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Paralegal/Legal Assistant
The Oulton College Paralegal/Legal Assistant Diploma Program prepares you for a rewarding career in the exciting world of law and real estate. Paralegal/Legal Assistants are an essential part of the legal team, assisting lawyers with the operations of law offices.
Our Paralegal/Legal Assistant course teaches you how to prepare legal documents and ensures that you have a thorough understanding of such documents. You will also learn to work with specialized legal software. Our graduates work with lawyers to prepare documents for court. They also work with real estate agents as people buy and sell property, ensuring all the legalities are covered in the sale documents.
You will be taught by lawyers who will be able to give you the insight and training necessary to succeed in a legal environment. Our instructors will make sure you receive extensive practice through simulating legal office procedures and activities.
Our Paralegal/Legal Assistant Diploma Program provides hands-on practical experience and training in:
- Legal Transcription: using modern dictating equipment.
- Law Office Procedures: preparation of legal documents, file management, legal accounting, etc.
- Legal Theory: introduction to the common law legal system, the criminal law process, family law, contracts, torts, corporate law and property law.
- Legal Research: how to use the most popular subscription legal database, Quicklaw, to research cases.
- Communications: writing and proofing legal correspondence, documents and reports.
- Microsoft Office: Access, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word
- Advanced Keyboarding: proper keyboarding techniques, mastery of the keyboard, and operation of the computer.
After 10 months of classroom and hands-on training, you will be placed for a 2-week practicum in a legal or real estate office gaining experience that you can put on your resume.
If you are detail-oriented, enjoy working in an office setting or are interested in the legal process, than our Paralegal/Legal Assistant Program may be just the program for you.
Duration: September 2013- June 2014
Practicum: 2 weeks
Career Choices
Our Paralegal/Legal Assistant graduates have gone on to find jobs working with lawyers, crown prosecutors, judges for federal and provincial courts, justice departments, insurance companies, and real estate agencies.
- Law Offices
- Real Estate Offices
- Courthouses
- Corporate Offices
- Industrial Relations Offices
You Will Learn
- Legal Theory
- Legal Transcription
- Wills and Estates
- Legal Accounting
- Real Estate
- Corporate Law
- Family Law
- Real Property Law
- Representative Negotiation
- Civil Litigation
- Office Administration
- Legal Database - Quicklaw
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Excel
Course Descriptions
ADVANCED KEYBOARDING
This aspect of the course places emphasis on proper keyboarding techniques, mastery of the keyboard, and operation of the computer. Emphasis is also placed on speed and accuracy by the development of skill in typing a variety of office documentation, including letters, memos, reports and tables.
LEGAL TRANSCRIPTION
The student learns to use modern dictating equipment. Transcription skills, retention skills, and the ability to follow oral instruction are practiced. The production of typed, ready-to-mail copies from machine dictation is stressed.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION – AN INTRODUCTION
This module of the course introduces the student to conflict resolutions skills. Even in the most traditional of practices, the concept of resolution through first mediation, then arbitration, and lastly adjudication, has reached a new level of acceptance. The student is provided with the tools necessary to assist them in becoming a key member of the legal team that recognizes the importance of conflict resolution in the most expeditious and just disposition of their clients concerns.
LAW OFFICE PROCEDURES
The student learns the intricacies of the law office environment. They are introduced to the various staff members, the associates and the partners within the firm. To assist them in becoming a valuable member of a team in the legal community, they learn to recognize the various duties of each position and to appreciate the responsibilities of members of the staff within the legal profession. They receive an introduction to the preparation of legal documents, with an emphasis on proper formatting, accuracy, and proofreading skills. They are taught the steps involved in opening files for clients and maintaining those files in the areas of law which they are introduced to in the other modules of the course. The student learns the basics of legal accounting. The student becomes familiar with billable time, disbursements and accounts to clients, through scenarios from typical files at a law firm. They are introduced to PC-Law, a popular legal accounting program and taught how to apply the legal accounting knowledge to that particular program. Time management, an essential skill in the legal environment, is taught with a realistic approach based on the impact of real life situations on the ability to record and bill time.
CIVIL LITIGATION
The student learns the basic steps on a typical civil litigation file, from opening the file and interviewing clients, to commencing proceedings and drafting pleadings. The student will explore the Rules of Court of New Brunswick. They learn to distinguish between counter claims, cross-claims and third party claims; actions, applications and motions; and judgments, default judgments and summary judgments. They explore the discovery process, pre-trial procedures, trial preparation and costs to be awarded.
FAMILY LAW
The student learns how to navigate the procedural and transactional aspects of family law that they will encounter in the workplace. Students learn how to deal with divorce, custody and access issues with compassion while maintaining their professionalism. Separation agreements, financial statements and support orders are drafted and dissected to determine the correlation between the elements comprising them.
REAL PROPERTY LAW
The student is introduced to the area of real property law through real life scenarios. This module emphasizes the Land Titles System in New Brunswick, one of the most technologically advanced registry systems in the country. A historical look at the registry systems in this country, in stark contrast to the on-line PLANET browser maintained by Service New Brunswick, gives the student a well-rounded appreciation of all types of registries. The Corporate, Personal Property and Real Property Registries are accessed on-line throughout the module to reinforce how the registries work. The student learns the basic steps in opening and maintaining files, closing the property transaction and reporting to the client and their financial institution. After this introduction, the students work with their peers to complete “closings” based on typical scenarios, preparing all correspondence, documents and reports required.
WILLS AND ESTATES
The student learns the basics of estate planning, with a concentration on Wills and Powers of Attorney. Basic Will clauses are introduced and students prepare Wills based on typical scenarios. The student is introduced to the necessary forms to request Letters Probate with respect to a Last Will & Testament or Letters of Administration for a person who dies intestate (without a Will).
CORPORATE LAW
The student learns the steps involved in incorporating a company, with an emphasis on the information required for completing forms to apply for the incorporation. By-laws, resolutions, minute books and share registers are prepared and maintained for a typical “small business” corporation.
LEGAL THEORY
This covers such areas of the law as an introduction to the common law legal system; the criminal law process; family law; contracts; torts; corporate law; and property law, as well as a general review of New Brunswick Statutes.
LEGAL RESEARCH
Students will learn how to use the most popular subscription legal database, Quicklaw, to research cases from every jurisdiction in Canada. Students will then learn how to prepare legal briefs of caselaw and to prepare submissions to a Court in support of legal arguments. Quicklaw is the research database of choice of most law firms in Canada.
BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS
In this course students will learn business communications, allowing them to understand the importance of communication skills in the workplace. This course will teach the student proper oral and written business communication skills.
This course also covers rules of grammar, punctuation and capitalization. Students will test their understanding by completing exercises correlating to every rule and subject covered. The course is designed to enhance the confidence of the student as to the mastery of rules of English grammar and punctuation.
SELF-DIRECTED STUDIES
This module is used by the student who may want to obtain one-on-one instruction with an instructor. This optional module is completed on Friday mornings during the entire duration of the program. The student does not receive a mark for this module as it is optional.
SOFTWARE
Emphasis in this area is placed on giving the student competence in Microsoft Windows and in Windows related software, which, increasingly, is becoming the software of choice for most of today’s business offices. The student becomes familiar with the operation of Microsoft’s latest office software Office2007, which includes Word, Excel, Access, Power Point, and Outlook. WordPerfect is also covered in this course as many Law firms still use it to create files. The student also learns to use E-mail to communicate productively and the Internet as an effective business tool.
Admission Requirements
- Grade 12 Diploma, Adult Diploma or GED
- Meeting with an Admissions Advisor
- Acceptance by the Admissions Committee
- Completion of the Pre-Enrollment Package
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