updated: 9/09/01
David C. Jordan, Esq., Attorney at Law
Director of Paralegal Studies
Pager & Voicemail: 818/546-7060
Telephone: (Campus) 818/364-7720
E-Mail: abogado@pacbell.net
Office Hours: Monday-Thursdays 4:00 to 6:00 pm or by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Law 34 teaches the paralegal personal computer user skills, including using the internet and electronic computer research of various legal databases and legal research materials.
The student will learn the five step process of legal research, and will learn how to apply it to a series of research problems to learn and improve the skills of legal research in the office environment.
The student will learn how to distinguish cases and codes/statutes,
and how to carry on a legal research problem, and will prepare
a written legal memorandum of the results of their legal research.
Law 34 introduces the student to computerized legal research
through the new technology of online legal research and the internet,
accessing and finding case law, formulating a search request,
searching with various search engines to find the law and the
use of the paralegal webpage
for legal research on the internet. The student will learn to
use terms and connectors, restricting searches, searching in statutes,
court rules & cases, retrieving legislation, current court
decisions, searching government regulations and administrative
law, using the internet. Each student will be assigned a major
research topic to research and report their results using what
they have learned in the course.
COURSE TEXT
How to Find & Understand the Law Nolo
Press, 9th Edition, August 2001, ISBN: 0-87337-767-2
Stephen Elias & Susan Levinkind ISBN
#0-87337-468-1. You
can order this book online at the nolo website.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. The student will learn an overview
of law and the legal system, , including the
courts, the court system, how
to read, understand and brief court cases, how to read, and
understand California
and Federal Codes, and a general overview of substantive laws
which a paralegal must be familiar with to do their job properly.
2. The student will learn to "think critically"
in law, This will be accomplished through the quizzes,
the postings to the "threaded discussions",
and the assignments. The assignments
require the student to read and brief court cases, anaylyze code
sections, prepare a simple "demand letter", and a simple
"summons and complaint".
3. The student will learn how to do legal
research in general, how to phrase a legal question or issue,
and how to search for the correct "legal" answer.
4. The student will improve
his/her writing skills and learn basic skills in legal
drafting and writing.
5. The student will improve
their study skills and will improve
how they study law.
GRADING & EVALUATION
The class will be composed of quizzes (usually at the end
of each chapter, a posting for each chapter (the class will use
live bulletin boards to discuss legal questions, written projects
such as legal research memoranda, and shorty essays.
Grades will be posted on the internet using microsoft excel. There
will be a column for each quiz, project, and posting. Grades will
be posted for each student under thier last four numbers of their
social security number in order to preserve confidentiality.
A = 90-100 percent of total points
B = 80-90
C = 65-80
D = 55-65
F = Below 55
STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS & TESTS
1. LECTURE NOTES
2. QUIZZES
3. ASSIGNMENTS
4. DISCUSSIONS
COMPUTER POLICY
This class frequently uses materials which are posted on
the world wide web. Students are encouraged to learn
computer skills, including word processing, and use of the
internet. No computer skills are required for this class. The
student will learn, and will be taught the necessary skills to
access materials for this class from the class webpage. The first
time student is encouraged to take
a tour of the web page, and then to test their knowledge of
our webpage by taking the
quiz on the tour of our webpage.
The primary web address for this class is http://www.vcsun.org/~djordan,
and this class is located at http://www.vcsun.org/~djordan/21f/law34/
. The secondary site (only if the primary site is not working
- which is rare) is http://www.lamission.cc.ca.us/law.
All materials for this class may be printed from the web
site. If the student does not have access to a computer at home
or at work, the materials may be printed (at $.10 -ten cents per
copy) in the Learning Resource Center. The student should obtain
print cards for $1 or $5 purchased on the 2nd Floor of the Learning
Resource Center, or from the Business Office during regular business
hours.
All quizzes, assignments, and postings may be submitted, either
in writing or transmitted by email to the instructor, by the student,
at the time and dates due. Students are not required to purchase
or own or use a computer for their assignments. The use of the
web site for the class is in conjunction with the lectures, class
attendance and participation, and is intended to supplement the
learning of the assignments, and to provide easier access for
students.
Students are encouraged to obtain an email account at the beginning
of the class. This will help the student in communicating with
the instructor and other students. An email account may be obtained
at Yahoo.com. The student
should retain a copy of all emails sent to the instructor, in
case, in case the instructor losses the emailed work of the student.
It is the responsibility of a student who wishes to "drop"
this class, to do so at admissions. However, before dropping the
class, the student is encouraged to discuss the problems he/she
might be having with this class with Prof. Jordan to discuss the
many ways these problems can be resolved without having to "drop
the class".
* This syllabus is subject to change. Please note revision
dates ("updated") above. Students are responsible for
the most recent updated version of this syllabus. Prof. Jordan