Paralegal associations

National and State Paralegal Associations and Related Organizations (ParalegalAssoc.pdf): You're bound to find an organization to join with this comprehensive list of national, state, and local paralegal associations.

Job search

Sample Cover Letter (CoverLetter.pdf): Here’s a sample of a professional cover letter you can use to introduce yourself to prospective employers.

Sample Resume Highlighting Skills (ResumeSkills.pdf): This sample resume is best used when you have more education than you do law office experience.

Sample Resume Highlighting Employment (ResumeEmployment.pdf): This file gives you an example of a resume to use if you have more law office experience than you do advanced education.

Sample Freelance Rate Sheet (FreelanceRates.pdf): This file gives you an example of the type of rate notification you can send out to prospective clients if you choose to open your own freelance paralegal business.

Legal process

Branches of the Federal Government (FedGovernment.pdf): If you need to know what offices and agencies make up the branches of the federal government, this is the chart for you.

Map of the Federal District Courts (DistrictCourtsMap.pdf): The U.S. District Courts system is laid out for you in this map.

Fundamental legal documents

Sample Demand Letter (DemandLetter.pdf): This letter shows a sample of the way an attorney may initiate a civil case.

Sample Complaint (Complaint.pdf): One of the first pleadings a plaintiff files in a civil case is a complaint.

Sample Summons (Summons.pdf): The complaint is served with a summons that generally looks like the one in this file.

Sample Answer (Answer.pdf): The defendant responds to the complaint with an answer.

Sample Answer and Third-Party Complaint (Answerand3rdComplaint.pdf): Sometimes a defendant brings in another party. This sample answer and third-party complaint shows you what that pleading looks like.

Sample Answer to a Third-Party Complaint (Answerto3rdComplaint.pdf): The third party has to respond to the allegations against it, and this pleading gives you an example of how that's done.

Sample Internal Memo in Support of a Motion (InternalSupport.pdf): Here’s an example of a memo a paralegal may write to respond to a specific legal research assignment provided by the supervising attorney.

Sample Motion for Summary Judgment (MotionSummJudg.pdf): Based on the paralegal's recommendations in the internal memo, the attorney asks the paralegal to draft a motion for summary judgment.

Sample External Memo in Support of a Motion (ExternalSupport.pdf): To let the court know why it should grant the motion, the attorney submits with the motion a memo that supports the motion.

Sample Notice to Set (NoticetoSet.pdf): To accompany the motion, the paralegal drafts a notice to set the hearing on the motion.

Sample Order (Order.pdf): In anticipation of the court's granting the motion, the paralegal prepares an order for the judge to sign.

Sample Jury Instructions (JuryInstruct.pdf): Each side may suggest to the judge the kinds of things it wants the jury to consider during deliberations. This document contains some sample instructions.

Sample Internal Memo of Law (InternalMemo.pdf): Because writing good internal memos is an essential skill for paralegals, we've provided you with another example.

Discovery

Sample Interrogatories (Interrogatories.pdf): Interrogatories require the other party to answer questions.

Sample Request for Admissions (RequestAdmissions.pdf): A request for admissions asks the party to admit to or deny specific allegations.

Sample Request for Production (RequestProduction.pdf): Requests for production of documents list items that one party requires the other party to supply.

Investigating and interviewing

State and Federal Agencies (StateFedAgencies.pdf): This list of state and federal agencies can help with an investigation project.

Client Interview Checklist Divorce (DivorceChecklist.pdf): You should begin every interview with a checklist of what you need to accomplish. This file contains the kinds of information you're seeking in the initial client interview for a divorce action.

Legal research

These files guide you to the kinds of information that constitute primary and secondary authority and non-authority:

• Types of Primary Authority (PrimaryAuthority.pdf)
• Types of Secondary Authority (SecondaryAuthority.pdf)
• Types of Nonauthority (Nonauthority.pdf)

Trial procedures

Sample Criminal Trial Notebook Checklist (TrialNotebookChecklist.pdf): This file contains a comprehensive list of the kinds of information you should include in a trial notebook for a criminal case.

Jury Panel Seating Chart (JurySeatingChart.pdf): You can use this file to create your own seating charts for the jury selection process.

Sample Master Witness List (WitnessList.doc): To keep track of witnesses, use this handy chart as a springboard for your own creation.

Law office administration

Sample Timesheet (Timesheet.pdf): This file shows you what an individual timesheet looks like using QuickBooks accounting software.

Sample Invoice (Invoice.pdf): With QuickBooks, you can generate invoices like this one automatically from individual timesheets.

Paralegal associations

National Federation of Paralegal Associations (www.paralegals.org)

National Association of Legal Assistants (www.nala.org)

NALS (www.nals.org)

Ethics rules

American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct (www.abanet.org/cpr/mrpc/mrpc_toc.html)

National Association of Legal Assistants Model Standards and Guidelines for Utilization of Legal Assistants/Paralegals (www.nala.org/certification/nala-code-ethics-and-professional-responsibility)

National Federation of Paralegal Associations Model Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and Guidelines for Enforcement (www.paralegals.org/files/Model_Code_of_Ethics_09_06.pdf)

NALS Code of Ethics (www.nals.org/page/history)

Job search

National Federation of Paralegal Associations Legal Career Center (www.paralegals.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3293)

LawJobs.com (www.lawjobs.com)

Legal Staff (www.legalstaff.com/)

FindLaw.com (http://careers.findlaw.com)

Lawyers Weekly Jobs (www.lawyersweeklyjobs.com)

Law Match (https://lawmatch.com)

Law Crossing (www.lawcrossing.com/)

Paralegal 411 (www.paralegal411.org/jobs/)

NALP (www.nalp.org/jobs)

Gibson Arnold & Associates (www.gibsonarnold.com)

Monster.com (www.monster.com)

Career Builder (www.careerbuilder.com)

Indeed.com (www.indeed.com)

Rules of evidence and procedure

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (www.federalrulesofcivilprocedure.org/frcp/)

Federal Rules of Evidence (www.rulesofevidence.org/table-of-contents/)

Links to State Rules of Procedure (www.law.cornell.edu/wex/table_civil_procedure)

FirstGov.gov State and Territorial Governments (www.usa.gov/states-and-territories): Most state government sites provide access to statutes, cases, and legal forms. Use this site to link to your state's homepage.

Online investigation and asset searches

For a fee, you can search for background checks, assets, and other personal information on the Internet. Here are just a few of the sites that provide these services:

• Asset Records Search (https://recordsfinder.com/asset/)
• InfoTracer (https://infotracer.com/asset-search/)
• Docusearch.com (www.docusearch.com)
• Black Book Online (www.blackbookonline.info/assetsearch.aspx)
• People Records Asset Search (www.probateresearch.net/asset-search/)
• Asset Searches Plus (www.assetsearchesplus.com/)
• Public Record Center (www.publicrecordcenter.com/)

Online research

If you want to become familiar with online legal research before you begin your career, this section provides some of the best sites on the Internet.

The following websites offer free searches:

• Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute (www.law.cornell.edu): Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute is an excellent resource for legal research available to the public. Law schools and other legal sites link to Cornell’s thorough and ambitious collection. Use this site to find the exact text of laws, as well as judicial opinions and even articles from law reviews and journals.
• FindLaw (https://lp.findlaw.com/): This site provides legal information pertinent to legal professionals.
• Internet Legal Research Group – Public Legal (www.ilrg.com): The Internet Legal Research Group organizes, categorizes, and indexes more than 4,000 law-related Web sites. It’s designed to provide the user with downloadable files and legal forms.

You can only go so far with free Internet legal research. To access everything, you’ll need to pay for the services of an online legal research database. Westlaw (https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/westlaw) and Lexis Advance (www.lexisnexis.com) are the two most popular. They’re the original computerized research sites that revolutionized the practice of law. Many legal professionals will tell you that they’re still the best. Each site is constantly improving with new services designed to save valuable research time. Neither site has an extensive free service for the public, but you can tour the sites and learn a little about the services they offer. Chances are, whatever the area of law you choose, you’ll rely heavily on one of these two sites.

Other paid computerized research sites giving Westlaw and Lexis a run for their money are Bloomberg Law (www.bna.com/bloomberglaw/), Casemaker (https://public.casemakerlegal.net/), Casetext (https://casetext.com/), and Fastcase (www.fastcase.com).

Law firm software

Beyond word processing and spreadsheets, a wide range of software has been designed to help make the practice of law more manageable. If you want a preview of some of the software designed specifically for law firms, check out the links below:

• AbacusLaw (www.abacusnext.com/software/case-management/abacuslaw): AbacusLaw software does everything except put the stamp on the envelopes. It keeps track of hours worked, automatic billing, client conflict monitoring, scheduling, and a whole lot more.
• Actionstep (www.actionstep.com/us/): In addition to managing finances and clients, Actionstep includes document management in its software system.
• Clio (www.clio.com): Clio is a popular system for managing accounting, clients, time tracking, calendars, and more.
• CosmoLex (www.cosmolex.com): This cloud-based platform combines accounting, document assembly, client management, and more.
• MyCase (www.mycase.com): This case management system emphasizes its organization features.
• Perfect Practice (www.perfectpractice.com): Perfect Practice tailors its products to the specific needs of clients. There are different packages for different types of practices and different areas of the law.
• PerfectLaw (www.perfectlaw.com): PerfectLaw offers what it calls an “all-in-one” solution. Like the previous two software packages, this software offers an integrated system that allows you to enter information once and have that information work in a calendar, case tracker, client manager, and billing system.
• PracticePanther (www.practicepanther.com): This software is dedicated to make taking care of law office finances and case management easier and more efficient.