| 9a. Catalog Description: |
| Concentrated study of legal terminology combined with practice in the constructions of legal documents and skill development in keyboarding legal forms necessary for optimal performance in the legal office. Units of study include: civil litigation, family law, and partnerships and corporations. |
| 9b. Other Catalog information: |
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| 10. Student Performance Objectives: |
As a result of successful completion of this course, a student will be able to:
1. Recognize legal terms and use them with understanding when keyboarding legal documents under timed conditions with established accuracy standards.
2. Analyze what legal documents are used, when, and by whom.
3. Achieve a minimum keyboarding speed of 60 wpm on timed writings. |
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| 11. Methods of Evaluating Student Achievement: |
| Production tests, objective tests, observations, and timed writings will require students to demonstrate the touch keyboarding and formatting skills needed for legal office tasks, using the capabilities of word processing on a microcomputer. Students must pass comprehensive objectives included with each unit of instruction. |
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| 12. Student Assignments (Homework): |
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| a. Required Reading Assignments: |
| 20-25 pages per week |
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| b. Required Writing Assignments: |
| None |
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| c. Other (Terms projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.) |
| None |
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| 13. Course Content Outline: |
The content of this course requires students to be able to analyze, evaluate, recognize concepts, criticize, and apply correct formatting principles to business and personal use documents.
Students will learn terminology, purpose, and correct formatting for specific legal documents. Areas covered will include but are not limited to the following:
I. Legal Office Document Processing Environment
a. Computers in the Legal Office
b. Written Legal Communications
c. Preparation of Legal Documents
II. Civil Litigation
a. Pleadings and Related Documents
b. Discovery
c. Appellate Procedures
III. Substantive Law
a. Dissolution of Marriage
b. Guardianships
c. Criminal Law
d. Wills and Trusts
e. Contracts
f. Business Organizations
g. Real Estate
h. Bankruptcy
IV. General Law Office Procedures
a. Organization and Task Analysis
b. Critical Thinking Activities
c. General Office Procedures
d. Legal Office Accounting
V. Legal Document Preparation
a. Preparation of Wills
b. Preparation of a Complaint and Summons
c. Preparation of Real Estate Documents
d. Preparation of Discovery Documents
e. Preparation of Corporate Documents
VI. File Procedures
a. File opening and closing Procedures
b. Document Formatting
c. Procedures for Pleadings and Court Papers
VII. Production Activities
a. Collaborative Case Study
b. Office Procedures Manual
c. General Reference Information
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| 14a. All textbooks, resources and other materials used in this course are: |
| College level
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| 14b. EXAMPLE texts, reading and resources:
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Diane Gilmore. Legal Office: Projects.
South-Western, 1999
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Diane Gilmore. Legal Office: Document Processing.
South-Western, 1998
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