Legal Assistant

Overview

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Legal Assistants play one of the most important roles in the legal industry. Though individual attorneys are ultimately responsible for the legal work they produce and the strategies they devise, many tasks – from legal research and writing, source citing, filing, and others – are delegated to legal assistants. As such, it is imperative for successful Legal Assistants to have a fundamental understanding of the primary substantive and procedural elements applicable to the practice of law so that they can support the attorneys as best as possible. To be as successful as possible on the job, Legal Assistants require a broad understanding of the law, various civil litigation principles where Legal Assistants are used most often as well as the ethical considerations that affect every aspect of the job.

This program offers an in-depth view of the role of legal assistants and paralegals play as an essential part of the overall profession. Examining the myriad of skills used by legal assistants everyday alongside the typical legal working environment, learners will explore the common areas of law in which they’ll likely be working, the various ethical considerations that may arise as well as the sources of law they’ll reference every day. Learners will also be introduced to various career opportunities available to trained legal assistants. This program also provides participants with a comprehensive understanding of professional responsibility in the legal field and how these laws apply to all legal staff, specifically. In addition to the general legal ethical concepts presented in the course, learners will research individual state professional responsibility rules as they apply to the overall field and to the paralegal role.

Program Objectives

After completing this program, learners will be able to:

• Analyze ethical issues commonly encountered by a paralegal
• Articulate the legal principles of tort law
• Describe elements in preparing for trial
• Prepare for a client interview
• Describe the authority and functioning of administrative agencies
• Describe the classifications and elements of contracts
• Describe the primary forms of business
• Describe the process of becoming a paralegal professional
• Describe the sources of American law
• Examine the state and federal court systems
• Describe the types of alternate dispute resolution
• Distinguish among various environments that may use the services of a paralegal
• Draft legal documents
• Examine estate planning and probate
• Examine how the paralegal profession is regulated
• Examine the legal principles of family law
• Explain criminal law and procedure
• Explain the appellate process
• Explain the investigation process
• Explain the trial process
• Explore styles and formats used in legal writing
• Outline the basic principles of property law
• Prepare a resume for a paralegal position
• Research legal matters
• Summarize the role of the paralegal in the American legal system
• Use Microsoft Office®