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| Preface | |
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| Introducation to the Legal Process for Paralegals | |
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| Stare Decisis and the Importance of Precedent | |
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| The American Judicial System | |
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| Branches of Government | |
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| Observing a Jury Trial | |
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| The Litigation Process | |
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| Determining Jurisdiction and Venue | |
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| Types of Jurisdiction | |
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| Local v. Transitory Jurisdiction | |
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| Stages of Litigation | |
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| Rules of Civil Procedure | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Torts and Contracts for Paralegals | |
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| Torts Questions | |
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| Contracts Questions | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Document Preparation for Paralegals | |
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| Drafting Demand Letters | |
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| Common Pleadings | |
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| Discovery Documents | |
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| Preparing Motions | |
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| Preparing an Interoffice Memorandum of Law | |
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| The Case of John Ebersol | |
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| The Case of Samantha Clark | |
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| Digesting Depositions | |
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| Sample Deposition A | |
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| Sample Deposition B | |
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| Sample Deposition C | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Evidence, Investigation, and Interviewing for Paralegals | |
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| Rules of Evidence | |
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| General Hearsay Problems | |
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| General Admissibility of Evidence | |
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| Identifying Hearsay and Its Exceptions | |
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| Issue Spotting | |
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| Checklists and Sources of Information | |
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| Initial Client Interview | |
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| Witness Interview | |
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| Client Interview Sheet | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Sources of Legal Authority | |
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| Identifying Legal Authority | |
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| Categorizing Law Books | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Manual Legal Research for Paralegals | |
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| Legal Encyclopedias | |
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| Questions Concerning Legal Encyclopedias | |
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| Practical Application of Legal Encyclopedias | |
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| American Law Reports | |
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| Questions Concerning A.L.R. | |
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| Practical Application of A.L.R. | |
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| Digests and Form Books | |
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| Using West's Digests | |
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| Using West's Legal Forms | |
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| Using American Jurisprudence Legal Forms | |
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| Accessing Formbooks | |
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| Using the American Digest System | |
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| U.S. Supreme Court Research | |
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| Accessing Federal Case Law | |
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| Finding U.S. Supreme Court Cases | |
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| Lower Federal Courts Research | |
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| Federal Appellate Court Cases | |
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| Federal District Court Cases | |
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| Shepardizing | |
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| Finding Legislative History in the Library | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Electronic Legal Research for Paralegals | |
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| Using the Internet to Perform Legal Research | |
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| Searching the Internet for Answers to Legal Issues | |
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| Using Internet Search Engines | |
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| Using Westlaw | |
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| Formulating a Westlaw Search Query | |
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| Finding the Proper Database on Westlaw | |
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| Selecting a Search Method on Westlaw | |
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| Finding a Document on Westlaw Using a Citation | |
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| Finding a Document on Westlaw Using Party Name(s) | |
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| Finding a Document on Westlaw by Using the Table of Contents | |
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| Validating Case Law and Statutes on Westlaw | |
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| Locating Legislative History on Westlaw | |
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| Using LexisNexis | |
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| Searching for Cases in LexisNexis | |
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| Searching for Case Law or Law Review Articles by Using Natural Language in LexisNexis | |
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| Validating Case Law Research in LexisNexis | |
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| Searching for Statutes in LexisNexis | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Practical Application of Legal Research Skills for Paralegals | |
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| Briefing Cases | |
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| Citation Exercises | |
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| Citation Format | |
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| Case Citation | |
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| Statutory Citation | |
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| Secondary Source Citation | |
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| Citation Correction | |
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| Advanced Writing and Research Assignment | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Ethics for Paralegals | |
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| Ethical Considerations | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Time Management for Paralegals | |
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| Setting Priorities | |
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| Managing the Calendar | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Job Hunting for Paralegals | |
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| Cover Letter Exercise | |
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| Preparing the Resume | |
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| Using the Internet to Job Search | |
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| Conclusion | |