Tuition & Fees

Paralegal/Legal Studies

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The Paralegal/Legal Studies goals and objectives are stated in terms of educational results to be achieved. The Paralegal/Legal Studies goals and objectives are reviewed and amended regularly in order to meet the needs of an ever changing legal community. Graduates are trained to develop skills necessary to become contributing members of the paralegal profession in both the public and private sectors. A paralegal is a person who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work under the supervision of a lawyer but cannot give legal advice, set fees, or represent clients in court.

Modifications to the goals, objectives, and curriculum are based upon student surveys, graduate surveys, employer surveys, surveys of the broader legal and business community, advisory board feedback, faculty comments and departmental meetings. The goals and objectives for each program are as follows:

Associate Degree in Paralegal Studies

The paralegal studies program provides educational preparation for individuals to serve as paralegals or legal assistants. In keeping with the demands of professionalism, the paralegal program consists of specialized coursework and a supervised externship in selected legal settings both public and private, such as police administration, law firms, real estate companies, title companies, banks, trust departments and judicial offices. Extensive practical training prepares graduates, under the supervision of an attorney, to perform most of the functions in a legal office including but not limited to: interviewing clients, drafting and filing legal documents for attorneys, organizing files and exhibits for trial and assisting practicing attorneys with an understanding that a paralegal cannot give legal advice, set fees or represent clients in court.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

GOAL I: Provide a practical and relevant education for paralegal professionals.

Students will:

1. Receive a broad based general education which will sharpen their cognitive critical thinking skills.
2. Integrate focused study of various legal disciplines into a core of liberal arts courses designed to enrich the wide-ranging knowledge base of the student.
3. Gain a life-long commitment to learning.

GOAL II: Students will be able to apply legal theories and substantive law into practical applications in a law office or any organization involved with legal processes and exhibit a sensitivity to emerging concepts of the role of the paralegal in the effective delivery of legal services under the supervision of an attorney, in both the private and public sectors.

Students will:

1. Draft legal documents.
2. Participate in an externship if they are not working in a law office.
3. Employ the latest technologies available for legal applications.
4. Work on realistic case files in all legal courses.
5. Be instructed by specialists in their fields including judges, paralegals and lawyers.

GOAL III: Meet the needs of a sophisticated, technology based law practice interested in hiring diverse and highly educated paralegals who work under the supervision of an attorney.

Students will:

1. Learn hands on computer techniques used in modern law firms.
2. Incorporate computer applications such as research, title searches and court document retrieval into their field of knowledge.
3. Be able to compete with experienced paralegals for jobs.
4. Translate classroom experience into simulated law offices of the future.
5. Enhance their use of the Internet and other available legal databases.
6. Use computer document assembly programs to complete case files.

GOAL IV: Students will exhibit a thorough understanding and utilization of the skills necessary to contribute to the workings, processing, procedures, and management of a modern law office while working under the supervision of an attorney.

Students will:

1. Demonstrate proficiency in technological advances in the law office including data processing, telecommunications, and office equipment.
2. Implement law office accounting, billing, time and record management techniques.
3. Design time saving, efficient management prototypes for the progressive law office.
4. Organize different types of law offices.
5. Demonstrate competency and professionalism including ethics, communication skills, stress reduction techniques and professional development.

GOAL V: Stress professional and ethical standards that will enable students to become integral members of the law office team (or other legally oriented organizations) consistent with the general principles of ethical legal practice as promulgated by appropriate authorities in the relevant jurisdiction.

Students will:

1. Participate in role playing to learn applications of ethical standards in the business and legal workplace.
2. Understand how members of a law office function together, working as a team to benefit the client.
3. Refine professional skills and avoid the unauthorized practice of law.
4. Implement malpractice avoidance through law office technology.

GOAL VI: Enhance communication skills, including public speaking, letter and memorandum writing as well as legal document drafting under the supervision of an attorney.

Students will:

1. Write a memorandum of law to the court.
2. Research and produce an appellate brief.
3. Produce letters to clients, judges, attorneys and others involved in the legal process.
4. Engage in mock trials and hearings.
5. Role-play interviews with clients and witnesses.

GOAL VII: Provide a curriculum that is responsive to the needs of the local legal community in a manner that allows graduates to contribute to the advancement of the paralegal profession.

Students will:

1. Be encouraged to join local paralegal organizations.
2. Have the benefit of teachers and speakers who are working lawyers, paralegals, judges and others involved with the local legal community.
3. Participate in an externship that allows them to experience the needs of a local legal office.
4. Take courses that are constantly monitored and modified based upon advisory board comments, student surveys, graduate surveys, and employer surveys.

Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies

The Legal Studies program provides students with a broad academic background in general education, fundamental theoretical legal concepts and practical applications.

Coursework emphasizes development of keen analytical and reasoning skills as well as foster sensitivity to cultural and political diversity. Graduates can become significant contributing members of the legal team in law firms, banks, insurance companies, government agencies and large corporations while working under the supervision of an attorney.

The Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies represents an extension of the associate degree program. Beyond the higher levels of critical thinking, this curriculum encompasses intensive specialty areas including worker’s compensation, employment, immigration, international law, as well as managerial aspects associated with the law office and other legally oriented institutions.

Students Completing the Legal Studies Program Will Attain the Above Goals in Addition to Attaining the Following Goals:

GOAL VIII: Provide graduates of the associate degree in paralegal studies from South University and neighboring colleges and universities with a logical and valuable extension to their educational goals in order to further their careers as paralegals.

Students will:

1. Integrate various specialized courses into their general knowledge of the law.
2. Gain a more in depth knowledge base of legal theories and procedures.
3. Demonstrate to their employers that they are serious about their careers.
4. Have the opportunity to network with other working paralegals who share their drive and ambitions.
5. Expand their confidence and skills in solving legal problems.

GOAL IX: Graduates will be able to make the most of specific subject matter courses to get promotions in law firms or other specialized legal environments. Students completing specialized courses in the bachelor’s program will be able to perform tasks relevant to the specialized area, as follows:

1. Students who complete LGS3008 Workers Compensation will be able to analyze a workers compensation claim, identify the remedies and draft the necessary documents.
2. Students who complete LGS 3009 International Law will be able to create an international business and draft an international contract.
3. Students who complete LGS 3010 Bankruptcy Law will be able to draft basic motions used in bankruptcy court and follow court filing procedures.
4. Students who complete LGS 3025 Insurance Law will be able to examine and interpret insurance contracts.
5. Students who complete LGS3030 Administrative Law will be able to participate in a mock hearing and draft documents for an administrative agency case.
6. Students who complete LGS3040 Constitutional Law will be able to describe how the US Constitution is engrained into our present day law.
7. Students who complete LGS 3050 Immigration Law will be able to prepare immigration forms for various situations and argue on behalf of an immigrant in mock hearings before the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
8. Students who complete LGS 4005 Advanced Legal Research and Writing will be able to use analytical and logical problem solving skills to explain complex legal issues, draft a memorandum of law, appellate brief or proposed judge’s opinion on an unsettled issue of law.
9. Students who complete LGS 4008 Litigation Support Management will be able to investigate and analyze a civil case, prepare trial exhibits and draft motions for summary judgment and motions on admissibility of evidence based on federal rules of evidence, prepare pleadings for injunctive relief and post judgment pleadings.
10. Students who complete LGS 4010 Evidence will be able to demonstrate the paralegal’s responsibility in handling, identifying, and finding evidence for the preparation of trial.
11. Students who complete LGS 4020 Advanced Real Estate Law will be able to organize the documents for a commercial real estate closing.
12. Students who complete LGS 4030 Employment Law will be able to recognize and learn how to avoid employment issues on the job such as sexual harassment and wrongful discharge and design an employment manual that addresses discrimination, sexual harassment, American with Disabilities Act and other employment issues.
13. Students who complete LGS 4050 Environmental Law will be able to draft an environmental impact statement.
14. Students who complete LGS 4055 Intellectual Property will be able to file an application for a copyright, patent or trademark.

GOAL X: Graduates will demonstrate more acute reasoning and analytical approaches to legal problem solving, hence becoming more valuable, contributing paralegals in the law firm, private business or public legal department.

Students will:

1. Work more independently in applying the laws to the facts of a given situation.
2. Understand and explain more complex legal issues.
3. Show greater proficiency using the Internet, Westlaw and other legal computer databases to research the law.
4. Develop and apply critical thinking and logical problem solving skills in a more advanced manner.
5. Draft a proposed order for a judge on an unsettled area of the law.
6. Investigate, analyze and draft complex pleadings and motions for a multifaceted civil case.