility category accepts graduation from a paralegal program with ABA approval, an associate degree program, a post-baccalaureate paralegal certificate program, a bachelor's degree in paralegal studies, or a paralegal program of at least 60 semester hours with at least 15 semester hours of substantive legal courses.
The ABA's role there is program approval, not a credential for individuals: approval is something a paralegal education program chooses to seek, not a license to work.
Which voluntary certifications can Maryland paralegals earn?
Our research found no state-run or state-bar paralegal certification in Maryland, and Maryland does not appear in NFPA's list of 16 state-level voluntary paralegal certifications or in its list of state legal paraprofessional programs.
The credentials a Maryland paralegal can pursue are therefore national: NALA's Certified Paralegal; NFPA's two exams — the entry-level Paralegal CORE Competency Exam (PCCE), which earns the CRP designation, and the advanced Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE), which earns the Registered Paralegal (RP) designation; and NALS's three certifications — ALP (Accredited Legal Professional), CLP (Certified Legal Professional) and PP (Professional Paralegal) — with no NALS membership required for the exams.
One distinction matters when you read program marketing: NALA draws a line between a certificate, which recognizes completing a learning program, and a certification, which validates mastery against a professional standard — finishing a paralegal course does not by itself make you a certified paralegal.
Where can you earn a paralegal certificate in Maryland?
Our research did not verify individual Maryland paralegal certificate or degree programs, so this page names no schools — including the university-based and online certificates people search for by name.
Wherever a program sits, on a Maryland campus or fully online, ask the school directly about its current curriculum, cost, admission requirements, format and whether it holds ABA approval, which is approval of the program and not a credential for you as an individual.
The certificate-versus-certification line above applies to program marketing, too: completing a certificate course is not the same as earning a professional certification.
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the Maryland court rules, board and bar pages and other sources listed below, as read for this state-by-state paralegal requirements series, current as of October 2026.
It is not a substitute for the instructions the Supreme Court of Maryland publishes.
What Paralegal Job Listings in Maryland Show Right Now
From the 11 active paralegal listings on LawFirmHires as of October 8, 2026.
Pay employers post
- 73% of paralegal listings in Maryland state any pay at all.
Source: active paralegal listings on LawFirmHires, updated daily. Pay figures use only listings that state pay (midpoint of each posted range). Benefits count listings that name the benefit; a listing that doesn’t mention one may still offer it.
Browse 11 jobs →Frequently Asked Questions
Does Maryland require a license or certification to be a paralegal?
Our research found no Maryland statute or court rule that licenses or certifies paralegals, and we could not confirm that absence from a primary source because the Maryland Judiciary's site was unreachable during our research pass — treat it as the state of our research, not a legal conclusion.
What our research confirmed on the books is the unauthorized-practice rule: Md.
Code, Bus.
Occ. & Prof. § 10-601(a) — except as otherwise provided by law — bars practicing, attempting or offering to practice law without admission to the Bar.
Confirm the current rules with the Maryland Judiciary before you rely on any of this.
Can a paralegal give legal advice or go to court in Maryland?
Maryland's unauthorized-practice statute, Md.
Code, Bus.
Occ. & Prof. § 10-601(a), lets no one — except as otherwise provided by law — practice, attempt to practice, or offer to practice law in the State unless they are admitted to the Bar, and § 10-606(a)(3) makes a violation of § 10-601 by an individual a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, up to 1 year in prison, or both.
We could not read Maryland's court rule on nonlawyer assistants, so where a specific support role's work ends and the practice of law begins is a question for the supervising attorney.
Is a paralegal certificate the same as certification in Maryland?
No. A certificate records that you completed a course of study; a certification validates mastery against a professional standard.
NALA, which runs the Certified Paralegal exam, draws exactly that line, and finishing a paralegal course does not by itself make you a certified paralegal.
Our research found no state-run or state-bar paralegal certification in Maryland, so the voluntary credentials described on this page are national ones.
How do you become a paralegal in Maryland?
Nothing our research reviewed sets a state licensing step: our research found no Maryland statute or court rule that licenses paralegals, so the path runs through education, optional national certifications and each employer's own hiring bar.
Complete a degree or a paralegal certificate program, verify the school's current offering directly with the school, and consider a national credential such as NALA's Certified Paralegal once you meet one of its eligibility categories.
Can you earn a Maryland paralegal certificate online?
Our research did not verify individual Maryland programs or which of them run online, so ask each school you are considering about its current format.
What our research does confirm is the testing side of the national credentials: NALA's CP Knowledge Exam can be taken at a Prometric center, by remote proctoring, or with an approved partner proctor, and the PCCE and PACE are given by Prometric at test centers or remotely through ProProctor at no extra fee.
Confirm current arrangements with each certifying body before you register.
More Maryland Resources
Sources
- Maryland Code, Business Occupations and Professions § 10-601 — Maryland General Assembly (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- Maryland Code, Business Occupations and Professions § 10-606 — Maryland General Assembly (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- Maryland Judiciary (mdcourts.gov) (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NALA: 2026 CP Program Handbook (PDF) (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NALA: about the CP exam (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NALA: certification (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NFPA: PACE and PCCE exams (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NFPA: positions and issues — regulation (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NALS: 2025 certification resource manual (PDF) (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- ABA: general approval process information (retrieved 2026-10-02)
Sourced from the documents listed above.
Verified October 2026.
This is career information, not legal advice.
Confirm current rules with the Supreme Court of Maryland.