Basic Skills Assessment
All degree applicants are required to complete two Basic Skills Assessments, one in reading and one in math, to determine the level of readiness for beginning their selected program. Additional studies may be required.
Succeed by learning how to use your Penn Foster program, and learn the fundamentals of the paralegal field.
Objectives:
- Understand how to use your Student Portal.
- Access the Penn Foster Community and use it to find answers.
- Connect with Penn Foster on various social media sites.
- Describe typical duties carried out by paralegals and how to work with attorneys.
- Understand the laws and regulations governing paralegals.
- Know the education and licensing required.
- Obtain practical information concerning your career goals.
- Locate potential employers in your area.
Get better at finding and using information!
Objectives:
- Search the Internet more effectively.
- Get tips about search engines and reliable websites.
- Learn how to search libraries and other information centers for important, useful information.
Familiarity with common legal words and phrases is required when creating and interpreting legal documents. This lesson will introduce you to a broad range of basic legal terminology and documents. Strong critical thinking skills improve your own arguments and your ability to evaluate the arguments of others.
Legal Terminology
Objectives:
- Define and understand common Latin legal terms and terms associated with litigation.
- Compare the various types of jurisdiction and kinds of documents used in litigation.
- Understand criminal procedure and common criminal defenses.
- Recognize the elements commonly included in contracts.
- Describe the ways in which contracts may be terminated.
- Explain the various legal actions associated with family law.
- Understand the terminology used in recording ownership of real property.
Critical Thinking
Objectives:
- Assess strength of logic, reasoning, and conclusions.
- Recognize the elements of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Paralegals are responsible for maintaining confidentiality and competence; handling fees and funds; avoiding potential malpractice of law; and preventing conflicts of interest.
Objectives:
- Understand the guidelines that regulate lawyers’ and paralegals’ conduct.
- Identify rules concerning confidentiality and attorney-client privilege.
- Conduct financial billings.
- Recognize potential malpractice and conflict of interest issues.
This course will allow you to build your computer skills through a combination of reading and hands-on practice. You will navigate popular software tools such as Windows® and Microsoft® Office.
Objectives:
- Create, edit, and illustrate Microsoft® Word™ documents.
- Apply formulas and functions to large data sets in Microsoft® Excel.®
- Incorporate useful charts and graphs to summarize data.
- Add, delete, sort, and lay out table data.
- Create presentations in Microsoft® PowerPoint® using advanced tools, tables, and charts.
This course teaches the skills and techniques of effectively developing, drafting, and revising college-level essays toward a specific purpose and audience: active reading, prewriting strategies, sentence and paragraph structure, thesis statements, varied patterns of development (such as illustration, comparison and contrast, and classification), critical reading toward revision of structure and organization, editing for standard written conventions, and use and documentation of outside sources. Students submit two prewriting assignments and three essays (process analysis, comparison and contrast, and argumentation).
Objectives:
- Use writing skills to construct well-written sentences and active reading skills to understand and analyze text.
- Develop paragraphs using topic sentences, adequate detail, supporting evidence, and transitions.
- Contrast the revising and editing steps of the writing process.
- Distinguish between different patterns of development.
- Write a process analysis essay using prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing skills.
- Recognize how to determine the reliability of secondary sources and to give proper credit to sources referenced in an essay.
- Write a comparison and contrast essay by using persuasive writing techniques to defend a claim.
- Create a sound written argument using techniques of drafting and evaluating sources.
Learn about the U.S. legal system and the law.
Objectives:
- Understand how history has shaped the organization and structure of our contemporary courts.
- Describe the structure of the court system.
- Discuss the sources of law and the foundations of U.S. law.
- Explain the differences between civil and criminal litigation and between litigation in the state and in the federal courts.
- Outline the litigation process.
Many paralegals spend a great deal of time talking with clients and/or witnesses. This course will teach you how to effectively interview people and conduct legal investigations.
Objectives:
- Understand the ethical considerations and responsibilities of the paralegal and the attorney in interviewing.
- Prepare for and conduct an interview and investigation.
- Use different types of questions to elicit responses from a variety of people.
- Summarize the information discovered during the interview and investigation process.
Learning Aids
Legal Specialties lists some of the typical duties of a paralegal in various fields. It also contains two self-assessment quizzes to help you determine in what field of law you might like to work when you finish your program.
Legal terminology audio files to help you learn the language of the law—including pronunciation! Download mp3 files from your online student account.
Barron’s Dictionary of Legal Terms contains nearly 3,000 legal terms translated into simple English. This reference book will help you throughout your career.
Custom edition of the Little, Brown Essential Handbook customized for Penn Foster students.
Textbook
Successful College Writing
Proctored Examination
You will be required to complete a proctored exam on selected courses each semester. These assessments will evaluate the knowledge and skills that you learned during the semester. You choose the time, the location, and the qualified exam supervisor.
