Volume I, Chapter §1.1
The Client


The Essential Skills



§1.1    
What are these Check Boxes?
   


Introduction
Here we go!

As we begin the process of your paralegal education, we would like to draw attention to the structure of these web pages. Students should first read the assigned portion of the manual, and then use the study support tools on this site. The tools provided above should be utilized in the order presented, however, you are free to revisit them as often as you like.

As you progress, you will notice that the tools on these pages will vary. Some sections will have one or two of the study tools, and some will have several.

Segment A covers the the first six chapters of Volume I in the Essential Skills Manual.

In Chapter 1, you are given the opportunity to choose a client. Most of your research and writing assignments will be based on that client. As you will see, you will keep your written assignments in a client file, maintaining that file as you would for a law firm.


Lecture Notes . . .

These Lecture Notes are intended to provide similar commentary that would have been provided by an instructor in a classroom. Not every section has a corresponding lecture note since some sections in the manual speak for themselves and need no further commentary.

We have tried to be direct and to-the-point in these commentaries. The goal here is not to overwhelm you with online reading, but to further enlighten you as to the material being covered. We hope you find these notes helpful.

Let's get started!

P.R.C.P.

The Paralegal Rules of Classroom Procedure (found in the forward of your manual) are intentionally written in a similar form to actual court rules. Of course, there may be aspects of the rules that don't apply to online students taking this program, such as attendance, but they do provide a general understanding as to what is expected of the student.

Rule 3 relates to Written Assignments. Instructions will be provided for you as Assignments arise!

Section 1.1
Orientation: Setting the stage for education

Chapter Outline
Each chapter in the manual will begin with an outline of what is included in that chapter. This also acts as a set of objectives, stating what the student can expect to learn within that chapter.

Assignments
Any assignments that are related to a chapter will be noted within the outline.

Term Pronunciation
There are many terms that are hard to pronounce in the legal profession. We will try to help. You should be aware there are multiple ways to pronounce many terms. We will always try to give you what has been found to be the most common pronunciation.

One such term is "prima facie." It is pronounced:

prime-uh faysh-uh

Uh-oh, here's another one! "Writ of Certiorari" is pronounced:

sersh-or-are-ee

Writ is pronounced: rit

Besides the pronunciations, don't lose the focus of these pages. You now have the opportunity to enter a new and exciting profession! Let's begin by assigning you a client! Read Chapter 1. You will need to pick a client from the scenarios presented in Section 1.2. Almost all the research and writing assignments will be based upon this client. You will also be asked to maintain a client file by placing any documents created for your assignments in the file. This will help you to understand file management procedures.