Paralegal/Legal Assistant Diploma Program – PARA
Law practice is one of the most noble and ancient professions in human history. This course introduces students to the subject of legal assisting and paralegal studies. For those interested in working with attorneys in a professional environment, this course provides a detailed overview of basic law principals and the growing reliance upon non-lawyers to provide efficient and ethical legal services to individuals, businesses, organizations and government agencies in today’s global and technology driven world.
Learning in this course may further student’s understanding of legal research, writing and analysis. Students can expect to learn about computer software prevalent in law offices and courthouses across the United States. Understanding legal protocol and having the ability to locate statutes and laws enables students to live and work more effectively in our complex and litigious society.
Program Outcomes
- Discuss the role of paralegals in the legal system and their basic duties, including skills like legal drafting, client billing, and conducting interviews.
- Identify how technology tools, including legal databases and libraries, electronic discovery, and case management software, are utilized by paralegals.
- Describe how the U.S. courts are structured, what the sources of U.S. law are, and how these laws are used to conduct effective legal research.
- Demonstrate how to initiate civil litigation and the role paralegals play in the civil trial process.
- State the rights criminal defendants have and the procedures used to protect those rights.
- Identify ethical rules in the legal system and how they apply to paralegals’ conduct.