The eLearning Center for Gatlin Education Services

As a practicing paralegal, you will be involved daily with clients who have come to your firm for legal representation and guidance. You will be involved in real-life cases throughout your career. This course is dedicated to developing the skills you will need to work with clients and investigating and analyze their situations. Topics covered include:

• The fundamentals of working with clients and attorneys in real life cases.
• How to analyze fact patterns, identify elements, present issues, and apply legal principles to the facts of the case.
• How to interview clients, selling the firm, and drafting intake memos.
• How to take a witness statement and how to read your witnesses and clients.
• The importance of evidence, the concept of admissibility, and the distinction between direct evidence and circumstantial evidence.
• How to read and analyze court opinions.

Other subjects covered include: The nature and context of investigation, sources of evidence, sources of leads, gaining access to records, evaluating evidence, interviewing witnesses, taking witness statement and settlement workups.

In short, this very important course will prepare you to become an indispensable part of your law firm''s case investigation team.

Objective: 

This module is intended to acquaint the student with the basic realities of law practice. Legal analysis, legal interviewing and legal investigation are explored and examined from the perspective of the paralegal.

Reading Assignments:

Reading assignments are given weekly from the provided textbooks.  Reading is also assigned from the supplementary course documents as listed below.

Supplementary Course Documents:

Students have continuous access to these course materials via the online classroom.

• Westlaw Guide
• Legal Analysis
• Legal Interviewing
• Legal Investigation
• 18 U.S.C.A. § 201
• Kumho Tire Case

Discussion Topics

Discussions are a mandatory part of the course and make up 15% of the total grade given.  They are broken down by week in the online classroom.

Practical Assignment (required):

The Practical Assignment is posted at the beginning of Week Three and due by the end of that week.

Quizzes and Tests

All students are required to take a final test during the final week of the course. Tests are administered in the online classroom, and all answers must be submitted by the last day of class.

Grading:

Grading is calculated as follows:

Quiz	50% of final grade
Practical Assignments	35% of final grade
Participation on Discussion Boards	15% of final grade
	100% Total

Course Topics:

• Legal Analysis
• Introduction
• The structure of legal analysis
• The element-identification skill
• The issue-statement skill
• The definitions skill
• Factor analysis
• Briefing court opinions
• Applying court opinions
• Legal Interviewing
• Client Relations
• Hiring the Firm
• The Context of Interviewing in Litigation
• Format of an Intake Memo
• What Facts Do You Need?  Guides to the Formulation of Questions
• What Does the Client Want?
• Assessing Your Own Biases
• Communication Skills
• Investigation in a Law Office
• The Nature and Context of Investigation
• Fact Analysis
• Distortions in Investigations
• Gaining Access to Records
• Evaluating Testimonial and Physical Evidence
• Interviewing Witnesses
• Special Problems in Investigations
• Taking a Witness Statement
• Working up a Settlement