Certified Legal Secretary

Lesson 1

1. Ethics for Paralegals
   1. Ethics for paralegals
   2. Codes that apply to legal professionals
   3. Specific duties that a paralegal can perform according to the ABA
   4. Confidentiality in your role as a paralegal
   5. What is considered a conflict of interest in your role as a paralegal
   6. Communications with the "other side"
   7. Paralegal disclosure
   8. Model Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility for a paralegal.
2. Law Office Management
   1. Duties you may have as a law office professional
   2. Accounting and billing in the law office
   3. Files and record management in the law office
   4. Technology used in the law office
   5. Types of files encountered in the law office
3. Introduction to Accounting
   1. Overview of Accounting
   2. Methods of Accounting
   3. The Accounting Cycle
   4. Major account groupings
   5. The Accounting Cycle
4. Grammar Essentials
   1. Components of Writing
   2. The components of a sentence
   3. Different types of sentences
   4. Identifying faulty sentences
   5. Using punctuation correctly
   6. Using the correct verb tense in your writing
   7. The function of a paragraph
   8. Using cause and effect in your writing
5. Legal Writing
   1. Importance of legal writing in the legal field
   2. Goal of legal writing
   3. Drafting documents in legal writing
   4. Constructing effective sentences in legal writing
   5. Using defined terms in legal writing
   6. Word usage in legal writing
   7. Redundancies
   8. Commonly misused words in legal writing
   9. Reviewing legal documents
   10. Using FIRAC in legal analysis
6. Legal Research and The Law Library
   1. Introduction
   2. Authorities of Law
   3. FIRAC
   4. Statutory and Case Law
   5. Resources
   6. Computerized Legal Research
   7. Citations and Shepardizing
   8. Summary
7. Introduction to the Legal System
   1. Introduction to terminology used in the legal system
   2. Structure of the government
   3. Judicial system
   4. Jurisdiction in the legal system
   5. Using FIRAC to read a case
8. Administrative Law
   1. Introduction to Administration Law
   2. Administrative Agencies
   3. Administrative Procedures Act
   4. Political Control over Agencies
   5. Rule Making and Right to a Court Review
   6. Examples of Administrative Agencies
9. Civil Litigation
   1. Initial client overview
   2. In the investigation stage, the paralegal needs to examine and inquire into the claim
   3. In pretrial litigation, the initial preparation of pleadings to initiate a lawsuit
   4. The settlement means an agreement has been reached before the trial
   5. The order of the trial/appeal
10. Contracts
    1. Case Law and FIRAC
    2. Contracts
    3. Contract Acceptance
    4. Consideration.
    5. Enforcement
    6. Contractual Capacity
    7. Defenses
    8. Third-Party Beneficiaries
    9. Breach
11. Torts
    1. Types of Torts
    2. Torts to Property
    3. Defenses
    4. Cause of action
    5. Defense of Negligence
    6. Strict Liability
12. Criminal Law and Procedure
    1. Introduction
    2. Intent
    3. Crimes-Battery
    4. Crimes-Felony
    5. Elements of the crime
    6. Criminal capacity
    7. Justification
    8. Summary
13. Family Law Outline
    1. Marriage
    2. Divorce and Separation
    3. Child Custody
    4. Child Support
    5. Spousal Support
    6. Adoption
    7. Division of Property
    8. Summary
14. Business Entity Formation
    1. Choice of entity
    2. Sole proprietorship is an entity that is owned by one person
    3. A partnership requires two or individuals operating the partnership
    4. A corporation comes into existence through the filing of Articles of Incorporation
    5. Limited Liability Company is a type of entity that is a cross between a corporation and a partnership
15. Real Estate Law
    1. Real estate law
    2. Importance of contracts in real estate law
    3. Deeds and titles
    4. Lender rights and leases
    5. Real estate development and easements
16. Probate Law and Estate Planning
    1. Introduction to estate planning
    2. Components of a will
    3. Execution of a will
    4. Trusts in estate planning
17. Bankruptcy Law
    1. Chapter 7 bankruptcy
    2. Chapter 11 bankruptcy
    3. Chapter 13 bankruptcy
    4. The bankruptcy process
    5. The perspectives of bankruptcy