Course Outline

1. The Paralegal Professional
   • An introduction to the paralegal career field; education, qualifications, and certifications; personal characteristics; places of employment; typical paralegal duties.
2. Legal Terminology
   • The basics of legal terminology; specific terms for litigation and torts.
   • Specific terms for criminal law, contract law, real property, family law, and other areas of law
3. Ethics and Professional Responsibility
   • Professional ethics; the unauthorized practice of law; working as an independent contractor; confidentiality issues, including attorney-client privilege; conflicts of interest; advertising and solicitation.
   • Practical exercise designed to heighten your awareness of important ethical issues.
4. The  Court System
   • The foundations of modern law and the justice system; the English common law system; case law and precedence; the codification of law; different areas of law; the structure of the court system; federal vs. state courts.
   • Civil vs. criminal litigation; litigation in federal vs. state courts; state laws, procedures, and rules of court, including local rules of court; federal laws, procedures, and rules of court; the paralegal’s role in litigation.?
5. Business Law
   • Types of business organizations; sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations; advantages and disadvantages of business types; law of agency; the paralegal’s role.
     Practical exercise designed to apply what you’ve learned about business law.?
6. Labour Law
   • This course looks at the relationship between an employer and employee.
   • It covers the important aspects of various relevant legislations and introduces the student to the rights and obligations of both parties to an employment contract.
   • New developments with the Labour Relations Amendment Bill and Basic Conditions of Employment Bill are analysed.
7. Debt Collecting and Civil Litigation
   • The course focuses on legal procedures for the recovery of debts, including the drafting of summonses, letters of demand and obtaining judgment.
   • The rules of both Magistrates’ and High Courts will be studied from the beginning of the process through to the trial and execution of judgment.
   • The Consumer Protection Act and Debt Collectors Act are also presented.
8. Wills & Estates
   • A highly valuable and comprehensive short course on the administration of deceased estates.
   • This course covers testate succession including an examination of Wills and Codicils, the drafting of Wills and Codicils, the formalities required during the execution of Wills; and revocation of Wills.
   • Principles of Intestate Succession are taught including applicability of the Intestate Succession Act, competent heirs, and distribution per stirpesand per capita. 
   • The Master’s role and the Executor’s duties are covered and most importantly the entire administration procedure is taught.
9. Family Law and Divorce
   • This course looks at the engagement, breach of promise and the conclusion of a legal marriage.
   • It also examines the consequences of marriages in and out of community of property, the accrual system and the ante-nuptial contract.
   • Grounds of divorce and divorce procedures are studied as are the consequences of divorce including maintenance, custody and child guardianship.
   • The provisions of new Child Care Act are also studied, as well as recent changes to no civil marriages.
10. Civil Litigation
    • Introduction to civil litigation; courts and jurisdiction; investigation, evidence, and case evaluation; discovery; settlements; trials; appeals.
11. Discovery
    • Definition, purpose, and overview; compelling discovery; interrogatories; depositions; requests for physical and mental examinations; expert witnesses.
12. Alternative Dispute Resolution
    • History of alternative dispute resolution (ADR); ADR vs. Litigation; types of ADR: negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and hybrids.
13. Criminal Litigation
    • Introduction to criminal litigation; courts and jurisdiction; investigation, evidence, and case evaluation; pleadings, draftings, and motions; trials; appeals.
14. Microsoft Office Products
    • Using Word; creating and saving documents.
    • Practical exercise designed to apply what you’ve learned about Word.
    • Creating spreadsheets with Excel.®
    • Using PowerPoint® to create, modify, enhance, and customize presentations; producing visual aids; working with charts and embedded and linked objects in presentations; creating hyperlinks in presentations; using advanced PowerPoint® features.
    • Creating a memo with Microsoft® Word; creating a chart with Microsoft® Excel;® creating a presentation with Microsoft® PowerPoint.®
15. Legal Writing
    • The basics of business writing; how business writing differs from personal writing; why good writing is important; how to approach each type of writing based on the audience and the purpose of the task; a review of the parts of speech.
16. Using the Parts of Speech
    • A description of the parts of a sentence; how to use the parts of speech to write effectively; subject-verb agreement; use of the active voice; effective use of modifiers; producing correct, polished writing for business; common grammatical problems.
17. Punctuation and Capitalization
    • Descriptions of punctuation marks and the purpose of each; using punctuation to properly document research sources; rules of capitalization.
18. Writing Sentences and Paragraphs
    • Writing complete, correctly structured sentences and unified, coherent paragraphs; sentence length and variety; avoiding run-ons and fragments; constructing organized paragraphs.
19. Improving Your Writing
    • Using particular patterns of organization, content, and language to most effectively convey a specific idea to a specific audience; revising, editing, and proofreading