National Paralegal College717 E. Maryland AvenuePhoenix, AZ 85014-1561

Tel: 800-371-6105Fax: 866-347-2744

E-mail: info@nationalparalegal.eduWebsite: http://nationalparalegal.edu

PLG-401-1208

ADVANCED LEGAL ANALYSIS AND WRITING

Syllabus and Course Guide

The NPC Advanced Legal Analysis and Writing meets 15 times over the course of the 8-week term in the NPC Interactive classroom. Each session consists of approximately 60 minutes of online lecture by the course instructor.

There will be two alternative lectures for this course. These will take place at the following times:

- 4:00 PM Eastern/ 1:00 P.M. Pacific (Ellis Washington)- 9:00 PM Eastern/ 6:00 PM Pacific (Erin Steffin)

All class sessions are recorded and may be viewed by students at any time.

To successfully complete the course, each student must satisfactorily complete:

- Two (2) examinations- One major legal writing project, as will be assigned by the Instructor and

discussed at length during class

INSTRUCTORS:

Lecturers:- Ellis Washington (ewashingtonpc@gmail.com)- Erin Steffin (esteffin@gmail.com)

Grader:- Reena Green (reenagreen@gmail.com)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:1

This course is an advanced course that seeks to refine the student’s ability to write in a formal, legal manner. In addition, students will receive training in drafting legal memoranda and briefs. The course will look at the different types of legal memoranda and writings that exist. It will differentiate between the forms of legal writing and train the students in the art of adapting one’s writing to the given situation. The student’s familiarity with legal research through Lexis or other means and basic knowledge of the United States court system and the differences between mandatory and persuasive authority are presumed. The course will focus on developing the ability to apply legal research to the creation of the written legal document. Students will be asked to research, draft and submit an appellate brief based on an assigned fact pattern and fictitious procedural history.

COURSE PREREQUISITES:

- Legal Research, Writing and Civil Litigation

- This course may not be taken before a student has completed at least four (4) paralegal courses at NPC without prior consent from the education director. Such permission will be granted only upon a showing that the student has a significant educational or employment background in legal writing.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

At the completion of this course, the student will be able to:

- Appropriately cite any authority, including cases, statutes, law review articles, secondary authorities, etc. (sometimes with the assistance of other sources)

- Appropriately differentiate between the various types of legal writing, including the intra-office memorandum, the legal brief, etc.

- Properly organize, using the I-R-A-C method in organizing a legal essay or memorandum

- Write in a clear, concise and legalistic manner

- Distinguish between the process and applicable rules in analyzing statutes and cases and be able to apply each skill when appropriate

- Distinguish between mandatory and persuasive authority and determine how much weight to give each in varying situations.

- Identify and apply the key facts and rules in cases and statutes

- Separate, identify and draft the varying components of a legal brief, including the table of contents, table of authorities, question presented, argument and conclusion

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- Appropriately revise and edit legal writings to avoid excessive legalese, verbose or incomprehensible language and other legal writing errors

TEXTBOOK AND READING ASSIGNMENTS:

The textbook for this course is:

A Practical Guide to Legal Writing and Legal Method, Third EditionAuthor: John C. Dernbach, et al. Publisher: Aspen Publishing ISBN-10: 0735562849 ISBN-13: 978-0735562844

It is expected that each student will obtain a copy of the textbook prior to the beginning of the course. The book may be obtained in any manner the student chooses to do so, including:

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Legal-Writing-Method/dp/0735562849/

Textbooks.com:

http://www.textbooks.com/BooksDescription.php?BKN=816768&CSID=Q2K0QUD0MAO0CUMCMCAQODAAU

Unless otherwise noted, all reading assignments refer to the above referenced textbook. Any additional materials assigned in this syllabus will be posted on the NPC site for reading or download.

All reading assignments should be completed prior to the corresponding lecture. Lecture slides and additional documents can be found on the “Documents and Slides” page on the NPC student website.

It is recommended, but not required, that students also obtain the following reference books, if they do not already own them:

1) William H. Putnam, Pocket Guide to Legal Research

http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Guide-Research-William-Putman/dp/1418053767/

2) William H. Putnam, Pocket Guide to Legal Writing

http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Guide-Legal-Writing/dp/1401865976/

Reference may be made during class to one or both of these sources.

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WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS:

At the outset of the course, one major legal writing project will be posted. This project will ask the student to draft an appellate brief, from start to finish. The fact pattern and a hypothetical lower court “decision” will be presented as part of the course materials. Throughout the course, the instructor will discuss the project and will offer general tips in completing it. The instructor will present and discuss sample appellate briefs to assist the student in understanding what is expected. Although the exact length of the brief is left to the discretion of the student, it is anticipated by the instructor that the brief should generally be approximately 10 pages long, double spaced (approximately 2,500 words), not including the table of contents and table of authorities.

The instructor will spend significant amounts of time in class discussing the assigned appellate brief drafting project. It is important that students do not put off working on this project for too long. The instructor will devote significant periods of class time to discussing the writing project and will give suggestions on how students can best prepare and draft the brief. Students who are working on the project early in the course will have the advantage of being able to ask specific questions about the project and will be able to get feedback on the student’s progress more easily.

Parts of the project are due throughout the course, according to the following schedule:

- Research notes for the paper (as discussed in class) are due at the end of week 4

- A completed paper outline is due at the end of week 6 - A first draft of the paper is due a week after the lectures end - The Final Draft is due on or before October 28, 2012.

The appellate brief project will be graded on a scale of 0-4, at intervals of tenths of a point. The same principles present in the grading rubric will be applied in grading the appellate brief project.

Please see the “Assignment Grading Rubric” (attached on page 5) for more detailed information as to how assignments are graded and the key elements of assignments that instructors look for when grading assignments.

It is highly recommended that assignment answers be composed in a word processing program and then pasted into the NPC system rather than composing it in the assignment answer window. This is important because an inadvertent page refresh or login timeout could cause you to lose all unsaved work typed into the NPC assignment window.

Pdf documents and images may also be submitted as part of your assignment. For a short tutorial on creating and submitting pdf documents, please see:

http://tinyurl.com/assignmentpdf

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(You may have to log into Google to view this document.) In addition to a grade, students will receive written feedback from the instructor on their assignments.

Assignment Grading Rubric

Factor 4 (Excellent) 3(Good) 2(Satisfactory) 1 (Poor) 0 (no credit)Thoroughness Answered all

questionsin the exercise completelyand in the appropriate order.

Answered all questionsin the exercise but notcompletely and/ornot on the appropriate order

Answered most of the questionsin the exercise but notcompletely and/ornot on the appropriate order

Did not answer many of the questions in the exercise but did make some reasonable effort to do so.

Made little or no reasonable effort to answer the questions posed in the assignment

emonstrated UnderstandingOf the Assignment and has come to an appropriate conclusion

Response demonstrates a thorough understandingof the exercise and the student has justified and enunciated an appropriate conclusion.

Response demonstrates an understandingof the exercise and comes to a conclusion.

Response demonstrates some understandingof the exercise. The conclusion that the students comes to may not be appropriately justified by the rest of the essay.

Response demonstrates some understandingof the exercise but shows a high level of confusion on the part of the student. The student’s conclusion, if any, is not supported b the rest of the essay.

Response demonstrates a very poor understanding of the subject matter presented by the assignment.

Documentation/ Legal research (note: For assignments, sources should be those obtained through legal research; for exam essays, legal principles learned in class or the courseware is sufficient.)

Student has cited at least two excellent sources and has applied them appropriately. Appropriate sources are documented and well cited and well integrated.

Student has cited one excellent source or two or more good sources but has missed at least one excellent source. Sources are integrated well in the assignment.

Student has cited appropriate sources but has missed the best available OR student has cited good sources but has done a poor job of integrating them.

Student has cited poor or inappropriate authorities or has failed to establish the relevance of the sources that he or she has cited.

Student has not cited any legal authorities or has cited authorities that are irrelevant.

Organization Essay is organized very well; the reader can clearly understand where the essay is going at all point and a cohesive easy-to-follow argument is made in the essay. Separate paragraphs are used for separate ideas.

Essay is well organized. The essay is coherent, though may not flow freely. Different components of the essay are broken up appropriately.

Essay shows some level of organization, but is difficult to follow. The essay is not as focused as it should be. Essay may go back and forth between points without using new paragraphs.

Essay is poorly organized and is very difficult to follow. The student did not appropriately separate thoughts and did not properly organize the essay.

Student’s essay is in chaos. There is no reasonable attempt to organize the essay coherently.

Critical Thinking and Analysis

Shows excellent critical thinking and analysis. The student was able to apply the cited law to the facts of the given case in a clear and convincing manner.

Shows good critical thinking and analysis. The student’s points are well argued and well supported.

Shows adequate critical thinking and analysis. The student’s points are supported by logic, but are not exceptionally convincing.

Shows minimal critical thinking and analysis. The student’s arguments are weak and unconvincing.

Shows no effort critical thinking or analysis. The student’s points make no sense.

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EXAMINATIONS:

Examinations will be posted on the NPC website when indicated on the syllabus of the course. The examinations consist entirely of “short essay” questions. The 2 examinations will cumulatively count for 60% of the student’s course grade.

Examinations are non-cumulative; they cover only the material that has been covered since the previous examination. The instructor will provide specific information regarding the content of each examination as the examination time approaches.

All examinations are timed. A student may begin the examination any time after it is posted to the NPC website. Once begun, the examination must be completed within 4 hours.

Examinations will be graded on a conventional 0-100 scale. The number of points each question is worth is equal to 100 divided by the number of questions on the examination.

For each examination question, full credit will be awarded if the student:

1) Correctly identifies the legal issue(s) presented by the question

2) Applies the correct law to the legal issue(s) presented (note: full credit may also be awarded if the student’s answer comes to an “incorrect” conclusion if the student bases his or her analysis on correct law and supports his or her position in a convincing manner)

3) Presents his or her answer in a clear and understandable manner

The amount of partial credit to be awarded, if any, for an answer that is not complete and correct is at the discretion of the instructor. Instructors are instructed to award partial credit that is proportional to the level of knowledge and legal skill displayed by the student in answering the question.

The following factors are generally NOT taken into account in grading examinations:

Legal research; Although research is a key component of assignments, examinations are graded on the student’s knowledge of the legal concepts taught and do not require independent research.

Grammar and spelling (unless they impact the ability of the graded to understand the student’s answer); Although these are essential skills for a paralegal, examinations test legal knowledge and ability to apply the skills learned, not necessarily the ability to write professional legal memoranda (assignments test this skill). In addition, because exams are taken under time constraints, we would rather see the students spend their time spotting legal issues and applying applicable law than on proofreading answers for typos and grammar mistakes.

For more information on assignments and examinations, please see the NPC Student Handbook.

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WEEKLY INTERACTION REQUIREMENT

To ensure that all students are involved and participating in the course as the course moves forward, each student enrolled in this course must, at least one during each week, either:

1) Attend a live lecture OR 2) Submit at least one assignment OR 3) Take at least one examination OR 4) Answer a weekly “interaction” question or questions that will be posted on the “Assignments and Exams” page.

The weekly “interaction” question(s) will be simple and straightforward and will cover material covered in class that week. Answers to these questions should be short (typically 1-3 sentences) and to the point.

This student response (which is necessary only if the student does not attend a live class or take an exam or submit an assignment in the given week) will be graded on a pass/fail basis. The interaction questions will be posted no later than Monday of each week and must be answered on or before the following Monday.

The weekly interaction questions will be posted alongside the assignments. Students who do not attend a live class or take an exam or submit an assignment in the given week will be required to answer the questions presented. Students who did attend a live class or take an exam or submit an assignment in the given week may ignore the question.

Any student who does not fulfill this requirement during a given week will receive a reduction in his or her over-all grade of 2 percentage points from his or her over-all average. Conversely, any student who demonstrates excellent participation either through message board participation or through relevant in class discussion may receive an increase in his or her over-all grade, in the discretion of the instructor.

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COURSE GRADESThe following formula will be used to calculate final grades(Cumulative exam scores x 1.5) + (assignment points x 50) = raw scoreBecause exams are worth up to 100 points and the assignment is worth up to 4 points, the maximum raw score is 500. 10 raw points (2% of the raw point total) are deducted for each missed weekly interaction. Extra credit may be available for certain in class activities as may be announced by the instructor.The following conversion chart is then applied based on the total raw points you have earned:

>474 = A+ 445-474 = A 420-444 = A- 395-419 = B+ 365-394 = B 340-364 = B- 315-339 = C+ 285-314 = C 260-284 = C- 230-259 = D <230 = F 

All examinations and assignments are due no later than October 28, 2012 at 11:59 PM EASTERN TIME; That’s EASTERN time. That means 8:59 PM Pacific time, 9:59 PM Mountain time, 10:59 PM Central time, etc.

PLEASE SEE THE END OF THIS SYLLABUS FOR A NOTE ON NPC DEADLINE EXTENSION POLICY.

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Lecture and reading assignments schedule

IMPORTANT: Please have your textbook with you during each class. The instructor will spend much of the lecture time going over examples given in your textbooks in addition to covering the material laid out in this syllabus for each class.

It is important that you come to class prepared! During class, the instructor will discuss the examples and exercises that appear throughout your textbook. Only if you have already familiarized yourself with those exercises and examples will you be able to gain the best possible experience from the class.

CLASS ONE Tuesday, August 7, 2012

In our opening class, we will go over the key features of case law and how to read it. We will work on the skill of briefing a case and we will look at the various parts of a judicial opinion and how much weight and significance each component of a case must be given in analyzing the case as a whole. We will also look at the concepts of precedent and stare decicis and discuss when those concepts are binding and when they are not.

Assigned Reading:

Chapter 3: Case analysis and Case Briefs, Pages 19-34Chapter 4: Precedent and Stare Decisis, 35-43

CLASS TWO Thursday, August 9, 2012

In this class, we will look at statutory interpretation and the rules that govern this science. We will look at the definition of an “element” of a statute and the different types of statutory elements that exist. We will also look at key terms that appear in many statutes and what they mean. Finally, we will look at some general rules of statutory construction, when they apply and what their practical effects are.

Chapter 5: Understanding Legal Rules, Pages 47-58

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CLASS THREE Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Tonight we will continue our legal analysis discussion by discussing the key legal writing task of identifying and framing the issue that you hope to analyze as part of a legal writing task. We will discuss how to frame an issue and practice issue “spotting” and framing with examples in the text book. We will also discuss weeding out irrelevant issues so that you can discuss with your reader only issues that are necessary to answer the question presented.

Chapter 6: Identifying Issues for Analysis, Pages 59-77

CLASS FOUR Thursday, August 16, 2012

We will focus in this class on analyzing case law/ common law. We will discuss the principles involved in reading and understanding the holding of a case and discuss the importance of the facts of a case that gave rise to an important court decision. We will look at tactics that should be employed in using and in refuting case law. We will also look at examples of cases and try to determine how narrowly or broadly rules that come from those cases could and should be construed.

Chapter 7: Common Law Analysis, Pages 77-91

CLASS FIVE Tuesday, August 21, 2012

In this class we will look at the counterpart to the case law discussed in class 4, statutory law. We will examine the similarities between case law and statutory law and the important differences. We will look at the extent to which it is appropriate to apply public policy when interpreting a statute. Finally, we will look at the art of drawing an appropriate legal conclusion from a statute.

Chapter 8: Statutory Analysis, 91-105Chapter 9: Reaching a Conclusion, 105-115

The First examination will be posted at this time.

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CLASS SIX Thursday, August 23, 2012

Tonight we will focus on organizing your legal writing. We will look at the pre-writing steps, such as formulating your ideas and drafting an outline. We will discuss the importance of separating the issues that you will be dealing with and how to best go about doing this. We will look at examples of effective outlines and the impacts they can have on producing a polished and well organized finished product.

Chapter 10: Organization, Pages 115-133

CLASS SEVEN Tuesday, August 28, 2012

This class will examine a very specific area of legal writing: That of how to properly cite authority. We will discuss the importance of being accurate and avoiding tempting pitfalls in this regard. We will also discuss what it means to be accurate in your discussion of a legal principle. We will also discuss the manner in which laws should be cited so as to be as concise and complete as possible. We will discuss how to “summarize” and “synthesize” laws when and where appropriate.

Chapter 11: Describing the Analysis, Pages 133-147

CLASS EIGHT Thursday, August 30, 2012

Once we’ve discussed how to cite legal authority, we will look at how to apply it in the key “analysis” section of your legal paper or memo. We will look at how to segue from the law into the analysis and certain key tactics that can be useful in analyzing complex legal questions. We will also discuss the tactic of “signposting,” with which a writer allows the reader to understand where the writer is headed, making the reader’s job easier.

Chapter 12: Explaining the Analysis, Pages 147-167Chapter 13: Signposting, Pages 155-167

Please note that your research notes for the appellate brief project are due no later than September 4, 2012. If you do not submit your research notes by this time, you will be wasting a valuable opportunity for instructor feedback on your research.

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CLASS NINE Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Tonight we will start discussing how to “put it all together” in a specific form of legal writing. We will discuss how to put into practice all of the principles we’ve been examining throughout the course. We will also discuss what to anticipate from your audience in drafting a legal writing. We will look at complete examples of legal analyses and discuss how they can be improved.

Chapter 14: Drafting the Discussion, Pages 167-191

CLASS TEN Thursday, September 6, 2012

In this class, we will work on the process of editing your legal writing. We will go over legal writing tips and principles to watch for and change upon editing documents. We will look at specific ways to be concise, precise and direct. We will look at examples of mistakes in legal writing and how they can be corrected and prevented. We will also discuss tips on how to make sure your legal writing is easy for the reader to understand.

Class 15: Revising and Editing, Pages 191-205

The Second examination will be posted at this time.

CLASS ELEVEN Tuesday, September 11, 2012

In the final third of our course, we will look at the characteristics and intricacies of different, specific types of legal writing. In this class, we will focus on the intra-office memorandum. We will look at how it should be drafted and the features that distinguish it from other types of legal writing. We will also discuss how to go about preparing your analysis of the applicable law as presented in an intra-office memo.

Chapter 16: Elements of an Office Memorandum, Pages 205-211Chapter 17: The Discussion, Pages 211-217

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CLASS TWELVE Thursday, September 13, 2012

In this class, we will continue our discussion of legal memoranda. We will discuss drafting and editing a statement of facts for the outset of your legal writing. We will discuss how to tailor your discussion of the facts and how to revise your statement of facts after the rest of your paper has been written. Next, we will look at drafting the “question presented” statement, both in an intra-office memo and in a persuasive brief.

Chapter 18: Statement of Facts for a Memorandum, Pages 217-225Chapter 19: Questions Presented, Pages 225-235

Please note that your outline for the appellate brief project is due no later than September 16, 2012. If you do not submit your outline by this time, you will be wasting a valuable opportunity for instructor feedback on your outline.

CLASS THIRTEEN Thursday, September 20, 2012

In this class, we will discuss legal briefs. We will first look at the format of a legal brief, including how to write the caption, the statement of law, etc. We will also look at the important differences between writing a legal brief to a trial court and an appellate brief. Then, we will turn to general tactics in writing a legal brief, including how to best argue the facts, “sound” professional, etc.

Chapter 20: Elements of a Brief, Pages 235-245Chapter 21: The Argument, Pages 245-271

CLASS FOURTEEN Tuesday, September 25, 2012

We will continue our discussion of briefs by going over the all-important point headings. There are mini thesis statements that should be applied to each section of your brief. We will discuss how to place the point headings and how to draft them. We will then turn to tactics on how to draft the statement of facts in a brief. We will also key in on the differences between stating the facts in a trial motion and stating the facts in an appellate brief.

Chapter 22: Point Headings, Pages 271-279

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Chapter 23: Statement of facts for a Brief, Pages 279-291

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CLASS FIFTEEN Thursday, September 27, 2012

Our final class will continue our discussion of legal briefs. We will discuss specifics about briefs to a trial court, including the various types thereof. We will look at the difference between fact argument briefs in a bench trial and motion briefs in a jury trial. Finally, we will look at some other facts about appeal and some last tips on how to plan and draft an appellate brief most effectively.

Chapter 24: Briefs to a Trial Court, Page 291-305Chapter 25: Briefs to an Appellate Court, Pages 305-312

Please note that your first draft of the appellate brief project is due no later than October 7, 2012. If you do not submit your first draft by this time, you will be wasting a valuable opportunity for instructor feedback on your first draft.

All examinations and your final draft of your writing project are due no later than October 28, 2012. Please see the NPC EXTENSIONS POLICY on the next page for details on extensions to complete your work.

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NPC EXTENSIONS POLICY

1) Extensions that conform to the rules below may be requested from the “assignments and exams” page on the NPC student website.

2) No extensions are possible unless the student has first submitted at least one assignment or examination.

3) No extensions of more than thirty (30) days beyond the deadline are possible for any reason at all.

4) Requested extensions are granted automatically. It is not necessary to give any reason for the request. However, for each day of extension you request, you will be penalized 4 raw points (of 500 that determine your final grade - see page 8 of this syllabus). This accounts for 0.8% of your course grade, per day of extension. This is necessary to compensate for the advantage that students who take more time to do their work enjoy over those who complete their work on time. This also means that a short extension (e.g., a day or two) is unlikely to affect your grade, but a long extension (e.g., two weeks) is guaranteed to affect your grade.

5) The penalty referenced in Paragraph 4 may be waived by an instructor in extreme cases only. Extreme cases include circumstances beyond the control of the student that caused the student to be unable to complete work for a significant period of time. Foreseeable life circumstances such as being busy at work or at home, vacations, family occasions or power or internet outages lasting a few days, are foreseeable life circumstances. Extensions may be taken for these reasons (or, for that matter, for any reason at all), but the grade penalty will not be waived for anything short of a true, unforeseeable emergency.

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