Family Law, 7th Edition

 

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Torts: Personal Injury Litigation provides a comprehensive overview of both personal and property torts. In addition to negligence, the chapters cover intentional and strict-liability torts. The book is designed to integrate the substantive law of torts with the analytical skills needed to understand the scope of this area of the law. Most cases in a personal-injury law office raise negligence issues along with other causes of action. Hence, in addition to thorough coverage of the elements of negligence, ten chapters on other torts incorporate the negligence dimension of those torts. Examples include strict liability and invasion of privacy. Many of the chapters also cover the developing law of torts and the Internet.

Most of the chapters include an outline of topics covered, learning objectives, exhibits and tables designed to clarify and expand upon themes in the chapter, extensive case excerpts, assignments and projects, chapter review questions, an ethics problem, a chapter summary, and research references for further exploration. Appendices contain practical overviews on paralegal roles, the economics of a personal-injury practice, interviewing guidelines, and resources that are essential to practice in this area of the law.After the discussion of a major tort in specific chapters, there is a comprehensive checklist of definitions, summaries, relationships, and research links. The checklist is designed to provide the “big picture” by making connections between the particular tort examined in the chapter and related material on other torts discussed in other chapters. The checklist also serves as an on-the-job refresher for individual torts.

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ESSENTIALS EDITIONS OF THESE BOOKS:

Introduction to Paralegalism

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Paralegalism, Intro

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Introduction to Paralegalism 8th Edition (2015)

Introduction to Paralegalism 8th Edition (2015)

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

• How to Study Law in the Classroom and on the Job 

Part I: THE PARALEGAL IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM

• Introduction to the Paralegal Career
• Paralegal Employment
• On-the-Job Realities: The Assertive Paralegal
• The Regulation of Paralegals
• Attorney Ethics and Paralegal Ethics
• Introduction to the Legal System 

Part II: THE SKILLS OF A PARALEGAL

• Introduction to Legal Analysis
• Legal Interviewing
• Investigation in a Law Office
• Litigation Assistantship
• Legal Research
• Legal Writing
• Computers in a Law Office
• Introduction to Law Office Management
• Informal and Formal Administrative Advocacy 

APPENDIX

• Books, Articles, and Social Media on Paralegals
• Paralegal Associations, Bar Associations, and Related Associations
• Federal Government Organization Chart
• Fifty-State Survey: Ethics Opinions, Ethics Rules, Paralegal Statutes, Paralegal Employment Resources, Reports on Paralegal Ethics, and Legal Research on State Law
• Ethics Codes of National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) , National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA), and NALS, the Association of legal Professionals
• Paralegal Blogs
• Starting a Freelance Paralegal Business
• State Resources
• Paralegal News Stories, War Stories, and Parting Shots

Family Law, 6th Edition (2013)

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               TABLE OF CONTENTS  OF CURRENT EDITION 

I. Introduction 

• Introduction to Family Law and Practice
• Ethics and Malpractice in Family Law
• Compiling a Family History 

II. Premarital Agreements, Marriage Formation, Annulment 

• Premarital Agreements, Postnuptial, and Cohabitation Agreements
• Traditional Marriage and Alternatives
• Annulment 

III. Divorce

• Divorce Grounds and Procedure
• Spousal Support, Property Division, and the Separation Agreement
• Child Custody
• Child Support
• Tax Consequences of Separation and Divorce 

IV. Women’s Rights, Paternity, Legal Status of Children Adoption, Family Torts

• The Legal Rights of Women
• Illegitimacy and Paternity Proceedings
• The Legal Status of Children
• Adoption
• The New Science of Motherhood
• Torts and Family Law 

Appendix

• General Instructions for the Assignments in the Book
• Computer Generated Reports: The Divorce of Margaret and Nelson Paris
• Interrogatories
• Family Law in Your State
  
  
  

  

  
  

SOLICITATION: WHEN IT IS UNETHICAL AND WHEN IT IS ETHICAL

There are two main ways that attorneys seek to be hired by prospective clients:

a. In-person, live telephone, or real-time electronic contact. Solicitation of clients through such contact is unethical if the attorney’s goal is to seek fees or other financial benefit (“pecuniary gain”) unless the contact is with another attorney or someone with whom the attorney has a family, close personal, or prior professional relationship. ABA Model Rule 7.3

b. Written, recorded, e-mail, or other electronic contact. Solicitation of clients through such contact is ethical unless (a) the attorney knows that the prospective client does not want to be solicited, (b) the solicitation involves coercion, duress, or harassment, or (c) the solicitation is untruthful or misleading. ABA Model Rule 7.3

Source:

Page 237, Introduction to Paralegalism, 7th ed

Paralegal Ethics: Major Guidelines

What to Do; What to Avoid

SOURCE:
Page 210, Introduction to Paralegalism, 7th ed

1. Study the ethical rules governing attorneys in your state, including those on the ethical use of paralegals by attorneys. Read the rules. Reread them. Attend seminars on ethics conducted by bar associations and paralegal associations. If you understand when attorneys are vulnerable to charges of unprofessional conduct, you will be better able to assist them in avoiding such charges.

2. Assume that people outside your office do not have a clear understanding of what a paralegal or legal assistant is. Make sure that everyone with whom you come in contact (clients, prospective clients, attorneys, court officials, agency officials, and the public) understands that you are not an attorney. Use the magic words: IANAA: I Am Not An Attorney.

3. Never tell anyone who is not working on a case anything about that case. This includes your spouse, your best friend, and your mother!

4. Know what legal advice is. It is the application of laws or legal principles to the facts of a particular person's legal problem. When you are asked questions that call for legal advice, refuse to be coaxed into providing it, no matter how innocent the question appears to be, no matter how clear it is that you know the correct answer, and no matter how confident your supervisor is that you can handle such questions on your own.

5. Never make contact with an opposing party in a legal dispute, or with anyone closely associated with that party, unless you have the permission of your supervising attorney and of the attorney for the opposing party, if the latter has one.

6. Don’t sign your name to anything if you are not certain that what you are signing is 100 percent accurate and that the law allows a paralegal to sign it. If you are asked to witness someone’s signature, for example, be sure that the document you are witnessing is signed in your presence. Your signature as witness should signify that you watched someone sign the document.

7. Never pad your time sheets by recording time that was not in fact spent on a client matter. Insist that what you submit be 100 percent accurate.

8. Disclose your inexperience. Let your supervisor know if all or part of an assignment is new to you and that you may need additional training and supervision to undertake it competently.

9. Know the common rationalizations for misrepresentation and other unethical conduct:
▪ It’s always done.
▪ The other side does it.
▪ The cause of our client is just.
▪ If I don’t do it, I will jeopardize my job.
Promise yourself that you will not allow any of these rationalizations to entice you to participate in unethical conduct.

10. If what you are asked to do doesn’t feel right, don’t proceed until it does. Adhere to rigorous standards of professional ethics, even if those standards are higher than those followed by attorneys, paralegals, and others around you.

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                                       TABLE OF CONTENTS

• How to Study Law in the Classroom and on the Job 

Part I: THE PARALEGAL IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM

• Introduction to a new Career in Law
• Paralegal Employment
• On-the-Job Realities: Assertiveness Training for Paralegals
• The Regulation of Paralegals
• Attorney Ethics and Paralegal Ethics
• Introduction to the Legal System 

Part II: THE SKILLS OF A PARALEGAL

• Introduction to Legal Analysis
• Legal Interviewing
• Investigation in a Law Office
• Litigation Assistantship
• Legal Research
• Legal Writing
• An Introduction to the Use of Computers in a Law Office
• Introduction to Law Office Management
• Informal and Formal Administrative Advocacy 

APPENDIX

• Bibliography on Paralegals
• Fifty-State Survey: Paralegal Associations, Bar Associations that Allow Paralegal Membership, and Related Associations
• Fifty-State Survey: Bar Associations and related Attorney Organizations
• Federal Government Organization Chart
• Fifty-State Survey: Ethics Opinions, Ethics Rules, Paralegal Statutes, Paralegal Employment Resources, Reports on Paralegal Ethics, and Legal Research on State Law
• Ethics Codes of National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) , National Federation of paralegal Associations (NFPA), and NALS, the Association of legal Professionals
• California Legislation on Paralegals
• Paralegal Business Cards
• Fifty-State Survey: Finding Public records, State Legal Forms, the State Court system, and Government Agency Contacts
• How to Start a Paralegal Freelance Business
• Paralegal Day
• Paralegal News Stories, War Stories, and Parting Shots

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               The CHARTWHEEL: 

A Brainstorming Technique for the Legal Researcher

    Bill Statsky created the CHARTWHEEL in 1980. He has included it in many editions of his books. The CHARTWHEEL is a technique designed to help you think of a large variety of words and

phrases to be check in indexes, tables of contents, and on online search engines.

Most people think that using an index is a relatively easy task — until they start trying to use indexes of law books! These indexes are often poorly written because they are not comprehensive. To be comprehensive, an index might have to be as long as the text it is indexing. Because of this reality, one of the most important skills in legal research is the creative use of indexes in law books. When you master this skill, 70 percent of the research battle is won. The CARTWHEEL is a word-association technique designed to assist you in acquiring the skill by giving you a method of generating words and phrases. (The skill can also be used when checking tables of contents and using online search engines.) Professor Roy Steele, a veteran teacher of legal research, made the following observation about the CARTWHEEL:

“The CARTWHEEL is one of the most effective ways of systematically developing a list of search terms. [It is] a method of analyzing a legal problem and developing a list of descriptive words, which can be used to search indexes.

The objective of the CARTWHEEL is to develop the habit of phrasing every major word involved in the client’s problem fifteen to twenty different ways! When you go to the index (or to the table of contents) of a law book, you naturally begin looking up the words and phrases you think should lead you to relevant material in the book. If you do not find anything relevant to your problem, two conclusions are possible:

■ There is nothing relevant in the law book.

■ You looked up the wrong words in the index.

Although the first conclusion is sometimes accurate, nine times out of ten, the second conclusion is the reason you fail to find material that is relevant to the client’s problem. The solution is to be able to phrase a word in as many different ways and in as many different contexts as possible. That’s what the CARTWHEEL is designed to help you do.

There are 8 categories in the CARTWHEEL: broader words, narrower words, synonyms, antonyms, closely related words, terms of procedure and remedy, courts and agencies, and long shots.

Here are the steps to follow in using the CARTWHEEL:

1. Identify all the major words from the facts of the client’s problem, e.g., wedding (most of these facts can be obtained from the intake

memorandum written following the initial interview with the client). Place each word or small set of words in the center of the CARTWHEEL.

2. In the index, look up all of these words.

3. Identify the broader categories of the major words.

4. In the index, look up all of these broader categories.

5. Identify the narrower categories of the major words.

6. In the index, look up all of these narrower categories.

7. Identify all synonyms of the major words.

8. In the index, look up all of these synonyms.

9. Identify all of the antonyms of the major words.

10. In the index, look up all of these antonyms.

11. Identify all words that are closely related to the major words.

12. In the index, look up all of these closely related words.

13. Identify all terms of procedure and remedy related to the major words.

14. In the index, look up all of these procedural and remedial terms.

15. Identify all courts and agencies, if any, that might have some connection to the major words.

16. In the index, look up all of these courts and agencies.

17. Identify all long shots.

18. In the index, look up all of these long shots.

Note: The above categories are not mutually exclusive.

Suppose the client’s problem involved, among other things, a wedding. The first step would be to look up the word wedding in the index of any law book you are examining. Assume that you are not successful with this word, either because the word is not in the index or because the page or section references do not lead you to relevant material in the body of the book. The next step is to think of as many different phrasings and contexts of the word wedding as possible. This is where the eighteen steps of the CARTWHEEL can be useful.

If you applied the steps of the CARTWHEEL to the word "wedding," here are some of the words and phrases that you might check:

1. Broader words: celebration, ceremony, rite, ritual, formality, festivity, union, etc.

2. Narrower words: civil wedding, church wedding, golden wedding, proxy wedding, sham wedding, shotgun wedding, formal wedding, informal wedding, etc.

3. Synonyms: marriage ceremony, nuptial, etc.

4. Antonyms: alienation, annulment, divorce, separation, legal separation, judicial separation, etc.

5. Closely related words: license, blood test, contract, minister, matrimony, monogamy, intermarriage, marital, conjugal, domestic, husband, wife, bride, anniversary, custom, children, premarital, spouse, relationship, family, home, consummation, cohabitation, sexual relations, betrothal, espousal, hand, wedlock, oath, community property, name change, domicile, residence, troth, etc.

6A. Terms of procedure: action, suit, statute of limitations, complaint, discovery, defense, petition, jurisdiction, etc.

6B. Terms of remedy: damages, divorce, injunction, partition, rescission, revocation, specific performance, etc.

7. Courts and agencies: trial court, appellate court, superior court, county court, court of common pleas, court of appeals, supreme court, justice of the peace court, magistrate court, bureau of vital statistics, county clerk, department of social services, Social Security

Administration, license bureau, secretary of state, etc.

8. Long shots: dowry, common law, single, blood relationship, fraud, religion, illegitimate, remarriage, antenuptial, alimony, bigamy, polygamy, pregnancy, gifts, chastity, impotence, incest, virginity, support, custody, consent, paternity, etc.

If the CARTWHEEL can generate this many words and phrases from a starting point of just one word (wedding), potentially thousands more can be generated when you subject all of the important words from the client’s case to the CARTWHEEL. Do you check them all in the index volume of every volume of every code, digest, encyclopedia, practice manual, and legal treatise? No. You can't spend your entire career in the law library on one case! Common sense will tell you when you are on the right track and when you are needlessly duplicating your efforts. You may get lucky and find what you are after in a few minutes. For important tasks in any line of work (or play), however, being comprehensive is usually time-consuming.

Final points about the CARTWHEEL:

--The categories of the CARTWHEEL may overlap; they are not mutually exclusive.

--There are two reasons for checking antonyms: they might cover your topic, and they might give you a cross-reference to your topic.

--It is not significant whether you place a word in one category or another so long as the word comes to your mind as you comb through all

available indexes.

--Perhaps some of the word selections generated by the CARTWHEEL may seem a bit far-fetched. You will not know for sure, however, whether a word is fruitful until you try it. Be imaginative, and take some risks.

The CARTWHEEL is, in effect, a word-association game that should become second nature to you with practice.

As indicated, the CARTWHEEL can also be helpful for generating search terms when you are doing online searches in search engines such as Google and Bing. In addition to typing words generated by the CARTWHEEL into an online search box, find out what method is used by the search engine itself to generate additional terms. For example, in Google, if you place a tilde (~) immediately in front of the word, Google will automatically search for synonyms of that word. Hence a search for sites on the police (~police) will give you sites that mention police and those that mention the synonyms cops, law enforcement, and officer.

Essentials of Torts, 3d ed.

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Topics Covered in Essentials of Torts, 3d Ed: 

• Introduction to Tort Law and Practice
• Foreseeability in Tort Law
• Battery
• Assault
• False Imprisonment and False Arrest
• Intentional infliction of Emotional Distress
• Misuse of Legal Process (Malicious Prosecution; Abuse of Process)
• Conversion and Trespass to Chattels
• Strict Liability
• Negligence: a Summary
• Negligence: Duty
• Negligence: Breach of Duty
• Medical Malpractice
• Legal Malpractice
• Negligence: Damages
• Negligence: Defenses
• Products Liability, Breach of Warranty, Mass Torts
• Survival and Wrongful Death
• Torts Against and Within the Family
• Torts Connected with Land (Trespass to Land, Premises Liability)
• Defamation (Libel, Slander)
• Defamation on the Internet
• Invasion of Privacy
• Misrepresentation
• Consent and other Tort Defenses
• Workers’ Compensation
• Automobile Insurance