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Paralegal Career For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Paralegal Career For Dummies, 2nd Edition

  • Author:
  • Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
  • ISBN: 9781119564911
  • Published In: April 2019
  • Format: Paperback , 384 pages
  • Jurisdiction: International ? Disclaimer:
    Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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  • Contents 
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    Your career as a top-notch paralegal starts here

    The demand for paralegal professionals is exploding, and Paralegal Career For Dummies, 2nd Edition explains the skills and requirements needed to pursue this rewarding career. Inside, you’ll discover the ins and outs of paralegal skills, from preparing documents and performing legal research to obtaining certification, job hunting, and understanding legal concepts.

    Use this hands-on guide to help in your career considerations, bolster your paralegal training, or as an everyday on-the-job reference. Paralegal Career For Dummies will be your trusty assistant through all phases of your life as a paralegal, taking you forward with tips on networking and joining professional organizations that will enhance your career.

    • Discover the job skills required for success as a paralegal
    • Learn important legal concepts you’ll need on the job
    • Access forms, templates, and examples on the companion website
    • Develop strategies to manage time and advance your career

    Complete with a companion website containing a wealth of valuable information, this book covers everything you need to become a top-notch paralegal.

  • Introduction 1

    About This Book 2

    Foolish Assumptions 2

    Icons Used in This Book 3

    Where to Go from Here 4

    Part 1: A Snapshot of the Exciting And Lucrative Paralegal Profession 5

    Chapter 1: Discovering the Paralegal Profession 7

    Almost a Lawyer: What a Paralegal Does 7

    Researching and analyzing the law 8

    Playing Sherlock: Interviewing and investigating 8

    Convening with clients 9

    Administrating the legal environment 9

    On the Job: Where Paralegals Work 11

    The six-figure paralegal: Working for the big firm 11

    Jack- or Jill-of-all-trades: Working for the small firm 12

    Spreading the love: The pro bono paralegal 12

    Working for the government 12

    Doing it your way: The paralegal as independent contractor 13

    What it Takes: The Skills, Knowledge, and Training You Need 13

    The paralegal personality 14

    Paralegal know-how 15

    Education and experience: Two ways to train 16

    Chapter 2: Membership Has its Privileges: Paralegal Associations and Their Certification Exams 19

    To Join or Not to Join 19

    Characterizing the types of associations 20

    Weighing in on whether or not to join an association 21

    Deciding Whether to Get Certified 22

    Choosing a certification exam 22

    Weighing the pros and cons of paralegal certification 24

    Chapter 3: The Hunt is On: Securing a Paralegal Position 25

    Finding the Perfect Job 25

    Traditional sources: Scanning the job boards and turning to placement services 26

    Networking: It’s who you know 27

    Creating the Documentation 28

    Killer cover letters 28

    Ravishing resumes 30

    Developing an online profile 33

    Setting Up Shop: Starting a Freelance Paralegal Business 34

    Part 2: Important Legal Concepts Every Paralegal Should Know 37

    Chapter 4: “All Rise”: The American Judicial System 39

    Everything Old Is New Again: The Importance of Legal Precedence 40

    Checks and Balances: Branches of U.S Government 42

    The rule makers: The legislative branch 44

    The enforcers: The executive branch 45

    The interpreters: The judicial branch 46

    Playing Fair: Levels of the U.S Judicial System 46

    The federal judicial system 47

    State judicial system 50

    Local judicial systems 53

    Judge and Jury: The U.S Jury System 54

    Order in the court: The bench trial 55

    Petition to your peers: The jury trial 55

    Chapter 5: The Big Three: Categories of Law 57

    Cutting Through the Red Tape: Administrative Law 58

    Building the bureaucracy: Government agencies 58

    Playing by the rules: Administrative law practices 59

    Getting your way: Informal and formal advocacy 61

    Eliminating Any Reasonable Doubt: The Nature of Criminal Law 63

    Building blocks: Elements of criminal liability 64

    High crimes and misdemeanors: Classes of crimes 65

    Maintaining Polite Society: Civil Law 68

    The victor’s spoils: Equitable relief and money damages 68

    Beyond dessert: Tort law 69

    Sealing and unsealing the deal: Contract law 76

    Chapter 6: Taking a Case to Trial: The Litigation Process 79

    Constructing the Criminal Case 79

    Charging the defendant 79

    Pushing through criminal pre-trial procedures 82

    Tackling criminal trial procedure 86

    Tying loose ends with criminal post-trial procedure 87

    Carrying Through a Civil Case 89

    Initiating the civil process 90

    Proceeding through pre-trial tasks 94

    Traveling through the trial 97

    Plodding along in the post-trial 98

    Chapter 7: How it’s Done: Important Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence 101

    Distinguishing Between Procedural Law and Substantive Law 102

    Following the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 102

    Beginning an action: Rule 3 103

    Serving process: Rule 4 104

    Figuring out time limits: Rule 6 105

    Drafting pleadings: Rules 8, 11, and 12 105

    Uncovering the facts: Rules 26, 27, 30, 33, 36, and 37 107

    Requesting a summary judgment: Rule 56 110

    Sticking to State Procedural Rules 111

    Figuring Out Federal Rules of Evidence 111

    The main event: General provisions 112

    What matters: Relevancy 113

    Something special: Privilege 113

    All there?: Competency to testify 114

    Thinking logically: Reasonableness of opinion 115

    The telephone game: Hearsay 115

    The real deal: Authenticity and originality 116

    Chapter 8: Because I Said So: The Categories of Legal Authority 117

    Déjà Vu All Over Again: Review of Stare Decisis 118

    Who’s the Boss? The Premises of Primary and Secondary Authority 119

    First chair: Primary authority 120

    Second fiddle: Secondary authority 121

    Applying the Law: Mandatory and Persuasive Authority 121

    Counting on cases and statues: Mandatory authority 121

    Getting creative with sources: Persuasive authority 123

    Helpful But You Can’t Rely On it: Nonauthority 124

    Chapter 9: The Substantive Law Areas Most Commonly Practiced by Paralegals 125

    Facing the Family: Domestic Law and Estate Planning 125

    Settling the family affair: Domestic law 126

    Looking to the future: Estate planning 127

    Building the Boom and Blanketing the Bust: Business and Bankruptcy Law 130

    Keeping up with capitalism: Business law 131

    Providing debt relief: Bankruptcy law 132

    Compensating for Pain and Suffering: Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice 133

    Placing the blame: Personal injury law 134

    Questioning the bedside manner: Medical malpractice 135

    Getting it in Writing: Entertainment and Real Estate Law 137

    All that glitters: Entertainment law 137

    Preserving the American dream: Real estate law 138

    Protecting Assets: Tax and Intellectual Property Law 139

    Dealing with the IRS: Tax law 140

    Clarifying the rightful owner: Intellectual property law 141

    Part 3: Putting it Into Practice: The Paralegal in the Civil Litigation Process 143

    Chapter 10: The Paper Chase: Preparing Documents 145

    Communicating in Writing: Types of Legal Documents 145

    Getting started: Preliminary documents 146

    Taking it to the judge: Trial and post-trial documents 153

    Making the Case: Effective Document Drafting 153

    Commanding attention: Format of a demand letter 154

    Making your case: The complaint 156

    Striking back: The answer 160

    Presenting a formal analysis: The memorandum of law 162

    Exerting your will: Motions 168

    Playing detective: Disclosure and discovery 170

    Handling trial documents 173

    Chapter 11: Elementary My Dear Watson: Legal Investigation 175

    Searching for Clues: Gathering Evidence 176

    What are you trying to prove? Spotting issues 177

    What order will you follow? Creating checklists 177

    Who are you going to call? Sources of information 179

    Keeping Track: Identifying and Protecting Evidence 183

    Leaving your mark: Identifying evidence 184

    On guard: Protecting evidence 184

    Keeping Order: Organizing the Evidence 184

    Setting a time frame: Chronological organization 185

    Getting the story straight: Organization by versions 185

    Noting discrepancies: Organization by inconsistencies 185

    Chapter 12: Chewing the Fat: Legal Interviewing 187

    Gauging Whether the Case is Valid: Initial Client Interviews 187

    Setting the mood 188

    Directing the content 189

    Ending the initial interview 194

    Completing the Story: Witness Interviews 195

    Preparing Clients and Witnesses for Testimony 197

    Chapter 13: Burning the Midnight Oil: Legal Research 199

    Conducting Legal Research 200

    Searching for applicable law in four easy steps 200

    Reining in the research process 202

    Relying On Tools of the Trade 203

    Establishing a foundation with legal encyclopedias 204

    Analyzing topics with American Law Reports 205

    Digging through digests 206

    Rummaging through reporters 208

    Keeping current with case citators 208

    Opting for other resources 211

    Getting Technological: Computerized Legal Research 212

    Westlaw 212

    Lexis Advance 212

    Bloomberg Law 213

    The Internet 213

    Citing Cases Properly: Citation Format 214

    Citing statutes 215

    Citing cases 215

    Chapter 14: Where the Rubber Hits the Road: Trial Performance 217

    Creating the Ultimate Source of Information: The Trial Notebook 217

    Selecting the Jury: The Paralegal and Voir Dire 221

    Rebelling without a cause: Peremptory challenges 223

    Making a good excuse: Challenges for cause 224

    Dismissing the kit and caboodle: Challenges to the array 224

    Monitoring the pool 224

    Keeping Track of Witnesses 226

    Weighing Testimony: The Paralegal’s Take on the Jury’s Reaction 227

    Preparing Questions for the Attorney 228

    Settling Up: Preparing the Cost Bill 229

    Blood from a Turnip: Collecting a Difficult Judgment 229

    Chapter 15: The Official Word: Ethical Codes for Legal Professionals 231

    Doing What’s Right: The Importance of Ethics 232

    Defining ethics in the field of law 232

    Going too far: The unauthorized practice of law 233

    Following the chain of responsibility 234

    Abiding by the Rules of Professional Conduct 235

    Preserving the client-lawyer relationship 236

    Dealing with others in and out of the law office 238

    Maintaining the integrity of the profession 240

    Sorting through the Codes of Paralegal Associations 240

    Applying the standards of the National Association of Legal Assistants 241

    Knowing the National Federation of Paralegal Associations code 242

    Cracking the codes of other organizations 243

    Part 4: Identifying the Skills Paralegals Need to Soar 245

    Chapter 16: Presenting a Clear, Concise Legal Writing Style 247

    Corresponding Carefully 248

    Letters that impact 248

    Effortless emails 249

    Grammar: Grasping the Foundation of an Effective Writing Style 249

    Identifying the eight parts of speech 249

    Recognizing the elements of a sentence 254

    Sentence Structure: Positioning the Sentence’s Elements 257

    Eliminating wordiness 257

    Positioning modifiers 259

    Using active voice 259

    Employing parallel structure 260

    Punctuation and Mechanics: Mastering the Rules 260

    Rules for proper punctuation 260

    Mastering mechanics 265

    Organization: Structuring the Finished Product 271

    The outline 271

    The paragraph 272

    Specific documents 272

    Proofreading: Polishing the Finished Product 273

    Avoiding Plagiarism 274

    Chapter 17: Using Technology in Law 275

    Operating Computer Hardware and Networks in the Law Office 276

    Getting Savvy on Software Applications for the Law Office 277

    Sticking with standard office software 277

    Navigating special software for law firms 280

    Surfing the Net: Online Resources for Legal Professionals 281

    Researching the globe 281

    Meeting over the miles 283

    Carting Computers into the Courtroom 283

    Cutting the cords: Wireless technology 284

    Recognizing the downside of technology 284

    Chapter 18: Law Office Management 101 287

    Buying Time: Management Systems 287

    Marking the days: The calendar system 288

    Setting the alarm: The tickler system 290

    Getting it in writing: The to-do list 292

    Keeping Account: Billing Systems 294

    Recording time 294

    Creating invoices 295

    A Place for Everything: File Management 296

    Maintaining a filing system 296

    Organizing documents in a file folder 296

    Storing old files 297

    Part 5: The Part of Tens 299

    Chapter 19: The Ten Most Important Rules of Ethics 301

    Avoiding the Unauthorized Practice of Law 301

    Maintaining Client Confidentiality 302

    Disclosing Your Paralegal Status 302

    Reporting Ethics Violations of Other Legal Professionals 302

    Disclosing Information to Prevent Death or Serious Bodily Harm 302

    Sharing Information with Your Supervising Attorney 303

    Avoiding Conflicts of Interest 303

    Obeying All Applicable Attorneys’ Ethics Rules 303

    Giving Something to the Community: Pro Bono Services 304

    Making Your Voice Heard: Supporting Efforts to Improve the Legal System 304

    Chapter 20: Ten Things Every Paralegal Should Know 305

    How to Ask for Help 305

    Your Role 306

    How to Communicate Effectively 306

    The Value of Being Organized 306

    Your Limitations 307

    How to Research 307

    How to Use Technology 307

    The Rules of Professional Responsibility 308

    How to Draft Fundamental Legal Documents 308

    How to Weigh the Value of Paralegal Organizations 308

    Chapter 21: Ten Survival Tips to Thrive in the Legal Environment 309

    Continue Your Education 309

    Keep a Good Legal Dictionary Nearby 310

    Maintain the Integrity of Your Profession 310

    Be Polite and Patient with Court Clerks 310

    Take a Mind Reading Course 310

    Enjoy Problem Solving 311

    Refrain from Badmouthing Other Paralegals and Attorneys 311

    Never Act as though You’re Irreplaceable 311

    Don’t Count on a Normal Work Schedule 312

    Resist the Urge to Gossip about Clients 312

    Part 6: Appendixes 313

    Appendix A: Glossary of Important Legal Terms: A Mini Legal Dictionary 315

    Appendix B: What You’ll Find Online 337

    Index 345

  • Scott and Lisa Hatch are founders of The Center for Legal Studies and developed their award-winning paralegal curriculum in 1980, offering it through 600 colleges nationwide. They continue to instruct legal career and standardized test preparation courses through Hatch Education and College Primers.

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