Training Solutions for Law Firms
in the Litigation Paralegal Training Package
Module 1: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Paralegals (90 min)
- What separates a highly successful paralegal career from a paralegal job
- Defining a “successful” paralegal career
- A different approach to the meaning of proactive behavior
- The importance of building and keeping credibility with the attorneys you work for
- Time management when juggling multiple priorities
- Why paralegal technology skills are so important
Module 2: Paralegal Communication Skills (60 min)
- Understanding the difference between generations when communicating at work
- Four methods to use to be more concise in your communication
- The importance of being confident in your communications with attorneys
- Easy steps to a better proofread to eliminate errors in your writing
Module 3: Excel for Paralegals (60 min)
Upon completion of this course, paralegals will be able to:
- Design the Excel Spreadsheet
- Organize and Review Data
- Name, Color and Format Spreadsheets
- Implement Quick Tricks and Useful Keystrokes
- Work with Excel Templates
- Copy, Paste and Embed Data
- Create Hyperlinks to Worksheets and Other Files
- Create and Use Basic Formulas and Functions to Calculate Data
- Use Excel for Lists, Timelines and Other Tables
Module 4: Proactive Case Management (60 min)
Handling a case proactively involves taking charge and doing things that will move a case forward without having to be told what to do each step of the way. It also involves an understanding that to be truly proactive, a paralegal should develop and refine key behaviors that are needed to be a successful litigation paralegal. In this module, we use a sample complaint and walk paralegals through the things they can do the moment the complaint comes in.
Module 5: Drafting Discovery (60 min)
We make drafting discovery requests and responses easy with a technique that will work on all types of litigation cases. We include group exercises using the sample complaint from Module 1 to show paralegals how to become the master of discovery drafting on their litigation team, even when they must draft discovery from scratch without a form or a template.
Module 6: E-discovery Basics (60 min)
All litigation paralegals, regardless of the specific practice area, should have a general understanding of e-discovery and how it fits into the discovery phase of a litigation matter. In this session, we introduce paralegals to the basics of e-discovery, the industry models and the court rules affecting electronically stored information and more. Note: there is a more in-depth training on all phases e-discovery in the E-discovery Paralegal Boot Camp (the next course in this paralegal training package)
Module 7: Project Planning (60 min)
E-discovery projects can be the most expensive part of litigation. And if we’re not careful, they can also be where the biggest mistakes happen. In this module, we give you a template to be able to plan for the project to reduce the likelihood of mistakes happening.
- Drafting a Project Plan Memo to keep your project on track
- Selecting and managing vendors
- How to identify other sources of data
- Estimating data size
- Preparing a budget for your project
Module 8: Managing the E-discovery Review (60 min)
- Understanding the various processing options depending on the available technology
- The importance of communication and status updates to the attorney
- Methods for reducing the review time of a document production
- Estimating the completion date for the review project
- How to make adjustments to meet the review deadline
Module 9: The Production (60 min)
- Understanding the pros and cons of the various production methods
- Effectively communicating with the project team
- How to develop quality control measures to prevent mistakes
- Post-production tasks and metrics so that you can learn from each project
Module 10: Paralegal Time Management and Productivity (60 min)
In this motivational program, we show paralegals how to increase their productivity while they are in the office so that they can achieve a better work/life balance and be out of the office sooner. We show them how to measure their daily, weekly and monthly productivity and then give them solid methods to improve those numbers. Your paralegals will be able to set a plan for which methods will work best to see the most improvement.
Program Highlights
- How to calculate your daily productivity and set daily goals to increase it
- Solid methods to improve your productivity
- How to limit distractions and increase your focus
- Prioritizing your work day so that you can get all your work done and still have a life outside the office
Module 11: Preparing for Depositions (60 min)
Preparing for depositions is more than the notice and the subpoena. Those are forms that anyone can cut and paste. Instead, we provide paralegals with a 3-step plan to eliminate those last- minute scrambles the night before a deposition. We also provide paralegals with an insight into what happens during a deposition so that they can better organize the attorney heading out the door to the deposition.
Module 12: Pretrial Preparations (60 min)
- Proactive things to do before the notice of trial
- The Trial Prep Checklist as your daily to-do list for the weeks leading up to trial
- How to stay on track even with an attorney who procrastinates
- Preparing the Trial Notebook early in the case
Module 13: Trial Technology (60 min)
- Deciding whether to outsource the technology
- Steps to hiring and managing trial technology vendors
- Checklist of equipment if you are the “hot-seat” person
- Comparing technology alternatives for trial presentations
- Using PowerPoint for opening and closing statements
- Ensuring a smooth technology presentation
Module 14: Managing the Evidence (60 min)
- Drafting a Trial Exhibit List that will keep your exhibits organized
- Organizing the trial exhibits for use throughout the trial prep phase
- Demonstrative evidence
- Deposition Designations for the pretrial order
- Preparing for the Pretrial Conference
Module 15: The Weeks Before Trial (60 min)
- Conducting site visits before the trial starts
- Finding the ideal trial war room
- Preparing for the witness prep meetings
- Mastering the out of town trials
- Setting up your remote trial war room
Module 16: The Paralegal at Trial (60 min)
- Logistics to plan for the unexpected
- Setting up your workspace in the courtroom
- Your role in voir dire
- Tracking the evidence
- General professional guidelines
- Preparing for the jury deliberations
Module 17: Social Media Ethics for Legal Professionals (60 min)
- An understanding of the ethical rules that apply to all legal support professionals
- Important lessons learned from others’ mistakes on social media
- When is it ok to be Facebook friends with judges and opposing parties?
- Why it is important for you to have a good understanding of social media applications
- Other ethical dilemmas to avoid on social media
For Only $595
Additional Course Information
The course access period for this course is 1 year. But life happens! Things come up that you didn’t expect. That’s not a problem.
If something comes up and you are not able to complete the course during your course access period, just shoot us an email and let us know that you need more time.
This course is pending approval of 16 general credits and 1 ethics credit.
In addition to the course lessons, your courses include templates and forms that you will be able to download and use right away on your own cases. Some of those include:
- Players List and Case Chronology
- Discovery Tracking Chart
- Deposition Notebook
- Deposition Prep Checklist
- Sample Privilege Log
- Trial Notebook
- Standard Operating Procedures Manual (SOP)
- ESI Budget Calculator
- Vendor Comparison Chart
- Document Review Decision Tree
- Production History Log
- Trial Prep Checklist and Timeline
- Trial Exhibit List
- Deposition Summary Chart
- And so much more…
This is not a paralegal certificate program. This is continuing education for paralegals who have already completed their paralegal certificate program or are in the process of completing it.
This paralegal training program is designed to bridge the gap between the theory and terminology taught in most certificate programs.
- Entry level paralegals
- Project Assistants and Case Assistants
- Legal secretaries who want to move into a paralegal role
- Paralegals in other practice areas who want to transition to litigation
- Litgation paralegals with less than 5 years of experience who want to learn how to proactively manage their litigation cases
If you are an experienced paralegal with more than 9-10 years of experience, we recommend you consider taking either the Trial Prep Boot Camp or the E-discovery Paralegal Boot Camp instead of this comprehensive training program.
Ann Pearson is the Founder of the Paralegal Boot Camp®. Ann develops training programs exclusively for the legal industry. The training is provided through live workshops, online courses, and custom in-house training programs.
Prior to founding the Paralegal Boot Camp in 2010, Ms. Pearson had 20 years of experience in the legal industry, first as a litigation paralegal working in commercial litigation, construction, and product liability. She later became the paralegal manager at McKenna, Long & Aldridge LLP (now Dentons), where she managed the paralegals and case assistants in their Atlanta, New York and San Diego offices. Ann was able to significantly increase the skill set, retention rates (job satisfaction!) and productivity of McKenna’s paralegal group through methods that she now teaches in the Paralegal Boot Camp.
Ms. Pearson teaches courses for Emory University’s Paralegal Certificate Program and is a frequent speaker at legal industry events. She has served on the Advisory Board of Brown Mack College’s paralegal certificate program in Atlanta and is the former President at the Foundation for the Advancement of the Paralegal Profession (FAPP). Ann is a member of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), the Project Management Institute and the IPMA. She is the former VP Education for the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/AnnPearson