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
