Paralegal Boot Camp

Module 1:  Developing Habits Early in Your Career  

We start by setting a foundation for success in your new paralegal career.  In this introduction module, we put a new spin on Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by showing paralegals how they can develop their own work habits to advance their careers and enjoy their work more.  The habits that we identify come from years of research on the topic of how to find a rewarding, successful paralegal career.  What we found was that all successful paralegals have these habits in common.    

Module 2:  Paralegal Communication Skills 

You do not have to be born a great communicator. Instead, you can practice great communication skills each day to continue to improve this skill. In this module, we'll give you 7 steps to make it easy to continuously advance your communication skills throughout your career. 

Module 3:  Excel Basics for Paralegals  

Excel will help you with many projects and tasks that you will do as a paralegal. This module gives paralegals the training and basic understanding of the capabilities of how to use Microsoft Excel to streamline a paralegal’s work. Upon completion of this module, users will be able to:

• Organize and Review Data
• Name, Color and Format Spreadsheets
• Implement Quick Tricks and Useful Keystrokes
• Copy, Paste and Embed Data
• Create Hyperlinks to Worksheets and Other Files
• Use Excel for Lists, Timelines and Other Tables

Module 4:  Proactive Case Management  

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.  We start with a sample complaint and show you things you can be doing on a case from the moment the complaint gets filed.

Module 5:  Drafting Discovery  

We make drafting discovery requests and responses easy with a technique that will work on all types of litigation cases.  We include group exercises 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 

All litigation paralegals, regardless of the specific practice area that you work in, 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.

Module 7:  Developing a Project Plan  

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 (small or large!) to reduce the likelihood of mistakes happening.

Module 8:  Managing the Processing & Review Phase  

• Understanding the various processing options depending on the available technology
• Methods for reducing the review time of a document production
• Estimating the completion date for the review project so that deadlines are not missed

Module 9:  Quality Control & Production  

• Understanding the pros and cons of the various production methods
• Effectively communicating issues with the project team
• How to develop quality control measures to prevent mistakes
• Post-production tasks and metrics

Module 10:  Time Management for Legal Professionals 

As a new paralegal, one of the most important things you can do is to effectively manage your time.  You will be juggling deadlines and priorities that are typically set by a court deadline.  In this motivational module, 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.  

• 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 workday so that you can get all your work done and still have a life outside the office

Module 11:  Preparing for Depositions 

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.  We also cover the various technology applications that are available to assist you during and after depositions (most of them are free!).

As we move from the discovery phase into the pretrial phase, we give you tools and checklists that will not only help you with your trial prep - these case checklists will also allow you to see the bigger picture of why you do some of the things you do during the discovery phase as you lead into the trial prep phase of a case.

Module 12:  Pretrial Preparations  

• 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:  Mastering Trial Technology 

• 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 During Pretrial 

• 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:  Trial War Rooms  

• 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:  A Paralegal’s Role in the Courtroom

• 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

As a new paralegal, one of the ethical minefields that you have to be aware of is your use of social media when you work in the legal profession. According to a recent study, more than one-third of all employers said they have fired or reprimanded an employee for something that happened on social media.  In this module, we uncover potential ethical pitfalls to avoid when using social media sites and messenger apps.