Program objectives
1. Students will describe and define the role of the paralegal in the legal profession through mastering legal terminology, reviewing basic legal research and writing techniques, and developing professional ethics.
2. Students will perform legal research in the library and online while stressing the fundamentals of legal analysis and writing, citation checking, and verification of authority.
3. Students will perform routine tasks involved in managing a law office, including managing case files, following ethics rules, and billing for work performed.
4. Students will research, analyze, and apply both federal and state codes, both civil and criminal, to a variety of fact patterns and will further be able to apply and analyze rules of evidence as they apply to those fact patterns.
5. Students will develop and apply their research and analytical skills to technology that is specific to a law office.
6. Students will develop the skills necessary to work on a variety of real property issues under direct attorney supervision, including document drafting and production.
7. Students will develop the skills necessary to work on a variety of corporate law issues under direct attorney supervision, including drafting and producing documents necessary to establish and maintain business organizations.
8. Students will develop the skills necessary to work on a variety of estate planning and probate issues under direct attorney supervision, including document drafting and production necessary to plan for and process probate proceedings.
9. Students will develop the skills necessary to work on a variety of family law issues under direct attorney supervision, including drafting appropriate documentation, managing case files, and conducting case-specific research.
10. Students will apply necessary paralegal skills from all previous courses into a) a real-life setting in a law firm or other legal organization or b) a comprehensive analysis of a problem or legal research issue.