Paralegal Requirements in Tennessee: Education, Certification and State Rules

Our research found no Tennessee statute or court rule that licenses paralegals, and we could not confirm that absence from a primary source — the state-by-state survey our research read reaches the same conclusion, so read it as where our research stands, not a legal conclusion.

The rules Tennessee does have here regulate the lawyer.

Tennessee Rule of Professional Conduct 5.3 requires a lawyer with direct supervisory authority over a nonlawyer, such as a paralegal or legal assistant, to make reasonable efforts to ensure that person's conduct is compatible with the lawyer's professional obligations.

Under the same rule, the lawyer is personally responsible for a nonlawyer assistant's conduct that would breach the Rules of Professional Conduct if the lawyer ordered or ratified it, or if a supervising or managing lawyer knew of it in time to avoid or mitigate it and failed to act.

The outer limit sits in Rule 5.5(a), which bars a lawyer from assisting another person in the unauthorized practice of law — so a supervising lawyer may not let a paralegal practice law.

Our research did not establish what Tennessee employers ask for, and the state rules we reviewed regulate the lawyer, not a paralegal's education — hiring expectations belong to each employer, so read postings and ask.

What national certifiers recognize shows the preparation routes that can qualify for a voluntary credential.

NALA's first eligibility category for its Certified Paralegal exam 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.

A second category pairs a bachelor's degree in any field with one year of paralegal experience or at least 15 semester hours of substantive paralegal courses, and a third pairs a high school diploma or equivalent with five years of paralegal experience and at least 20 hours of substantive CLE completed within the two years before applying, with an attorney or employer attestation required.

The ABA's role there is program approval, not a credential for individuals.

Our research found no state-run or state-bar paralegal certification in Tennessee — the only credential the survey we read notes for Tennessee is NALA's national CLA/CP one — and Tennessee does not appear in NFPA's list of 16 state-level voluntary paralegal certifications, so check with any Tennessee paralegal association directly about state-level options.

The voluntary credentials our research covers are these.

NALA's credential is the Certified Paralegal (CP), and NALA's own statistics reported 6,665 active Certified Paralegals as of August 1, 2026.

NFPA runs 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.

NALS offers 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.

Our research did not verify individual Tennessee paralegal certificate or degree programs, so this page names no schools — including the university-based certificates people search for by name.

Wherever a program sits, on a campus or online, ask the school directly about its current curriculum, cost, admission requirements and whether it holds ABA approval.

That approval is something a paralegal education program chooses to seek: it follows a self-evaluation report and an on-site visit, the ABA House of Delegates gives final approval, and it is approval of the program — not a credential for you as an individual.

NALA's certificate-versus-certification line above applies to program marketing, too: completing a certificate course is not the same as earning a professional certification.

Our research found no Tennessee limited-license legal paraprofessional program as of October 2026, and Tennessee does not appear in NFPA's list of state legal paraprofessional programs, which names programs in Arizona, Minnesota, Oregon and Utah.

Read that as where our research stands — a not-found, not a confirmation of absence — and check the Tennessee Supreme Court's rules for anything adopted since.

The duties the state sets here instead sit on the supervising lawyer — the Rule 5.3 duties described above.