Paralegal Program
Course Descriptions

ORIENTATION

Orientation is the first course in which students enroll. Orientation includes the nitty gritty details you will want to know about going to school. This includes the learning materials you will need, what each course is about, expectations of you as a student, and how to be successful in school. This is the time to get to know your instructors, the school staff, and your fellow students. Discussions include potential obstacles you will encounter while in school and methods to overcome them. Orientation is focused on what it takes for you to reach graduation day.

INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL PROFESSIONAL

This course has been designed to introduce students interested in pursuing a career in the legal field as a paralegal, legal assistant, legal administrator or legal professional. The course consists of five separate units each containing its respective legal terminology. It includes defining the paralegal, the requisite skills to become a legal professional, the role of the paralegal in the work place and the legal system (paralegal specialties), professional associations, the regulation of legal assistants & employment opportunities for the paralegal; it also includes the basic principles and structure of office management; timekeeping, billing & overview of accounting systems; marketing issues; administrative and substantive systems in the law office and an overview of law practice technology.

BUSINESS LAW

This module provides an overview of business organizations. It includes an introduction to agency law, the various forms of business organizations, the paralegal’s role in the creation and organization of business organizations and state-specific business organization statutes and practice. This module focuses on Virginia business organizations and the role of the State Corporation Commission.

ETHICS

This course introduces the student to the ethical rules of the American Bar Association and the model codes of paralegal associations. It focuses on major ethical issues confronting paralegals in the real world. Students learn to identify and avoid conflicts of interest, learn client confidentiality, understand billing practices, spot improper use of trust accounts, avoid notary coercion, subscribe to client confidentiality and avoid the unauthorized practice of law.

LAW OFFICE ACCOUNTING

This course covers the general principles of law office accounting and introduces the student to financial reports and accounting forms from the law office perspective. Emphasis is on PC Law & Time slips software.

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE

This course has been designed to provide students with an overview of the criminal justice process. It covers substantive aspects of criminal law including the general principles of criminal liability, specific analysis of particular crimes, parties to crimes, and substantive defenses to crimes. It also provides an overview of Constitutional safeguards and procedures from arrest through trial, sentencing, punishment and appeal.

BANKRUPTCY LAW

This course reviews bankruptcy law and procedure. The student will receive an overview of the various forms of relief provided by the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The course will focus on Chapter 7 law and procedure from the debtor’s perspective. The student will learn the client intake process, how to marshal documents, prepare petitions, schedules and filing with the Courts, learn the nuts and bolts of the “341 hearing," as well as preparing reaffirmation agreements. The students will use and learn Best Case Bankruptcy software and the ECF (electronic case filing) training system.

FAMILY LAW

This course has been designed for students interested in pursuing a career in family law. It consists of an overview of family law and practice, premarital agreements & cohabitation agreements, traditional & common law marriages, annulment, grounds for divorce & its applicable procedure, spousal support, property division & the separation agreement, and child custody & support.

ESTATE PLANNING

This comprehensive course contains legal and forms necessary for estate planning including but not limited to drafting of wills, living trusts, living wills, medical power of attorney, burial power of attorney & durable power of attorney.

LEGAL RESEARCH & WRITING

This course will equip students with the skills needed to effectively conduct legal research and communicate findings. Legal writing involves presenting and communicating that information to others in a clear and concise format. Connecting these two is legal reasoning and analysis, by which the paralegal will learn to analyze existing law found in the research and determine how it might apply in the current situation.

CIVIL LITIGATION I & II

This course has been designed for students interested in working in the field of civil litigation. The course is broken down into four primary parts: Introduction to the nature of civil litigation with a focus on the court system(s) and the role of the paralegal within this field; preparing for litigation with an emphasis on initial investigations and accumulating evidence; litigation including the initial pleadings, motions practice and discovery and trial, trial techniques & post trial procedures including settlements and dismissals. This course also provides an introduction to the broad area of civil wrongs and their appropriate remedies as well as Tort Law principles in the traditional areas of intentional torts, strict liability with an emphasis on negligence.

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

This class is an introduction to computer technology and its applications within the law firm with an emphasis on the Microsoft Office Suite Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access and Excel are the focus of the course. Students will be eligible to sit for the Microsoft Certification examination. Upon passing the exam, students will be a certified in the MOS (Microsoft Office Systems).

KEYBOARDING & LEGAL TRANSCRIPTION

Keyboarding is a skill enhancement program designed to upgrade keyboarding skills through technique development, individualized error analysis and individualized prescriptive recommendations of typing drills to correct key stroking weakness. Once the student achieves confidence and speed, h/she is introduced to legal transcription. This is where documents are converted from the spoken word to printed form. It also equips them with the perspective, capacity and knowledge of terminology, guidelines and formatting skills needed to prepare authentic, accurate legal documents.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS

This course is a comprehensive survey of grammar and composition. Special emphasis will be placed on the eight parts of speech and sentence structure. Other topics to be covered include punctuation, capitalization, subject/verb agreement, and correct pronoun usage. In addition, proper word choice will be discussed, and paragraph structure will be analyzed in depth. Students will receive instruction on the various forms of the business letter.

INTERNSHIP

This is the most important course. It provides the student with an opportunity to gain practical work experience under the supervision of an attorney or other legal professional(s). The student must complete 135 hours of work at the internship site. It may be a private or public law office, corporation, government legal department, Courthouse or other appropriate law-related settings. The student must attend the initial seminar session and meet a minimum of three (3) times with the Internship Director.