Program Description

The program prepares students with the skills and academic knowledge necessary for a career as a legal assistant/paralegal working under the supervision of a licensed attorney. The American Bar Association defines a paralegal as "a person qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible." These career opportunities may be in small or large firms working as a legal assistant/paralegal. The duties of a legal assistant/paralegal include assisting the lawyer with research, brief preparation, and other legal office administration, but do not include practicing law, advising clients, or setting fees since paralegals may not provide legal services directly to the public except as permitted by law.

Program Objectives

Upon completion of their program, the student should be able to:

1. Draft legal documents in areas of law studied including torts and family law, probate procedure, and contracts.
2. Demonstrate the ability to define and articulate law practices in a variety of legal settings where legal assistants/paralegals work, including small and large private firms, corporations, and governmental agencies; the emerging role of the legal assistant/paralegal; and the place of the legal assistant/paralegal in expanding the delivery of legal services.
3. Demonstrate the ability to define and articulate the affect of change in the delivery of legal services and corresponding needs for well-qualified legal assistants/paralegals.
4. Demonstrate mastery of word-processing, Internet and legal research technologies in a typical law office environment.
5. Demonstrate the ability to define and articulate alternatives to litigation including mediation, voluntary and mandatory arbitration.
6. Demonstrate the ability to articulate ethical decision-making in the legal environment.
7. Think critically both conceptually and by using mathematical analysis; write and speak effectively; use basic computer applications; and understand human behavior in the context of the greater society

Potential Job Position Titles

• Legal Assistant
• Paralegal

Program Length
The average length of time for a student taking a full course load is four semesters.

Program Content
A minimum of 63 semester credit hours is required for graduation. In addition, students must demonstrate a keyboarding speed of a minimum of 40 net words per minute by the end of their program in order to qualify for the Associate of Science in Legal Assisting/Paralegal degree.

Required Courses
All courses, 28 semester credit hours, are required.

BU 206 Business Law I
This course provides a study of the American legal system and its effect on business and business organizations, as well as an overview of the ethical issues that businesses encounter. Topics include the foundation of the American legal system, the Bill of Rights, business law and ethics, jurisdiction, the structure of the court system, torts, intellectual property, criminal law, cyber crimes, contracts, and sales and leases. >p> IS 102 Computers and Application Software
This course provides an introduction to operating systems, browsers, and email as well as word processing, presentation, spreadsheets, and database applications.

PL 100 Introduction to Legal Assisting
This course provides an overview of the paralegal profession and an introduction to the law and legal procedures. Topics include paralegal duties and responsibilities; ethical issues in legal assisting; sources of American law and legal concepts; the court system and government regulations; corporate law, civil litigation and trial procedures; criminal and administrative law and procedures; conducting interviews and investigations; and legal research and analysis.

PL 106 Legal Research
This course is a practical introduction to the law library and its resources and the fundamentals of traditional and electronic legal research. Emphasis is placed on the paralegal's practical role and skill in assisting the attorney in legal research. Topics include the various research tools including codes; reporters, digests, Shepard's, and Legal encyclopedias; treaties, law reviews, practice manuals, Westlaw, and CD ROM; and Internet research.

PL 130 Family and Tort Law
This course provides the study of family law, torts, and personal injury law. Topics include ethics and family law; cohabitation and marriage alternatives; property settlements and spousal support; child support, child custody, and child custody issues; torts and legal analysis; intentional torts and defenses to intentional torts; negligence, negligence actions, and defenses to negligence; and strict liability, products liability, and tort immunities.

PL 140 Ethics and Paralegal Professionalism
This course presents an in-depth study of the Codes of Professional Responsibility from the ABA and NALA as well as the Code of Judicial Conduct and existing guidelines and case law involving paralegals.

PL 180 Law Office Procedures
This course presents a study of the operation of a private law firm from the perspective of a legal assistant/paralegal. Topics include personnel and their responsibilities and managerial concepts; the various systems and procedures in the law office including time keeping and billing systems, word processing, file organization and management, accounting/bookkeeping systems, trust accounts, docket control, tickler systems, conflicts checks, client development and case management; and current legal office software.

PL 215 Civil Litigation
This course provides an intensive examination of the role of the paralegal in civil litigation. Topics include litigation and the paralegal's role, the courts and their jurisdiction, ethical considerations, investigation and evidence procedures, the initial pleadings, response to the initial pleading, motion practice, discovery procedures and requests, settlements and alternative dispute resolution, and trial techniques and posttrial practices.

PL 250 Legal Writing
This course allows the student to apply practical legal research skills to the drafting and preparation of typical documents that the paralegal will be expected to prepare by their supervising attorney. Topics include research memoranda; client correspondence, demand letters, appellate briefs, incorporation documents, and partnership agreements; wills, leaves, and promissory notes; and medical record summaries.

Elective Courses
A minimum of 12 semester credit hours is required. At least six semester credit hours must be paralegal (PL) courses.

AC 103 Accounting I

BU 105 B usiness Principles and Management

BU 155 Team Development and Group Management

BU 195 E-Business Concepts

IS 120 Word Processing

IS 121 Introduction to the Internet

IS 160 Spreadsheets

PL 138 Wills, Estates, and Bankruptcy

PL 225 Criminal Law

PL 235 Property Law and Intellectual Property Law

PL 246 Environmental Law and Administrative Agencies

PL 294 Career Internship

General Education Requirements
Students enrolled in associate degrees must complete a minimum of 21 semester credit hours in general education.*

1 Semester Credit Hour in Information Literacy
3 Semester Credit Hours in English Composition or Literature
3 Semester Credit Hours in Speech
4 Semester Credit Hours in Mathematics (College Algebra or Above)
3 Semester Credit Hours in Social or Behavioral Science
3 Semester Credit Hours in Science or Humanities with a Critical Thinking Focus **
3 Semester Credit Hours in Cultural Diversity
3 Semester Credit Hours in Mathematics or Natural Science

* Transfer students may use three semester credit hour courses transferred from other colleges to satisfy these discipline requirements. Any resulting deficiency in the total of 37 semester credit hours required in general education may be made up with general education electives from any of the listed disciplines.

** A course with a critical thinking focus would be a course that addresses the theories and application of critical analysis with an emphasis on developing sequential reasoning skills. Examples may be courses in critical thinking, philosophy, logic, or science.

Personal Development Courses
A minimum of two semester credit hours is required in addition to PD 211.

PD 100 Student Success Skills
This course provides instruction in the both theory and practice of personal growth that lead to successful life experience. Topics include research in critical self-analysis of student habits and attitudes; and psychological impediments to successfully setting and achieving personal goals. 1.0 credit hour. Prerequisite: None.

PD 120 Personal Financial Management
This course deals with the concepts of personal financial planning and financial control. Topics center on critical self examination of student planning techniques through analysis and research of personal financial legal documents, checking accounts and banking services; income tax procedures; savings methods; investment planning; risk management and insurance; and credit records, credit law, and the cost of credit. 1.0 credit hour. Prerequisite: None.

PD 150 Client Services
This course provides a critical examination of issues embedded in the practice of providing client service. Topics include research about best practice in customer service and communication techniques; psychologically based methods for dealing with the management of customer complaints; and the roles of a customer service employee and supervisor within ethical boundaries and common business practice. 1.0 credit hour. Prerequisite: None.

PD 200 Career Development Seminar
This seminar provides an opportunity for the student to apply critical self-examination techniques and processes for developing a career path and an awareness of the need to embed life-long learning into career management. Topics include career planning research, job searching, developing career search documents, and refining interview and communication skills within an awareness of psychological boundaries implicit in this process. Successful completion of this course requires the creation of a professional resume suitable for e-mail. 1.0 credit hour. Prerequisite: None.

PD 214 AS/AAS/BS Internship Preparation
This course will assist students in finding and securing the elective internship experience for credit in either an Associate or Bachelor program. Students must pass this course in order to be cleared to start working at their internship site. Students will discover ways to approach a facility about an internship, access the tools they will need to successfully get your internship approved and successfully land an internship that correlates to your field of study.

(Courses are subject to change. Please call (330) 724-1600 or toll free at (800) 311-0512 to request the current course schedule.)