SOUTH PARIS – Catherine Roakes, a paralegal for Hanley & Associates and Oxford Title, has successfully completed the two-day certified legal assistant examination and is now entitled to use the CLA professional credential, according to the National Association of Legal Assistants Inc.

Roakes is among a select number of legal assistants in the state and 12,492 legal assistants nationwide who have attained this goal.

Roakes’ area of focus is in real estate title examination and property law matters. Hanley & Associates and Oxford Title provide a broad range of legal services with offices in South Paris and Bethel.

Established in 1976, the certified legal assistant examination program is a voluntary professional credentialing program developed by the National Association of Legal Assistants and administrated by a board composed of legal assistants, members of the American Bar Association and members of the field of education active in legal assistant training.

The CLA program involved successful completion of a two-day comprehensive examination covering the topics of communications; legal research; ethics; human relations and interviewing techniques; legal terminology; judgment and analytical ability and substantive law. Thereafter, evidence of continuing legal education must be submitted periodically in order to maintain certified status.