Paralegal

Mission, Philosophy, Goals and Objectives

Philosophy Statement:

As an educational institution, Capital University Law School Paralegal Programs strive to provide the highest quality paralegal education to meet the needs of the student and the legal business community.

We believe that the highest quality paralegal education can be best attained by operating at the post-baccalaureate level using the unique resources available only in the law school environment in which the programs operate. Selecting students with the highest potential contributes to the Program's ability to place our students in challenging and rewarding professional positions. Capital University Law School Paralegal Programs recognizes the paralegal profession as a professional career path which grows and changes in tandem with the legal and business communities in which paralegals practice, thereby requiring lifelong learning opportunities.

Paralegal Programs Mission Statement:

  Capital University Law School Paralegal Programs provide quality paralegal education at a post-baccalaureate level in a law school environment. The combination of technologically advanced learning resources and a highly respected and experienced faculty prepares our students to succeed in a dynamic and ever-evolving legal and business environment.

Paralegal Programs Goals and Objectives:

1. To provide our students, via a general practice curriculum, with a grounding in all primary substantive areas of practice. Students will be able to recognize basic concepts, principles and procedures in all these areas of practice, as well as perform critical procedural tasks, and will be aware of how these areas intersect.

2. To provide our students with in-depth knowledge, of both a theoretical and practical nature, in the core courses by utilizing a mix of teaching methods that includes core competencies, skills training techniques, homework/drafting assignments, field trips, Socratic method lecture presentations, and paralegal guest lecturers. Students will be able to perform critical tasks in all of these practice areas and demonstrate proficiency in the core competencies of: critical thinking, oral and written communication, organizational skills, ethical conduct, and computer skills.

3. To assist our students in developing skills and confidence in areas of legal research, writing and drafting by requiring each   student to complete an intensive hands-on class in this subject in addition to drafting exercises in certain substantive classes. Students will be able to prepare client correspondence, prepare research memoranda, conduct manual and computer-assisted legal research, draft a variety of documents and pleadings, brief cases, and be familiar with certain specialized legal research.

4. To expose our students to practicing paralegals from a variety of practice areas throughout the course of study, both as guest speakers and as instructors, so that our students are aware of what paralegal do on a daily basis, as well as to convey the message that there are unlimited career possibilities that arise from a paralegal education.

5. By offering ethics and law office procedure classes, as well as by including ethics in each substantive class, we strive to make our students aware of a) ethical rules and guidelines that govern the legal profession which clearly includes paralegals; b) potential problem situations and how to cope with such situations; c) and to clearly convey the message that they must always practice under the supervision of an attorney.

6. To familiarize our students with commonly used computer software, legal software, practice-related and law office procedure based software, by requiring them to take a substantial number of clock hours of hands-on computer instruction in a computer classroom equipped with computer  terminals for each individual student. Upon completion of these classes, students will be able to utilize document management software, as well as various law office procedure software (billing, conflict management, docketing etc), estate/probate software, bankruptcy software, and to be proficient in the legal applications of Word and Excel.

7. To foster confidence and self assurance in our students as they seek employment by providing regular seminars and counseling on resume/cover letter writing and interviewing techniques. Seminars and classes are taught by legal administrators and placement counselors and by others who are routinely involved in the employment process, and by having the paralegal program staff provides on-going individual career counseling.

8. To enhance the quality and energy of the paralegal program by actively encouraging diversity in the student population. This is accomplished by reaching out to a variety of populations via our marketing efforts and by adhering to the human dignity and non-discrimination policies of Capital University Law School .

9. To continually strive to improve the quality of the Capital University Law School Paralegal programs by obtaining input from program students, faculty and employers, as well as from practicing paralegals and attorneys that are not affiliated with the program through the use of surveys, curriculum committees, the Advisory Board, and informal data collection methods.