Training Topics for
Paralegals, Case Assistants, Project Assistants, or Document Clerks
(Other topics can be specially designed for client)
Perry Binder, J.D.
perrybinder@gmail.com
(404)402-1892
IPMA Academic Member
90 minute Lunch and Learn Series
(Contact hours may be adjusted to fit client’s needs)
Many of these courses take into account the anticipated attendance of different practice group members with varied levels of experience. These sessions are interactive, content driven, professional, and hopefully hilarious.
Litigation 101
Identify the basic steps in civil litigation: pleadings, discovery, pretrial, trial, appeal.
Provide an Overview of Courts, including the federal and state court systems
Learn Pre-Filing considerations: How to sue the proper
parties
- Secretary of State research, statutes of limitation, Internet research
Examine Jurisdiction rules and forum selection, how to file or research documents at the courthouse
Identify the most glaring mistakes made in writing Complaints, Answers, and other pleadings
Discover the best document production strategies
Experience the importance of a summary judgment motion, and its impact on settlement
Learn best practices in creating witness lists, exhibit lists, and trial notebooks
Examine your role as a team player in the trial and appellate processes
Litigation 201
LIT 101
Recap - Investigation, Pleadings, Discovery, Motions, Settlement, Trial
The vital role of project assistants and paralegals in litigation
Ethical discovery practices which facilitate settlement or victory at trial
The importance of discovery deadlines in Requests and Pre-Trial Orders
The mechanics of a document production from both sides of the table
How documents are used to impeach witnesses at depositions and trial
Attorney-client privilege
- What does the privilege cover?
- How to identify attorney-client privileged documents during discovery
- How to catalogue attorney-client privileged documents in reply to a document production request
Specific cases dealing with the importance of document
review
The new e-discovery rules and its impact on litigation
- Discovery Sanctions – The high stakes of organizing files and e-files
Identify the most glaring mistakes made in writing
pleadings
Learn best practices in creating witness lists, exhibit
lists,
and trial notebooks
Examine your role as a team player in the trial and
appellate
processes
ETHICS 101
Perry takes a sensitive, frank, but humorous approach to
discussing the
importance of ethics in the business and legal worlds, and the legal
implications of unethical behavior. He tailors this presentation to
whatever industry he speaks to, with examples of ill-advised actions
(and what lawyers, paralegals, executives, or managers should have done
in that scenario). Perry's approach is to give employees a frame of
reference or a set of tools to identify unethical behavior and how to
react when placed in an unethical situation.
Go to Perry's Ethics article
in Professional Speaker magazine for further background.
Paralegals That Rock!
A. Communication and Teamwork
- Effective communication with your attorney
- Meshing your work “style” with your attorney’s style
- Thinking like an attorney
- Understanding what makes your attorney tick
- Dealing with conflict and adapting to change in a professional manner
- Handling ethical issues
B. Working on Your Skill Sets
- Finding answers that your attorney could not find
- Distinguishing writing errors from your attorney’s writing style
- Turning case problems into case solutions (simulations)
C. Performance at Your Highest Level
- Understanding the BUSINESS of the Practice of Law
- making your practice profitable to the firm, overtime management
- Exceeding billable hours goal and managing time efficiently
- Being proactive - taking responsibility/ownership for tasks
- Caring about high quality work done in firm's name
- do federal clerks actually notice your typos?
- Getting work done with little fuss
- the importance of being a "low maintenance" employee
- Going to the next level, and what that means to YOU
Advanced Legal Writing Skills for Paralegals
INTRODUCTION – A brief, interactive discussion of the Paralegal group’s strengths and weaknesses with respect to Legal Writing (to better assess where emphasis needs to be placed)
I. ADVANCED DRAFTING OF PLEADINGS & MOTIONS
A. The Importance of Elements in a Cause of Action
B. The Secrets to Avoiding Dismissals of Complaints
C. Fixing Common/Hidden Errors in Complaints and Answers & Affirmative Defenses
D. Writing Crystal Clear Motions
E. Distinguishing Writing Errors from your Attorney’s Writing Style
II. DRAFTING RESPONSES TO DISCOVERY – An Introduction
A. Why Less is Always More
B. Drafting Specific Objections to Discovery Requests
C. The Impact of e-Discovery Concerns when Drafting Responses to Discovery
III. DRAFTING LEGAL MEMORANDA AND BRIEFS
A. Understanding the process of legal arguments
B. Framing Issues Effectively
C. Writing Brief Case Summaries
D. Recognizing “Transition Points” - the Key to Organized Legal Arguments
E. How to Apply the Facts of the Client’s Case to Case law
(Writing Legal Arguments)
F. What Judges and Law Clerks Look for in Briefs
IV. EXAMINATION OF KEY CONTRACT CLAUSES
V. CITE CHECKING SKILLS
Perry Binder, J.D.
Over 20 years of
experience as a
law
professor and attorney
Perry Binder, LLC
P.O. Box 3774
Alpharetta, GA 30023-3774
perrybinder@gmail.com
(404)402-1892