The eLearning Center for Gatlin Education Services

Perhaps the most important skills of any paralegal are writing, analysis, and legal research. A skilled writer is an extremely valuable asset to any law office. This workshop-style course is designed to hone the student''s writing and thinking skills by concentrating on basic principles of legal writing and analysis. Students learn to use powerful research tools, including online facilities from Westlaw and traditional book-based methods. Students prepare a variety of legal documents and research various issues. Results are reviewed by the instructor and other students in an online setting. This is one of the great advantages of online learning: the fostering of a community where students can easily share their work product and ideas with their fellow students.

Objectives:

• Research and brief a legal issue.
• Understand the methodology of legal research.
• Recognize conceptual issues within varied fact situations.
• Become conversant with primary and secondary source materials.
• Communicate researched subject matter through various formats.

Supplementary Course Documents:

Week One Lectures:

• Legal Research
• Legal Analysis
• Elements

Week Two Lectures:

• Legal Research
• Legal Interviewing
• Communication Skills
• Legal Investigation

Week Three Lectures:

• Legal Research
• Legal Writing
• Basic Writing Guidelines
• Legal Letters
• Memoranda of Law
• Appellate Briefs

Week Four Lectures:

• Computers in the Law Office
• Validation of Research

Additional Materials:

• Paralegal Article: “LEGAL AIDE FOR LAWYERS: Paralegals May Cut Down on a Firm's Workloads and Costs”
• Fact Pattern One
• Fact Pattern Two
• Westlaw Guide

Discussion Topics

Week 1:

• Briefing Cases
• Hands on Legal Research and Writing
• Crimes Library Discussion

Week 2:

• Client Interview
• Paralegal Article: The Use of Paralegals in the Law Office 

Week 3:

• Legal Interview Exercise
• Legal Letter Writing Exercise 

Week 4:

• Why Validate?
• Additional Discussion Topic TBA

Practical Assignment (required):

The Practical Assignment is due by the end of Week Three.

Optional practical assignments are also available for extra credit.

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:

Week 1:

• How to Study Law
• Classroom Learning
• Online Learning
• On the Job Learning
• Overview of Legal Research
  
• The Paralegal in the Legal System
• Questions, Frustration, and Challenges
• The Five Major Paralegal Professional Organizations
• Job Definitions and Titles
• Salary Outlook
• Historical Perspective; the Development of the “Paralegal”

Week 2:

• Paralegal Employment
• The Job Market; Where Paralegals Work
• Law Firms
• Corporations
• Government Agencies
• Paralegal Specialties
• A Dictionary of Functions
• Finding a Job; Employment Strategies
• The Job Hunting Notebook
• Your Second Job
• Employment in Selected Large Firms and Corporations
• Survey of State Government Job Classifications
  
• On the Job Realities;  Assertiveness Thinking for Paralegals
• Typical Employment Issues and Problems
• Importance of Communication Skills
• Realistic Expectations
• The Environment of a Law Office
• Office Politics
• Self-Assessment and Employer Evaluations
• Characteristics of Some Attorneys
• Importance of Paralegal Continuing Education
• Sexual Harassment on the Job
• Career Ladders
• Networking and Paralegal Associations

Week 3:

• The Regulation of Paralegals
• Kinds of Regulation
• Unauthorized and Authorized Practice of Law
• Licensing of Paralegals
• Bar Association Control of Paralegals and Paralegal Education
• Should Paralegals Become Part of Bar Associations?
• Self-Regulation by Paralegals; The Certification Debate
• Tort Liability of Paralegals
• Malpractice Insurance
  
• Introduction to the Legal System
• Federalism, Checks and Balances
• Common Law and our Adversarial System
• Judicial Systems; Court Hierarchies
• Administrative Agencies
• The Legislative Process

Week 4:

• Important Paralegal Skills
• 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