SYLLABUS FOR:
PAL 160
LEGAL RESEARCH & WRITING I
Instructor: John A. Plesa
419E – Wheeling Campus
(304)-214-8895 [Office]
Office Hours: Monday = 2:00-5:30; Tuesday = 3:00-5:30; Wednesday = 4:00-5:30;
Thursday = 2:00-5:30; Friday = [BY APPOINTMENT ONLY 10:00-Noon]
If office hours are postponed or canceled, notification will be posted on office door.
Course description: This course will provide students with an understanding of the fundamentals of legal writing and legal research source materials. Topics will cover the process of legal writing, an overview of the legal research and writing process, primary authority, secondary authority, statutory and case law.
Prerequisites:Satisfactory writing placement test scores or ENG 090, satisfactory reading placement test scores or READ 095 or permission of program director.
Prerequisites/Corequisites:
Credit hours: 3Lecture hours per week:3
Expanded description/Course Focus:
Texts: Legal Research and Writing for Paralegals, Tepper/Bevans (Chp. 1-7, 11-14)
Other supplies:
Resources:
(optional)
Grading System: 100%-90% = A 69%-60% = D
89%-80% = B 59%-00% = F
79%-70% = C
Students who have an “A” average at the end of the semester will be excused from the final examination.
Attendance Policy: Attendance will have a direct bearing on your grade. You will be allowed two (2) absences for the semester. I will make exceptions for extreme circumstances (e.g. death in the family). You will drop ½ letter grade for each absence exceeding two (2). Routine doctor appointments or other appointments do NOT classify as extreme circumstances and instructor may request/require documentation.
Students who come more than 15 minutes late or leave more than 15 minutes early will be marked absent.
Chronic absence from class will result in administrative withdrawal. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY AND ALL MATERIALS, TESTS, ASSIGNMENTS, ETC. THAT YOU MISS!
Assignment Deadlines: The nature of the legal profession requires strict adherence to deadlines and timetables, therefore, so does this course. Failure to follow and/or meet assignment deadlines will result in a 50% reduction of the allocated points for that assignment. If an assignment is more than 48 hours late, you will not receive credit for that assignment.
All assignments are to be transmitted electronically to the e-mail account listed on this syllabus.
With the exception of extreme circumstances (e.g. death in the family) excuses WILL NOT be tolerated.Routine doctor appointments or other appointments and in most cases computer “problems” do NOT classify as extreme circumstances and instructor may request/require documentation.
Classroom Conduct Policy: Students are expected to conduct themselves in a courteous, responsible, mature manner in the classroom. This includes being prepared for class; informing the instructor if you are going to miss class; not coming late, leaving during class, or leaving early without prior notification and for legitimate reasons; not engaging in sidebar conversations or being otherwise disruptive in class, harassing or distracting other students or the instructor, making offensive comments, and turning off cellular phones during class.
Academic Honesty Policy: Students are expected to conduct themselves in an adult, ethical, honest and professional way on assignments, research papers, and exams. Academic dishonesty includes things like: cheating (this includes helping or being helped on exams or other assignments that are to be done individually), putting your name on someone else’s work and turning it in as your own, doing work someone else is supposed to be doing, and plagiarism.
You are responsible for your own work. If an assignment is given and you use an outside source to complete that assignment, you must cite to that outside source.
Plagiarism and cheating in any form will automatically result in an F (0%) for that assignment and may result in dismissal from the class, program, and/or the College.
Please note: If you are suspended or expelled from the College for academic dishonesty your eligibility to receive financial aid from ANY institute of higher education will be PERMANENTLY affected.
Social Justice Policy: WVNCC does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, age, disability, veteran status, color, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation. Any suggestions as to how to further a positive and open learning environment in this class will be appreciated and given serious consideration. If you are a person with a physical or psychological disability and anticipate needing any type of accommodation in order to participate or succeed in this class, please advise me AND contact the Office of Disability Services in Wheeling.
Emergency Announcement Procedures:WV Northern wants to take a moment to remind you of safety and emergency procedures that must be followed while at the college. Please look around this room and identify exit doors in the event of an emergency. Should a fire alarm sound please exit the building using the nearest door and follow the direction of WVNCC floor monitors or security/emergency personnel. Should you receive an announcement on this room’s intercom to lockdown or shelter in place, please turn off all lights and move away from windows and doors. You must remain at your location until instructed otherwise by security and or WVNCC personnel.
In the event of a medical or other emergency, call (9)-911, if using a college phone and notify college personnel of the emergency.
The College also wants to remind you we have a Text Alert system which you can sign up for free of charge, the link is on your portal account on the left side. We will use this only in emergency situations (including weather emergencies).
Continuity of Instruction: In the event that class is postponed or canceled, instructor will inform students via e-mail and signs will be posted. Lecture notes and assignments for cancelled classes will be sent via e-mail as well as the day/date of the instructors anticipated return.
Outcomes
The student will:
- Learn the main sources and types of law and their hierarchy
- Identify and explain the types of legal authority
- Explain the elements of a court opinion
- Demonstrate knowledge of sentence and paragraph composition, word and sentence usage, and use of proper grammar and punctuation.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete Legal Research and Writing I will
- Explain the main sources and types of law
- Explain the basic structure of the state and federal court systems
- List the hierarchy of the various sources of law
- Identify the types of legal authority
- Explain when and how to apply legal authority
- Define legal analysis
- Explain legal research and the elements of legal analysis
- Apply the elements of legal analysis in specific situations
- Explain the importance of focus and intellectual honesty
- Define statutory law
- List the components of a statute
- Locate constitutional, statutory, and administrative law and court rules
- Analyze a statute and apply it to specific problems.
- Explain the role of legislative history and cannons of construction
- Explain the role and importance of court opinions
- List the elements of a court opinion
- Compose sentences and paragraphs
- Select proper words and sentence usage
- Use correct grammar and punctuation
- Apply formal writing conventions
- Explain the importance of writing skills
- Define the legal writing process and its importance in legal writing
- List the three stages of the legal writing process
- Explain the importance and use of an expanded outline in the legal writing process
- Explain the importance of an office legal research memorandum
- Identify the role of secondary authority in general
- Identify the role of encyclopedias, treatises, annotated law reports, digests, and Shepard’s in research
- Explain the role of computers in legal research
- Compare Westlaw and Lexis—two commercial services used in legal research
- List the types of nonfee-based online legal research sources