The course is the core of the paralegal program. Students will learn the past, present and future of the paralegal profession, including the paralegal defined, educational options, techniques for marketing skills and career opportunities. Instruction on ethics and professional responsibility, the organizational structure of the legal workplace and office culture and politics will prepare students for the challenges of today’s paralegal. Students receive a formal introduction to law by examining sources of American law, the court system and alternative dispute resolution, substantive law in its various forms, as well as administrative law and government regulation. Legal procedures and advanced skills involving civil litigation and trial procedures, criminal law, conducting interviews and investigations, using primary and secondary sources to legal research, the emerging technology of computer assisted legal research, in addition to legal analysis and writing provide valuable insight and a solid foundation for the future legal assistant.
