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Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

: Practical Paralegalism

Road to NALA CP Exam: Flash Cards vs. Zombies

By Lynne DeVenny

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A Facebook comment from my friend and Paralegal Voice co-host, Vicki Voisin, The Paralegal Mentor, on one of my status updates about iPad games on sale over the Labor Day Weekend, "Aren't you supposed to be studying for the CLA/CP exam?" reminded me that I am supposed to be planning my assault on said exam - and I am. But is eight months enough preparation time?

(I didn't actually buy any more iPad games - except for the well-reviewed and highly addictive Plants vs. Zombies, which was not on sale. We had an unused iTunes gift card, and I owed it to the kids after downloading a half dozen free SAT prep books for them.)

But I have been working on acquiring the materials needed to prepare for the CLA/CP exam. Last week, I reminded Rana, my co-worker, study buddy - and also our office manager - that I need those checks I requested to submit our membership applications to NALA.

I also priced the study materials recommended by NALA, and checked to see what is available for any of the iPad's e-reader apps. Right now none are available, although I submitted Kindle requests via Amazon.com, so maybe future test-takers will have that option. I ordered used copies of NALA's CLA/CP Study Guide and Mock Examination (around $40) and The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition (a whopping $2.52).

I'd love to hear from any of you who used the CLA Review Manual: A Practical Guide to CLA Exam Preparation by Virginia Newman as to whether it's worth the substantial price (around $70 used and over $120 new). In fact, I'd love to hear from any readers who have taken the CLA/CP exam regarding the study materials you found most helpful (especially those of you who took the exam long after graduating from a formal paralegal program).

I'm a flash card kind of gal. The CLA/CP Exam Flashcard Study System ($39.99) is on my wish list, but I purchased Cramberry flash cards for iPad ($1.99) to make my own flash cards as I study. Now any time I have to sit and wait - at a doctor's office, while getting the oil changed in my car, or on my daughter at one of her many extracurricular activities - I have no excuse not to fire up the iPad and run through some flash cards.

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. Now I'm off to throw some exploding plants at some marauding zombies...

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on September 05, 2010 (boomark / email).