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<p>Graduates of the Legal Education Institute at Delaware Law School celebrated their accomplishments with a certificate award ceremony that marked their completion of the program.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We have career changers as well as career seekers,&rdquo; Institute Director Nicole Ballenger told the group, gathered in the Barristers&rsquo; Club on May 23. &ldquo;All of you have worked very, very hard.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The institute prepares paralegals and legal nurse consultants to work under the direct supervision of attorneys. The American Bar Association-approved program offers associate&rsquo;s and bachelor&rsquo;s degrees, as well as a general certificate in paralegal studies. Concentrations are available in corporate law, criminal law, litigation, health law, estate administration law and intellectual property law. The program graduated 31 people over the last academic year.</p>
<p>Event speaker Rose L. Green, a paralegal at Cooch and Taylor P.A., challenged the graduates to reach for the stars.</p>
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<div style="float: right; padding: 5px; width: 33%;"><img src="{staticroot}files/resources/leigradceremony2016.jpg" alt="" width="95%;" />
<p><em>See <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/widenerlaw/albums/72157668068858950" target="_blank">additional photos</a> from the ceremony.</em></p>
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<p>&ldquo;I salute you for your tenacity and determination,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re about to embark on the best career of your lives.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Two awards were given during the program. Ballenger gave the outstanding faculty award to Margaret A. Cipparrone. Institute Assistant Director Erin Rybicki presented an academic achievement award to Shannon Davis Muldoon, who maintained a 4.0 grade point average. Others who achieved that honor, but were not in attendance, included Tomasina Crocetti, Joanne Morgan and Deborah Long.</p>
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