Spotting Legal Issues

The essential matter for lawyers, judges, law students, and paralegals in reading law cases is to properly spot the "legal issue" -

here is what Prof. Vermelia Randall of U.Dayton Law School says on Issues

"Issue(s)
An issue is a question of law. It is usually a question that asks, "What is the result when you apply this rule of law to these facts?" Lawyers constantly look for the legal problem or problems at hand; they are problem solvers, and sometimes the toughest problem is pinpointing the problem. In an appeal the lawyers on both sides have selected their legal battlegrounds and put forth their theories, both at the trial and on appeal. The court selects from among, and may reframe, the issues presented by the parties. Nonetheless, it may still be difficult for the reader of the court's opinion to precisely identify the legal issues.

Most cases raise more than one question of law. A case may involve three issues, but have only one or two of them resolved by the court. When this happens, it is often because the multiple issues are related in such a way that whether one issue must be resolved depends upon the resolution of another issue. If "issue one" must be decided in order to determine whether "issue two" must be addressed, then the first question is referred to as a "threshold issue." For example, if a statute of limitations question is resolved in favor of the defendant and the cause of action is dismissed, then the case is concluded without the court considering issues related to the merits of the suit. (If you are writing about the pending case, you must discuss all of the issues that the court might possibly reach, of course, because you do not know what the court will conclude about the threshold issue.)

An issue can usually be framed in the form of a question that can be answered "yes" or "no." In order to yield a legal conclusion that can be applied under the principle of stare decisis to future similar situations, the issue must be stated neither too narrowly nor too broadly. "

check out more information at see a complete brief

Good luck. hope this helps. Prof. J

Study Skills

It is absolutely essential to always look at improving your study skills. As the word applies, it is a "skill" - defn. " A developed talent or ability ". If you are taking online classes as part of our Paralegal Program, and most students are taking at least one or two, you will need to be self-motivated, and apply excellent "study skills" - since you cannot just raise your hand - or course, you can email the instructor. Read study skills, and apply them in your classes. Hope this helps. Prof. J.

Great New Browser - mozilla "firefox" and email "thunderbird"

I have now been using mozilla "firefox", a brand new browser, and I love it. If you are looking to change, I would highly recommend downloading it and giving it a "whirl around the block". I also use the mozilla program "thunderbird" for my email, and it works great. What I love about both programs is that it incoprates your previous preferences from Internet Explorer, so you can just pick up where you left off. Let me know how it works for you. I am amazed at how well it serves me. And as you know I do a lot of "browsing" as an online instructor. Good Luck. Prof. J.

Volunteer Work

Why is volunteering, especially in the legal field so important.

Your reasons for volunteering are as individual as you are, but no matter what your reasons you can get a lot out of volunteering. You can learn about yourself, learn about others and meet a lot of interesting people by volunteering. You can help others as you help yourself. 20 ways to volunteer.

So get active today, and volunteer in the legal field .

Good luck. Prof J.

The use of "I believe" in legal analysis

I have noticed a number of students start out their legal analysis with "I feel" or "it is my opinion" - this is not a strong start to your legal analysis - look at the information on persuasive appellate briefs.

Quoting from that article:

"Judges are generally bright people. (Any judge who is reading this is definitely one of the bright ones!) They have a keen sense of the law, and they can quickly detect a bogus (i.e., fake, foggy, far-fetched) argument. While some lawyers may make deliberately bogus arguments, I think that lawyers more often do so because they don't really understand their cases, the law, or the law's application to their facts. They try to hide their ignorance in their writing. But it shows every time. Your argument will strike the judge as bogus if it displays too many of the following characteristics:

Exclamation marks!
Long, convoluted sentences that talk around the rules and facts instead of addressing them directly.
Needless repetition, including repetition of rules in the section that should instead be applying those rules to the case facts.
More law set out in quotations than in your own words of explanation.
Lots of adjectives and adverbs.
Personal attacks on the lawyers for the other side.
Insertion of your personal opinion or emotion ("I think," "we feel").
Merely citing cases without explaining how they apply.
Rolling two or more distinct issues into a single discussion.
Any conclusion that should "clearly," "obviously," or "undoubtedly" be reached. "

So what have you learned in this blog. Do Not start your legal analysis with "I believe", etc. Hope this helps. Prof J.

Improve your law quiz and assignment scores

Now that you have taken a few law quizzes, and you received possibly a low score, i.e. 40 -60, you are thinking either the "quizzes are completely unfair", or "that I am really stupid and should never become a paralegal" - actually neither are completely true (just kidding). Actually what is happening is that you are being asked to "kick your skills up a notch". Legal Analysis is actually a very funny "animal" - and very frustrating. You must move from the "concrete" to the "abstract". It is like you were playing baseball, and your batting average was .400 but you were only being "dished up" straight balls, and now the slider, and curve ball, and knuckle ball all are being introduced, and your average now plummets to .150 (sorry if you do not like baseball metaphor).

So take heart. There are a number of things you can do. read the following inforrmation - click here to improve your scores

First make sure you know each word you read. So go to an online dictionary and look up even the simple words you thought you understood. Then make sure you look up all of the legal words. Then read the facts of each case as if it were a story. Diagram with pencil stick figures the main characters and use arrows to show their relationship and what they are doing to each other. This helps you to understand the story. Legal facts can be very confusing a lot of the time. If you do not know the story you will not know the law I can promise you. Then finally follow the 7 steps of Critical Thinking when you read your law mateials. I think that most students are having "real problems" with steps 6 - Synthesis and step 7 - Evaluation, so go down to steps 1-5 and get those down first, and then jump up to 6 and 7. hope this helps a little. Prof. J.

Paralegal Jobs

The first thing you need to consider in getting your ideal is to put together a killer resume - Sometimes you will need to do a self-assessment to locate your job niche. Next start looking for a job. Network in the legal field - Look at the big mistakes you can avoid - volunteer for community service while looking for your job, finally check out Paralegal Jobs posted for our students. Good luck everyone. Prof. J.

California Paralegal Requirements

California is one of a few states which regulate their paralegals . On Jauary 1, 2001, Business and Professions Code 6450 necame effective. (formerly Assembly Bill AB 1761 was signed by Governor Gray Davis on 9/14/00). This section regulates Paralegals, defines the term "paralegal", and sets forth the "academic training" required.

The new law requires "a certificate of completion of a paralegal program at, or a degree from a post-secondary institution that requires the successful completion of a minimum of 24 semester, or equivalent, units in law-related courses and that has been accredited by a national or regional accrediting organization or approved by the Bureau for Private Post-secondary and Vocational Education."

Mission College Paralegal Program is such an accredited institution. We believe there are numerous good reasons to choose our Paralegal Program, and so do our students .

The Value of Networking

The Values of Networking
from an article at http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/ip050108.html
William J M. Wold, Chief Executive Officer of Illinois Periodicals
Online states in an article on Networking:
"Most professionals know that by developing a network of colleagues they gain a valuable asset that can make a difference, especially during difficult and changing times. Networking can be a fun and easy way to enrich your life, broaden your horizons and enhance your career. "

"In fact, networking may be crucial to your success. Networking is a chance to gravitate towards a new area of knowledge you may have never explored. And meeting people outside your current position may enable you to fully understand the next step of your career."

This is very true. Prof. Jordan recommends highly in addition
to networking with your own fellow and sister paralegal students,
join the list-serv for our Paralegal Program, and also join one or more of the Paralegal Associations to keep current in the legal field.
Hope this helps. Prof J.

Summer School Classes

The Summer School Classes for the law program run from June 13th to July 24, 2005, a total of six (6) weeks. It is recommended that you take one or two, but NO more than two, since the summer schedule is accelerated, and compress 15 weeks of work into 6 weeks. The Fall 2005 Schedule has also been published. Students should look at both the Summer and Fall 2005 classes to best select their classes. All of the Summer School Clases are online. Any questions email Prof. J . Good luck. Prof. J.