Explore a Career as a Paralegal

Decide if becoming a paralegal is the right career path for you. This course helps you discover the many aspects of what paralegals do by learning the fundamentals of legal terminology, contract law, how to conduct interviews and investigations, write briefs and prepare for appeals.

6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs

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Learning method

Self-paced

$185

No instructor. Study on your own schedule

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Instructor-led

$170

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Starting September 13 | October 18

Details + Objectives

Course code: pc1

Careers in the legal field often require many years of training, but paralegals can enter the job market quickly. What's more, paralegals earn good salaries and have many opportunities for advancement. In fact, a skilled paralegal can do almost all the jobs a lawyer does.

In this course, you will discover what paralegals do and find out what you will need to know in order to begin your own paralegal career. You will start by getting an excellent grounding in legal terminology, contract law, and the tort system. Next, you will learn how to perform legal analysis, conduct interviews and investigations, write legal briefs, and prepare for appeals. Finally, you will get tips on internships and job-hunting.

By the time you're finished, you will know if becoming a paralegal is the right career choice for you.

What you will learn

Discover what paralegals do and find out what you'll need to know in order to begin your own paralegal career
Get an excellent grounding in legal terminology, contract law, and the tort system
Learn how to perform legal analysis, conduct interviews and investigations, write legal briefs, and prepare for appeals
Get tips on internships and job-hunting

How you will benefit

Determine if becoming a paralegal is the right career choice for you
Open the door to more career opportunities as you gain basic paralegal training

How the course is taught

Instructor-led or self-paced online course
6 Weeks or 3 Months access
24 course hours

Outline

Lawyers simply don't have time to do everything their job requires them to do. As a result, they often hire paralegals to be their right hands. This lesson begins with a general overview of the paralegal's job responsibilities within the American legal system.

This lesson discusses the paralegal's work environment in three different types of employment: a law firm, a corporation, and the public sector. You will also explore the paralegal's post-trial duties to give you a comprehensive sense of what a paralegal does on a daily basis.

This lesson focuses on simple definitions of the legal terms that you will need to understand and use in your daily work. At the end of this lesson, terms like movant and tortfeasor should roll off your tongue with ease.

Contract law is a large part of most law practices. As a paralegal, you will often assist with preparing contracts. In this lesson, you will learn about the necessary elements that go into a legal, enforceable contract. Since even the most carefully prepared contract can sometimes go awry, you will also get a large dose of contract litigation.

This lesson will discuss the types of tort law actions. You will learn about intentional and quasi-intentional torts, and then you will explore negligent torts. You will also look at a few other areas of tort law, including strict liability, products liability, and nuisance torts.

This lesson addresses both legal analysis and drafting legal documents. You will learn how to apply analysis to the drafting of legal documents, as well as an easy-to-remember formula for legal analysis.

This lesson covers legal investigation. You will learn the goals of legal investigations as well as the best methods for conducting them. You will look at evidence: how to acquire, mark, protect, and organize it.

This lesson covers legal interviewing. You will begin by discussing the initial client interview, starting with the setting for the interview and its content. Then you will look at the intake memorandum, which paralegals typically draft at the end of the initial client interview.

Finding this case law is the heart of legal research, and one of the most important tasks assigned to paralegals. This lesson will first discuss legal authority and its various categories, including primary, secondary, mandatory, and persuasive authority.

Once you complete your legal research, you must be able to communicate the results in legal briefs. You will begin by looking at the proper format and organization of a legal brief, noting the various sections and citations. Then, you will learn how to make an effective legal argument.

This lesson covers the appellate procedure. You will learn how to prepare an appellate brief, how to form a research plan, and the difference between questions of law and questions of fact.

This final lesson deals with job hunting. You will gain some useful sources for job leads and discover how to develop good working skills and habits.

Instructors & Support

Sam Germana

Sam Germana is General Counsel for a New Jersey hospital and previously worked for a private law firm representing physicians and hospitals. He has taught paralegal studies online and in the classroom since 1997, and he is an adjunct faculty member at the College of St. Elizabeth.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

FAQ

Instructor-Led: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.

Self-Paced: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.

Instructor-Led: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Paced: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Led: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.

Self-Paced: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Led: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.

Self-Paced: Because this course is self-paced, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

Reviews

Thank you for the opportunity to explore a new and exciting area in my life. I found it helpful and enjoyed the comments from other students.

This was a very good course to take to start off a paralegal career. It gave you the indepth basics you need to see if you want to continue with further education.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course. Just enough information to peak my interest in taking more courses in the paralegal field.

I just wanted to take this time to thank Mr. Germana for introducing us to the world of the paralegal. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and the challenge. You made it interesting, fun, and most of all it was extremely informative. I am now enrolled in a paralegal certificate college course. I feel much more confident that I will be able to do well in this upcoming college course thanks to you and this wonderful introduction.

This class went beyond a general knowledge of what a paralegal does. By the time I finished the class, I felt I learned the basics to perform the tasks of an entry-level paralegal. I highly recommend the instructor who is knowledgeable and always willing to help and/or answer any questions that we may have. I think anyone who has an interest to enter the legal field should take this class. Thank you!

I loved this course. I have thought for awhile now that I might like to pursue a career as a paralegal and taking this class has helped me in making a final decision. I appreciate all of the help that the instructor provided and am looking forward to continuing my education.

Thank you for the opportunity to explore a new and exciting area in my life. I found it helpful and enjoyed the comments from other students.

This was a very good course to take to start off a paralegal career. It gave you the indepth basics you need to see if you want to continue with further education.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course. Just enough information to peak my interest in taking more courses in the paralegal field.

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Explore a Career as a Paralegal

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