Legal Research and Writing


Full Description


After completing this course, the student is expected to have acquired the basic skills necessary for writing legal documents. The course is designed to give the student exposure to writing briefs, pleadings, (including motions, complaints, answers, appeals, etc.) and even some basic legal correspondence. The Student should acquire an understanding of the skills and duties of a paralegal in an active law office setting, and basic skills of a beginning law student.


This course is based on an independent study model that allows the student to work through the program in a self-directed manner. Questions and return email communication can be engaged in for clarification and guidance when necessary.


Course Textbook link:






LEARNING ACTIVITIES:



This course is comprised of self study, occasional email discussions with the professor, written assignments, submissions, and exams. Students are encouraged to contribute to the discussions with their own knowledge and experiences. Reinforcement of learning is accomplished through course and/or chapter objectives and quizzes for each lesson. Written assignments provide students with the opportunity to sharpen their analytical and writing skills. Direct communication occurs between students and instructor through the classroom setting, e-mail, message board, chat rooms, or phone. Attendance at the live chat is not mandatory, but it has been found to be enjoyable by the students and a great way to interact with the professor and classmates.



POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:



Exams and projects are graded on a scale of 100 with 73 or above being satisfactory or at the 2.0 GPA level. An academic average of 63% is required in order to receive credit for the course. Students are encouraged to be in class weekly and class participation is weighted in the final grade computation. It is the student’s responsibility to complete the material covered if lessons are missed and to see that all missed lessons are made up in compliance with the College guidelines. Make-up work undertaken to complete a course after the course has ended may sometimes satisfy grading criteria. A total of 100 points is available for this course, as follows:



Course Grading

  • Message Board 4 points
  • Participation 3 points
  • Email WITH PROFESSOR 5 points
  • Participation 13 points
  • Overall Participation 15 points
  • Quizzes 25 points
  • Mandatory Project 35 points
  • Part I Examination
  • Part II Examination

Class expectations for email participation: The expectation for student emails to the professor are that the messages will reflect a solid understanding of the materials. The message should contain an analysis of the issues involved in the posted discussion questions. In order to perform this analysis, the student will have read and reviewed all of the materials for the week. Students should email messages that demonstrate that they have analyzed the information covered in connection with the discussion questions to come to logical conclusions.



All academic assignments are to be the work of the individual student. The following are examples of dishonesty, or unethical and unprofessional behavior:

  • Plagiarism - Using another person’s words, ideas, or results without giving proper credit to that person, giving the impression that it is a student’s own work
  • Any form of cheating on examinations
  • Altering academic or clinical records
  • Falsifying information for any assignment
  • Partly or wholly completing an assignment for another student or submitting assignments partially or wholly completed by another student.

If you are going to properly use the ideas of another, you must do the following:

  • Know the difference between paraphrasing and quoting.
  • When paraphrasing, make sure it is not too close to the original AND credit paraphrases in the same manner you credit direct quotes.
  • Put phrases, sentences, or paragraphs in quotation marks when copying a direct quote.
  • Credit any source that you have used, either through paraphrasing or through direct quotes.
  • To properly credit a source, you must identify the author, the publication title, date, publisher, place, and page number. For example:
  • If you’re still unclear about when to attribute credit to an author, speak to your professor to help clarify this issue.


Outcomes:



Upon completion of this course, you should be able to do the following:
  • Prepare a legal memorandum;
  • Prepare a Legal Case Brief;
  • Write Legal Correspondence;
  • Prepare legal pleadings (including motions, complaints, answers, appeals, etc.)


Assessment:


Students will complete open-book multiple choice exams on each chapter of material in the course (where the course consists of 18 chapters of material). Students may query the instructor up to three times, via e-mail, regarding course content.

Week 1


Lesson 1

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Prepare and submit a written legal brief of Jones v. City of Prairie City, pp. 59-61.




Week 2
Lesson 2

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Prepare and submit a written legal memorandum analyzing the legal situation set forth in Exercise 6A on page 106. Do the exercise as outlined on page 106 (1) – (6).



Lesson 3

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Do Exercises 9A, 9B and 9C on pages 198-199


Week 3
Lesson 4

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Go to the web site, www.Findlaw.com, and familiarize yourself with that site. Review the site and figure out how to find the statutes and case law for your state. Research the statutory law on “Adverse Possession” of real property in your state. Prepare and submit a written legal memorandum analyzing the following factual situation. If you need more information, you should prepare a list of questions for the client.



A friend of your lives in a remote part of the city near an old vacant lot. He tells you that no one has been using the lot for as long as he can remember. He wants to erect a commercial building and start using the lot to store and repair his cars. He placed a fence around the property about seven years back and used it to store some old parts that he no longer needed. When people in the neighborhood asked who owned the property, he always said that it was his. In fact, he put his business sign on the property, and a no trespassing sign on the property when he erected the fence. When the tax bill came to the property, he always paid it, since it was less than a hundred bucks a year. He would like to put the property in his name. What, if anything else, does he need to do? What do you need to do to get the property in his name by means of adverse possession?



Preparation for Part I Examination



Study for the examination over Part I of Legal Writing, A Systematic Approach.



Complete the examination over Part I of Paralegalism Today and submit it to Canyon College.



DO MID-TERM EXAMINATION:



Mid Term Examination: Think Paper: Prepare a paper that is no less than 3 pages, double spaced on any topic covered in the first half of the text, or the live discussions. Be sure to cover why you found the information interesting; what you found interesting about the topic; what you would change about the existing law (if applicable); etc. I am not interested in having the student regurgitate the law, but, more importantly, what you find interesting about the law.


Week 4
PART II – LEGAL WRITING: A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH




Lesson 5

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Prepare and submit a written brief to the trial court on the issue of whether or not your client has committed trespass to land. Your client is claiming adverse possession as set forth in the factual brief you prepared in Lesson 4. You are preparing for trial, and want to prove to the court that the cross complaint for trespass to land filed by the opposing party should be dismissed



Lesson 6

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Prepare and submit a persuasive series of paragraph headings on the following issues: The court found in favor of your client on the cross-complaint, and ruled that the property was properly your clients. However, the court wrongfully refused to issue a deed in favor of your client. The court also ruled that your client was guilty of trespass to land originally, and should not be able to steal the property without paying for it. The court gave your client ten days to come up with a fair purchase price for the property. Your client has asked you to appeal the court’s decision, and have the appellate court put the property in your clients’ name.



Please read the live discussion and post your comments and respond to the hypothetical situations posted by the professor.

Week 5



Lesson 7

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Prepare and submit your opening statement for an oral argument before the appellate court



Please read the live discussion and post your comments and respond to the hypothetical situations posted by the professor.



Lesson 8

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Prepare and submit a written complaint based on the format set forth in the judicial council forms. You can either fill in the forms, or, type up a long form complaint using the same language. If you have time, you should also prepare judicial council form interrogatories relating to the same adverse possession case.




Preparation for Part II Examination



Study for the examination over Part II.



Week 6
Complete the final examination over Part II of Legal Writing: A Systematic Approach and submit it to Canyon College for grading.



Do Final Examination: Prepare a long form Summons suing a defendant for breach of an automobile purchase agreement. Your client was going to purchase a car for the sum of $4,500. The Defendant sold the car to another person for $5,000 after he had signed a written agreement to sell the car to your client. The Plaintiff’s name is Peter Plaintiff. The Defendant’s name is Dan Defendo. The Law firm you work for is Dewey, Cheatham and Howe. You are the attorney for the Plaintiff. The court is a Municipal Court or Justice Court, depending on the state where you reside. The contract was entered into on June 1st, 2002. The Defendant and Plaintiff both reside in the same county. The contract was entered into in the same county. The Defendant sold the car to the third party in the same county.



Points System



I use a numeric grading scale when evaluating quizzes, projects, exams, essays, and final grades:

Contact Hours: 24