| Course Information |
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Course Description: |
Legal Office Procedures prepares you for the tasks that lay ahead in your office career. You will learn about the court system, fields of law, and how to create various legal documents that will be not only accurate and professional but will convay your abilities to use the computer as a tool to further your career.
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Course Objectives |
Gain understanding of the Federal, State, and local court systems.
a. Be able to identify the hierarchy of the State and Federal Court systems.
b. Recognize requirements for jurisdiction in each court.
c. Be able to identify typical court personnel and their duties.
- Gain practical experience in preparing legal documents selected from actual cases.
a. Be able to define and identify the different fields of law.
b. Prepare legal documents in more than one field of law.
c. Transcribing from dictated material.
- Learn procedures for formatting and producing documents in the legal professions.
a. Prepare correspondence, printed legal forms, exhibits to legal documents, and new case reports.
b. Apply decision-making skills in completing documents and printed forms when minimum directions are given.
c. Apply basic communicative skills in preparing correspondence and documents from dictation.
- Receive an overall view of the day-to-day operating procedures of a legal office.
a. Maintain office files.
b. Complete fully and accurately intake forms.
c. Maintain word processing log.
d. Maintain an active tickler and conflict management system.
e. Maintain appointment schedules and court schedules.
f. Maintain accurate accounting records.
g. Enter and prepare client-billing information.
h. Classify, sort, and distribute incoming mail and correctly process all outgoing mail.
i. Apply correct techniques when placing and receiving phone calls.
j. Utilize the Internet and specified legal resources to conduct legal research.
- Recognize the importance of ethical behavior within the legal environment.
a. Recognize when ethics should affect a decision.
b. Determine when a person acts without regard to ethics.
c. Describe the basic forms of ethical reasoning: consequential and deontological.
d. Identify the ethical justification for many laws.
e. Explain obligation to obey the law.
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| Prerequisites and Co requisites: |
You should complete Orientation of On-line Classes a 6 hour class offered at no charge at RODP. You should also be competent in Microsoft Word. |
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Module 1: (4 hours)
Module 2: (4 hours)
Module 3: (4 hours)
Module 4: (4 hours)
Module 5: (5 hours)
Module 6: (5 hours)
Module 7: (5 hours)
Module 8: (5 hours)
Module 9: (5 hours)
Module 10: (5 hours)
Module 11: (5 hours)
Module 12: (5 hours)
Module 13: (5 hours)
Module 14: (5 hours)
Module 15: (4 hours)
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Specific Course Requirements: |
Students will need to be a self-starter and self-motivated with the ability to meet deadlines set on your calendar timeline. |
| Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements |
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Please visit the RODP Virtual Bookstore for textbook information. | |
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Dictionary and Thesaurs
*Additionally you can use http://www.webster.com/ webster's online dictionary and www.google.com for research purposes. |
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Software Requirements:Powerpoint, Microsoft Word, Internet |
The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, Shockwave 8.0 or higher, Microsoft Office 2003. Install using the custom installation and select to install all components to be run from you hard drive to complete this course. |
| Instructor Information |
Please select the Instructor option on the Navigation Bar at the left to find instructor contact information. Virtual office hours and other communication information will be available on this web page. |
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| Assessment and Grading |
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Each Module will give specific directions on how to complete the tests and quizzes. It will provide instruction on how you will receive your grade. |
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Your grade will be based on Skills (50%), Related Work (25%), and Participation (25%).
The Skills score is the score you receive on your exam
The Related Work is derived from the assign work you will be submitting.
The Participation grade will be based on your involvement in the discussion board, email communications, and completing assignment on time.
Students are required to participate actively in discussions. During the course, the instructor will post questions on the discussion board concerning a specific topic. Students will have the opportunity to respond to these topics and to other students' responses. The discussion board is here for you. It is to assist you in learning this content successfully. Please feel free to begin your own discussion on Outlook. |
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93-100---A
85-92---B
77-84---C
A score of 77 or better must be achieved to receive credit for this course. |
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| Assignments and Participation |
Assignments and Projects: |
A sequenced list of assignments and projects arranged by course section or module with due dates if applicable. |
Assignments and Participation: |
Students are expected to communicate with the instructor as a learning resource, students must check the course bulletin board frequently for announcements, and students must actively participate in threaded discussion events. The instructor will post topics for student comments. |
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Students are permitted to work ahead of the timeline in this course. There are specific unit completion dates posted on the calendar and noted in units modules. Assignments are required to be turned in by these dates. |
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| Course Ground Rules |
The following are recommendations for students taking this class:
- Learn how to navigate in D2L if you are not familiar with the system.
- View the Course Calendar f?r exams and assignment deadlines.
- Check the Discussion Board several times a week for course announcements, course information and discussion topics.
- Manage your time wisely. Give yourself enough time complete assignments and properly prepare for exams.
- Keep in contact with the instructor on a regular basis by emails and discussion board.
- Use the assigned e-mail address as opposed to a personal e-mail address for everything related to the course.
- Address technical problems immediately.
- Students must respect the rights of others at all times when communicating in chat, email, or discussions. Observe course netiquette at all times.
- Participation in this course is the key to doing well. Be sure all assignments are completed by the due date as posted on the Course Calendar.
- If you have a technical issue address it at once to avoid falling behind in the class.
- If you have questions, the discussion board is a greater place to ask it. Remember that the only bad question is the one not asked. So, if you are unsure of something , ask. If you prefer, you may also email the instructor.
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| Guidelines for Communications |
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Email: |
- Always include a subject line.
- Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.
- Use standard fonts.
- Do not send large attachments without permission.
- Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
- Respect the privacy of other class members
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Discussion Groups: |
- Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
- Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
- Do not ?ake insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of other s ideas.
- Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.
- Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
- Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
- Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.
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Chat: |
- Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat session.
- Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory statements.
- Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.
- Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled time.
- Be constructive in your comments and suggestion
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Web Resources: |
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Library |
The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses. |
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Students With Disabilities |
Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor. |
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Syllabus Changes |
The instructor reserves the left to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board. |
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Technical Support |
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Telephone Support: |
If you are having problems logging into your course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact ROCC Technical Support by calling
1-866-550-7637 (toll free)
or go to their web site at:
http://help.rodp.org
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